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High-temperature plumbing and advanced reactors
The use of nuclear fission power and its role in impacting climate change is hotly debated. Fission advocates argue that short-term solutions would involve the rapid deployment of Gen III+ nuclear reactors, like Vogtle-3 and -4, while long-term climate change impact would rely on the creation and implementation of Gen IV reactors, “inherently safe” reactors that use passive laws of physics and chemistry rather than active controls such as valves and pumps to operate safely. While Gen IV reactors vary in many ways, one thing unites nearly all of them: the use of exotic, high-temperature coolants. These fluids, like molten salts and liquid metals, can enable reactor engineers to design much safer nuclear reactors—ultimately because the boiling point of each fluid is extremely high. Fluids that remain liquid over large temperature ranges can provide good heat transfer through many demanding conditions, all with minimal pressurization. Although the most apparent use for these fluids is advanced fission power, they have the potential to be applied to other power generation sources such as fusion, thermal storage, solar, or high-temperature process heat.1–3
F.-Y. Tsai, D. R. Harding, S. H. Chen, T. N. Blanton, E. L. Alfonso
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 178-187
Technical Paper | Fourteenth Target Fabrication Specialists' Meeting | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A17896
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The processing conditions for vapor-depositing polyimide shells were studied to improve the surface finish, tensile properties, and gas permeability for the inertial confinement fusion application. The vapor-deposited (VDP) polyimide possessed distinct properties from solution-cast Kapton, resulting perhaps from its being physically or chemically crosslinked. The VDP polyimide was characterized to be semicrystalline with molecular chains parallel to the shell’s surface. Varying the imidization conditions, i.e., using different atmospheres, heating rates, and heating durations, increased the gas permeability while maintaining the Young’s modulus. Plastically deforming the shells under biaxial stress increased the permeability by up to 1000-fold, which could be reversed when heated to 350°C. Analyses using x-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and solubility tests indicated that these modifications in properties may have arisen from changes in the crystallinity, crosslinking, and molecular weight. The low-mode (2 to 20) surface roughness was reduced when the shells were slightly inflated; the high-mode roughness (coating-induced bumps) was increased when the substrate was heated to a temperature of 90°C to 140°C.