Instrumentation and Control Panel - CRMP•Describes instrumentation’s role and performance...

Lead – Pavel Tsvetkov

Elvis Dominguez-Ontiveros

David Holcomb

Chris Poresky

Raluca Scarlat

Instrumentation and Control Panel

Texas A&M University

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Oak Ridge National Laboratory

University of California, Berkeley

University of Wisconsin–Madison

Moderator – Jason Hearne Texas A&M University

December 12th, 2018 1

Instrumentation and Control Panel

• FHR Instrumentation and Control

• ORNL FHR I&C Efforts

• Chemical I&C for FHRs

• I&C Data Acquisition and Management for FHRs

• Novel I&C Sensors for FHRs and High-Resolution Reconstruction

December 12th, 2018 2Enabling the Next Nuclear: FHRs to Megawatts – Thermal Hydraulics Panel

FHR Instrumentation and Control

December 12th, 2018 3Enabling the Next Nuclear: FHRs to Megawatts – Instrumentation and Control Panel

FHR Project Collaborators

Framework is An Element of MSR Campaign Planning Activities

• Framework is available as ORNL/TM-2018/868 • https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1462848-instrumentation-framework-molten-

salt-reactors• Similar information for solid-fueled MSRs was generated previously -

https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1185752-fhr-process-instruments

• Describes instrumentation’s role and performance requirements throughout an MSR’s lifecycle,

• Provides a structured MSR instrumentation technology and state-of-the-art reference, and

• Identifies MSR instrumentation technology gaps and recommending RD&D to close the identified gaps.

https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1462848-instrumentation-framework-molten-salt-reactors

Overview of Findings• Modern MSRs can rely on the instrumentation demonstrated during prior MSR development

efforts. • No fundamental technology gaps have been identified that would prevent operating or maintaining

MSRs

• Improved technology, combined with the integration of modern modeling and simulation, could improve reliability and decrease operating costs.

• Largest potential impact of new instrumentation technologies is in the integration of maintenance automation into reactor design and operations

• Flow measurement has the largest technology hurdles remaining to enable deployment of robust systems.

• Technology for reliable online fuel salt sample acquisition remains at a relatively low TRL.

MSBR Program Provides Substantial Instrumentation Experience Base

• MSRE only demonstrated limited-term operations.

• Higher speed signal processing for ultrasonic flowmeters or radar level gauges was unavailable in the 1960s.

• MSRE was a small system • Decay heat removal will have a higher safety significance in a larger system.

• Fissile materials tracking (safeguards) instrumentation was not specifically considered

• Fast-spectrum MSRs will have significantly higher power densities

• Little or no MSBR residual supply chain remains active.

MSR Characteristics Change Instrumentation Performance Requirements

• Avoid the need for high-speed, safety-grade process monitoring due to the lack of rapidly progressing accidents

• Lower safety significance of individual MSR plant components decreases in-service inspection requirements

• On-line pebble health monitoring and fissile inventory control needed

• Increasing the need for automated intrusion monitoring to facilitate use of local law-enforcement personnel for plant security

• Adding requirements to inspect/monitor passive safety features to ensure that they continue to be able to perform their functions

Pebble Fuel Substantially Changes Fissile Inventory Tracking Instrumentation

• Many more discrete fuel elements

• Significant quantity diversion requires many pebbles• May involve volumetric accounting

• Material balance areas around fresh fuel, in-reactor use, and used fuel

• Key measurement points in transferring fuel between material balance areas

• Substantial increase in instrumentation complexity• No proven pebble numbering system

• Accounting for individual pebbles much more challenging

• Classical instrumentation – gamma detectors and multi-channel analyzers – appear applicable

Instrumentation Layout Needs to be Included in Early Phase Plant Layout• Difficult to assess health of large concrete structures without embedded sensors

• Lesson learned from LWR life extension

• Maintenance, recalibration, and repair will involve substantial amounts of remote handling technology

• On-line refueling reduces opportunities for personnel access

• On-line doses in containment ~1000x LWRs due to fluorine activation and thinner primary loop walls

• Breathing gear (due to beryllium and tritium contamination) substantially reduces worker effectiveness

• Replacing cabling within containment is difficult and expensive

• Remote access to high radiation environments has been from overhead cranes with long tooling

• Visual guidance primary sensor

Most Required Instrumentation Does Not Contact Salt• Heat balance performed on non-radioactive side of primary heat

exchanger

• High-degree of passive safety eliminates need for rapidly responding safety-related instruments

• High-temperature, radiation-tolerant commercial-grade instrumentation from other industrial processes can be widely employed at MSRs

Accommodating Instrument Drift, Recalibration, and Aging Remains Challenging

• MSR designs are intended to operate for years between outages

• Instruments drift over time, and some instruments may fail prematurely

• Online instrumentation replacement and/or recalibration is not mature

Operations and Maintenance Automation Was Not a Focus of the Historic MSR Development Program• Greatest potential instrumentation enhancement to MSRs is in

integrating maintenance automation• Modeling and simulation of maintenance and waste handling activities will be

especially important to ensure reliable, long-term operations

• Need for remote maintenance was highlighted in Atomic Energy Commission reviews of MSR technology (WASH-1222 and WASH-1097)

• Instrumentation advancement needs to be focused on technology improvements to enable high-reliability, cost-effective, long-lived, commercial-scale plant operation.

