Molten Salt Coolants:

Transferring Heat From Reactors to H2 Facilities

The Advanced High-Temperature Reactor for H2 Production

Charles Forsberg (ORNL)

Paul Pickard (SNL)
Per Peterson (U.C.-Berkeley)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008; Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6179
Tel: (865) 574-6783; E-mail: forsbergcw@ornl.gov
DOE Nuclear Hydrogen Planning Meeting
Hilton Head, South Carolina
March 13, 2003
The submitted manuscript has been authored by a contractor of the U.S. Government under contract DE-AC05-00OR22725. Accordingly, the U.S. Government retains a nonexclusive, royalty-free license to publish or
reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do so, for U.S. Government purposes. File name: DOE.Hydrogen.HiltonHead.March13.2003

The Advanced High-Temperature Reactor

for Hydrogen Production
Passive Decay
Heat Removal

Hot Air
Out

Reactor

Molten Fluoride Salt

(Example: NaF/ZrF4)
750o to 1000oC
Control
Rods

Pump

Hydrogen Production
Options
Oxygen

Hydrogen

Thermochemical
Hot Electrolysis

Air Inlet
Fuel

Nuclear-Assisted
Steam Reforming
of Natural Gas

Cooling
Water

Reactor Vessel
Radiation Heat
Transfer (Operates at
Higher Temperatures)

Water

Guard Vessel

03-022

The AHTR Is NOT

a Molten Salt Reactor (MSR)
MSR
Off-gas
System
Primary
Salt Pump

Separate Facility
(Colocated
or off-site)

NaBF4_ NaF
Coolant Salt

Secondary
Salt Pump

Converter (CR~0.9)
Waste Burner

Purified
Salt

Graphite
Moderator
Heat
Exchanger

Fuel Salt

Breeder

or
Hydrogen
(Thermochemical)

Reactor

Coupled
to Reactor

Electricity
(Helium/Gas Turbine)

Freeze
Plug

Critically Safe, Passively Cooled

Dump Tanks (Emergency
Cooling and Shutdown)

Fuel dissolved in the

molten salt
Aircraft Reactor
Experiment operated at
815 C

AHTR
Solid fuel
Molten salt coolant
Uses MSR experience

The AHTR and VHTR Use the

Same Coated-Particle Fuel
Fuel Kernel
High Density PyC
SiC
Low Density PyC

Coated
Fuel
Particle

Plug

Fuel Rod
Annular Coolant
Channel

Fuel
Compact

8 mm
0.92 mm

Fuel Handling
Hole
Dowel Pin

Graphite
Block

Graphite
Sleeve
580 mm

39 mm

34 mm
26 mm

Fuel Compact

Dowel Socket
360 m
m

Fuel Rod

Fuel Block

ORNL DWG 2001-45

AHTR Molten Salt Reactor Technology Was

Developed in the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion
Program with Test Reactor Operations to 860C
(Requirements: Low Pressure and Efficient Heat Transfer)

A Molten-Salt-Cooled Reactor Reduces Reactor

Temperatures Compared to Gas-Cooled Reactors
Bulk Coolant Temperature Rise
Across Reactor
Reactor
Coolant Exit
Temperature

500
400
300
200
100
0

Helium

Molten Salt

Nuclear Fuel
Peak
Temperature

Bulk Coolant
Temperature
600
Temperature (C) Above
Bulk Coolant Temperature

Coolant Temperature (C) Above Peak

Temperature To The Hydrogen Plant

Reactor Coolant
Entrance
Temperature
600

Temperature Rise From Coolant

To Fuel Centerline

Temperature Of
Delivered Heat To
Hydrogen Plant

500
400
300

Helium

200
100

Molten Salt

03-017

Power Reactor Experience Shows That Liquid

Coolants Minimize Peak Reactor Temperatures
1000

AHTR or MSR

1000C
850C

Temperature (C)

800

750C

AHTR or MSR

665C

600

925C

Hydrogen Production

675C
545C

HTGR-GT
(General Atomics)

LMFBR

491C
395C

(Super Phenix)

400

AGR

319C

310C

(Hinkley Point B)

PWR

200

299C

(Point Beach)

Liquid
Gas

0
Inlet

Outlet
Delivered Heat

02-130

The AHTR Is the Child of GenIV:

It Was Developed in the GenIV Process and Combines GenIV Technologies
High-Temperature
Reactor Technology

