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Argonne’s METL gears up to test more sodium fast reactor components
Argonne National Laboratory has successfully swapped out an aging cold trap in the sodium test loop called METL (Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop), the Department of Energy announced April 23. The upgrade is the first of its kind in the United States in more than 30 years, according to the DOE, and will help test components and operations for the sodium-cooled fast reactors being developed now.
W.J. Holtslander, R.E. Johnson, F.B. Gravelle, C.M. Shultz
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 10 | Number 3 | November 1986 | Pages 1340-1344
Tritium Technology | doi.org/10.13182/FST86-A24916
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Small tritium-burning experimental tokamaks will require some means of handling the fuel after a burn. This paper presents an experimental evaluation of a scheme that would provide for the removal of the impurities produced in the fuel during the burn and delivery of the purified fuel for a subsequent burn in the machine. The fuel, simulated in this work by a hydrogen-impurity mixture, is taken from the machine, diluted to 25% with helium and passed through a uranium metal bed at 25°C, where the hydrogen is trapped reversibly and several of the impurities are irreversibly absorbed. The results showed complete removal of O2, CO, CO2, H2O, and N2O at room temperature. Removal of CH4 and NH3 required the uranium to be heated to approximately 400°C. At 400°C the hydrogen is released from the uranium metal, so the cleanup scheme requires circulation of the gas through two uranium beds, one at room temperature and one at near 400°C. When all the impurities are reacted the low temperature uranium bed is heated to 400°C to release the hydrogen back into the system in preparation for reinjection into the machine. An apparatus, simulating a small fusion fuel cleanup system, was built and demonstrated. In this apparatus two alternative flow paths for the cleanup of the gas, were provided. The first was the two uranium bed approach described above, in the second, the hot uranium bed is replaced with a SAES getter for decomposition of the CH4 and NH3.