High-Reliability, Low-Uncertainty Flow Measurement is Not Available

• Low uncertainty measurement of coolant flow will be necessary to calculate the heat-balance

• Venturi-meters have been problematic at MSRs• NaK impulse lines are not readily available

• Primary source of error in MSRE power measurement

• Activation-based flowmeter possible for fluoride coolant salts• Fluorine-19 has (n; alpha or proton or gamma) cross sections that yield short

lived energetic gammas

• Clamp-on ultrasonic flowmeters are difficult to align• Standoffs substantially lower signal level

Recommended Instrumentation Development Activities

• Integration of maintenance planning and waste handling into reactor point designs to enable support for instrumentation development,

• Online salt and material coupon removal tooling,

• Instrumentation and cabling replacement tooling,

• Tooling for inspection of areas that are not readily observable,

• Online corrosion monitor development,

• Local power range monitoring technology development (e.g. high-temperature gamma thermometer),

• Salt flowmeter development,

• Fluoride salt activation flowmeter development, and

• Online redox measurement capability development.

ORNL FHR I&C Efforts



ORNL Current and Planned Efforts

• Vast experience with MSRE project

• Liquid Salt Test Loop (LSTL)• Advanced Reactor Engineering Group/Energy

Systems and Testing team• FLiNaK on site clean-up system (150 Kg)• Forced convection loop• Dynamic test section• Salt-Air Heat exchanger• High performance PLC system for operation and

data acquisition

• FLiBe clean-up system


LSTL –Operational Experience and Lessons Learned• Pump design and testing

• High temperature seals

• Instrumentation design and control

• Heat exchanger design • Salt-air

• Ar-Air

• SiC test section coupled to metallic alloys

• Computational Fluid Dynamics and system level salt predictions


Salt NaF-KF-LiF (FLiNaK)

Operating Temp. ≤700oC

Flow rate ≤4.5 kg/s (136 lpm)

Operating pressure Near atmospheric

Loop volume 80 liters

Power ~220 kW

Primary piping ID 2.67 cm (1.05 in.)

Initial operation Summer 2016

Salt Capabilities• Pure salt production (batch)

– ~1 kg scale Chlorides

– ~7 kg scale Chlorides, in development

– 4 kg scale Fluorides

– 165 kg scale Fluorides

• Salt flow calibration stand

– 174 lpm, ≤710°C, 120 L

– Calibrate flow meters

– Bearing development project underway

• Small forced-flow salt loop

– 60 lpm, ≤750°C

– Components acquired, in development

Planned Efforts -Instrumentation

December 12th, 2018 19Enabling the Next Nuclear: FHRs to Megawatts – Thermal Hydraulics Panel 19

• Redox sensors• Developed by partner universities

• Instrumentation development and testing• Pressure transducers• Flow meters• High temperature fiber-optic based

thermometry

• Increased interest to develop a road map for standardization of salt quality

• Salt Capabilities• Thermophysical properties

• Density, viscosity, specific heat,thermal conductivity/diffusivity, etc.

Chemical I&C for FHRs



Types of Functions

• Operations & control

• Early-event detection

• Plant health monitoring

• Material accountability

• Security


Types of Sensors

• On-line

• At-line

• Off-line

• Distributed

• Energy harvesting

Chemical Sensing Needs• Liquid salt

• Redox potential• Acidity• Air/water ingress detection• Transition metals – material corrosion• Lanthanides and actinides – failed fuel• Neutron poison contaminats (B, Gd, Sm)• Tritium• Carbon – soluble, suspended particles

• Liquid other (water & other secondary coolants)• Beryllium contamination• Tritium

• Off-gas• Tritium, hydrogen• Xenon• O2, N2, H2O, H2S, CO2, CO• Fluorine gas (radiolysis product)• Dust?

• Solids• Thermal insulation, concrete – leak detection• Corrosion potential – material coupons

Performance Specifications

• Chemical, thermal, radiation environment

• Time-response

• Lifetime

• Quality assurance requirements

• Calibration needs

Types of Chemical Sensing

• Electrochemical

• Optical/spectroscopic

• Reactive medium

• Radiochemical


Electrochemical Sensing Methods

3 cm

“A Review of Electrochemical and Non-Electrochemical Approaches to Determining Oxide Concentration in Molten Fluoride Salts”, B. Goh, F. Carotti, R. Scarlat (2018)Electrochemical Society Meeting on May 12-17, 2018, in Seattle, WA.