Molten Salt
Reactor Technology

Fuel

Coolant

Advanced High Temperature Reactor

Molten Salt
(Fueled) Reactor

Fusion (Molten
Salt Cooling)

03-040

There Is a Massive R&D Overlap Between

the AHTR and VHTR

Common R&D
Nuclear Fuels
Materials

AHTR

Hydrogen Production
Nuclear Assisted
Steam Reforming

VHTR

Thermochemical

03-016

Molten-Salt Heat Transfer Loops May Be Preferred To

Transfer Heat From a Reactor to the H2 Facilities

(German Studies Supported Molten Salt Coolant Between Gas-Cooled Reactors

and H2 Facilities; Molten Salts Used in the Chemical Industry)
Nuclear Safety by Isolation

Hydrogen Safety by Dilution

Oxygen

Hot Air Out

Control
Rods
Molten Salt
Air
Inlet

Molten Salt
Heat-Transfer Loop

H2
Water

High Heat Capacity

Low Pumping Costs
Low Pressure
Industrial Experience

02-176

ORNL LDRD Hastelloy-N MoltenSalt Corrosion Test Loop Will Be

Operational March 2003
Hastelloy-N Specimens
32 in hot section
32 in cold section

4 kg Molten Salt
FLiNaK

Thermal Gradient
800C 700C

Initial Test Duration

At least 1000 h

Conclusions
Molten-salt-coolant technology is a critical
technology for hydrogen production
Several applications
Intermediate heat transfer loop between any
reactor and a hydrogen production plant
Advanced High-Temperature Reactor
Lower reactor temperatures for high-temperature heat
Larger reactor

R&D is required
Very high-temperature operation
Production systems require long lifetimes

Backup Slides

Molten Salt Loop Technical Details

Temperatures
Hot temperature: 800C
Cold temperature: 700C

FLiNaK molten salt (mole %)

LiF: 46.5%
NaF: 11.5%
KF: 42%

Hastelloy-N

72% Ni
16% Mo (Improve yield and tensile strength)
7.25% Cr (Oxidation protection)
3.7% Fe

The High-Temperature, Low-Pressure Liquid Coolant

Enables Passive Decay Heat Removal in Large Reactors
(One Example: Several Other Decay-Heat Cooling Options Exist)

Passive Decay
Heat Removal

Reactor

Decay-Heat Cooling
System Characteristics

Hot Air Out

Control
Rods
Similar to GE S-PRISM (LMR)
Air
Inlet
Fuel
(Similar to
MHTGR)
Reactor
Vessel

Argon Gap
- Heat Transfer ~T 4
- Thermal Switch Mechanism
Heat Rejection: Temperature Dependent
o
- LMR: 500-550 C [~1000 Mw(t)]
o
- AHTR: 750-1000 C [>2000 Mw(t)]

Argon Gap
Guard
Vessel

01-043

Molten Salts Have Large Margins to the Boiling Point

and Boil-Off Before Major Fuel Failure
Boiling Point
Failure Temperature
Coated-Particle Fuel

Coolant

Operating Pressure

Molten Salt

Atmospheric

Sodium

Atmospheric

1600 C
o

1400 C

AHTR Operating
Temperature 883 oC
o
o
(750 to 1000 C)

High Pressure To Maintain Dense

(Efficiency) Coolant
o

Water

1000-2200 psi

Helium

1000-2000 psi

100 C

-269 C

03-037

Beyond-Design-Basis Accident Avoids Radionuclide

Release By Decay Heat Conduction-To-Ground
(Liquid Circulation Moves Heat From Reactor Core)
Beyond-Design-Basis
Accident Conditions

Normal
Conditions

Salt Condensation
Molten Salt
Level
Reactor Vessel
Guard Vessel
Silo
Reactor Core

(Fuel Failure ~1600oC)

Boiling Salt
(If >1400oC)

Heat
Conduction
to Ground
Circulating Salt
Frozen Salt

03-021

The Economics of High-Temperature Liquid-Cooled

Reactors may be Superior to Gas-Cooled Reactors
for Systems with the Same Safety Goals
Pressure Vessels For
2400 MW(t) of HTGRs

600 MW(t)

600 MW(t) 600 MW(t) 600 MW(t)

Low-Pressure Vessel For

2400 MW(t) of AHTR

2400 MW(t)

03-036