Carotti et al. Journal of The

Electrochemical Society, 164 (12)

H854-H861 (2017)

1 cm

Ion-Specific ElectrodesDynamic Electrochemical Methods

I (mA)

~ 2.3 V

V

O2- (dissolved) -> O2(g)

Be2+ (dissolved) -> Be (metal)

Types of Electrochemical Methods

• Potentiometric

• Amperometric

• Ion-specific

• Can probe liquid, solid, and gas phases

3 cm

Au electrode. D = 1mm

Testing crucible


Optical Spectroscopy Development

UV-Vis reflection accessory by Pike

Technologies. Compatible with same heat

chamber used for FTIR

1cm

[5] T. Passerat De Silans, I. Maurin, et al., ‘Temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity of CaF2,

Molten Salt FTIR Development at UW Madison:Normalized reflection data for sapphire with attenuation confirmed

with literature data [1][1] T. Passerat De Silans, I. Maurin, et al, J. Phys. Condens. Matter, vol. 21, no. 25, (2009).


Off-Line Chemical Characterization of Salt(analysis examples for hydro-fluorinated FLiBE)

12/12/18

Challenges• Sampling methods• Digestion methods• Salt-specific NIST material

standards not established• Capability for C, O, N, F, H

quantification is limited

Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)

provides phase change information

X-ray Diffraction (XRD)

Provides Crystallographic

Information

450 ppm

70 ppm

Ni Na

Comparative Elemental Analysis

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)

Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP)

MS (Mass Spectroscopy)

OES (Optical Emission Spectoscopy)

Other Characterization Methods

Types of Functions

• Operations & control

• Early-event detection

• Plant health monitoring

• Material accountability

• Security


Types of Sensors

• On-line

• At-line

• Off-line

• Distributed

• Energy harvesting

Chemical Sensing Needs• Liquid salt

• Redox potential• Acidity• Air/water ingress detection• Transition metals – material corrosion• Lanthanides and actinides – failed fuel• Neutron poison contaminats (B, Gd, Sm)• Tritium• Carbon – soluble, suspended particles

• Liquid other (water & other secondary coolants)

• Beryllium contamination• Tritium

• Off-gas• Tritium, hydrogen• Xenon• O2, N2, H2O, H2S, CO2, CO• Fluorine gas (radiolysis product)• Dust?

• Solids• Thermal insulation, concrete – leak detection• Corrosion potential – material coupons

Performance Specifications

• Chemical, thermal, radiation environment

• Time-response

• Lifetime

• Quality assurance requirements

• Calibration needs

Types of Chemical Sensing

• Electrochemical

• Optical/spectroscopic

• Reactive medium

• Radiochemical

I&C Data Acquisition andManagement for FHRs



Signal Variety

• Instrument-Based Signals• Fluid flow rate

• System temperatures• Fluid

• Structure

• Ambient Environment

• System pressures

• Visual/IR photography

• Data-Based Signals• Signal metadata

• Control actuation

• Virtual Signals• Simulated neutronic feedback

• Plant performance/health models


Signal Collection

• In-situ strategies• Frequency response testing

• Passive inspection using analytical models

• Continuous analysis of historical data


Signal Context

• Digital Control Systems• Data presentation

• Virtual signals

• On-line calibration

• Instrumentation network optimization

• Pervasive documentation

• Short- and long-term prognostics


Novel I&C Sensors for FHRs andHigh-Resolution Reconstruction



What to Measure and Reconstruct?

• Field Properties (Temperature, Pressure, Strain, Neutrons, Gammas)

• Performance Dynamics Characterization for Operational Considerations (thermal, mechanical and radiation characterization)

These are needed either in real time or predictively to address operational considerations.


Candidate Sensor Technologies

• Optical External Monitoring

• Point Sensing• In-core fission chambers (typically under 800oC,

degradation)• Self-powered detectors (thermal and fluence limitations,

under 850oC• High temperature thermocouples (drift issues, fluence

limitations, under 1100oC)

• Distributed Sensing• Fiberoptics-based sensors (multi-modal, geometrical

flexibility, high temperatures and fluences)


High-Resolution Reconstruction

• Code Validation

• Design Development

• Licensing

• Early Degradation Detection Capability during Operation


Questions and Concluding Remarks

December 12th, 2018 34

Texas A&M [email protected]

Elvis Dominguez-OntiverosOak Ridge National Laboratory

[email protected]

David HolcombOak Ridge National Laboratory

[email protected]

Chris PoreskyUniversity of California, Berkeley

[email protected]

Raluca ScarlatUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison

[email protected]

Enabling the Next Nuclear: FHRs to Megawatts – Instrumentation and Control Panel

Pavel Tsvetkov

Instrumentation and Control Panel - CRMP•Describes instrumentation’s role and performance...

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