What is Reactor design: Definition and 26 Discussions

A nuclear reactor, formerly known as an atomic pile, is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid (water or gas), which in turn runs through steam turbines. These either drive a ship's propellers or turn electrical generators' shafts. Nuclear generated steam in principle can be used for industrial process heat or for district heating. Some reactors are used to produce isotopes for medical and industrial use, or for production of weapons-grade plutonium. As of early 2019, the IAEA reports there are 454 nuclear power reactors and 226 nuclear research reactors in operation around the world.

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  1. B

    Inductive Heating of a Non-Conductive Reactor's Contents

    Hi! I have been working with home-made reactor to do ambiant pressure, high temperature pyrolysis experiments that use an induction heating coil wrapped around the outside to heat the entire reactor. The contents are heated indirectly through their contact with the reactor. This worked well for...
  2. emilmammadzada

    Design error in reactor nuclear simulation in serpent code

    Dear experts, I would like to get help from you on something. I want to design a vver -1200 core in the serpent nuclear code, but I am getting errors in the geometry I defined below. I would like to get help from you on how to fix these errors.I seem to be getting errors in cell definitions and...
  3. R

    Effective way of slurry sampling

    I have ~50% slurry mass in a reactor with (4 PBT + 4PBT) agitator. Agitator is rotating at 94 RPM. To analyze reaction mass we are sending two samples at a time from bottom of the reactor. There is significant analysis deviations in these two samples. I feel that the sample is not...
  4. Rahulx084

    What is the Validity of the Rate Equation in Different Reactor Types?

    What is the definition of rate ##(-r_a)=-\frac{dCa}{dt}## or ##(-r_a)=-1/V\frac{dNa}{dt}## ? I think the general one is the second one and first one is for constant volume reaction system. Is the above written rate equation only valid to batch reactor? If not can we use this in a PFR or MFR? In...
  5. C

    Safe zero base reactivity level nuclear fission reactor?

    There are already 4 generations of nuclear fission reactors. (Compare https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor#By_generation.) However among these, there does not seem to be a (maximum) safe nuclear fission reactor design, which immediately stops the nuclear chain reaction when the reactor...
  6. Irl495

    Rotating magnetic field effect on aqueous mixing (opinions?)

    This is question that can't really get a precise answer without significant modeling or experimentation, but I'm wondering what folks' intuition might be on an answer to the following setup + question: Suppose there is a steel tank made of steel pipe with walls about 0.25 cm thick, internal...
  7. F

    Damkohler Number: Impact on Reactor Design

    Hey guys we know damkohler number indicate the volume of reactor. if this number be small, what happen to design of reactor? ( its influence on design of reactor)
  8. CivilSigma

    Reactor Design and Kinetics of Reactions

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  9. P

    Nuclear Engineering: PhD vs. Masters for reactor design

    I had read a few helpful forums on the pros and cons of going for a masters vs. phd in nuclear engineering. However, I am still confused about one thing. I am considering pursuing a career in reactor design (fission or fusion, will likely make another post to discuss this). Here are my...
  10. Dong Aleta

    Can someone identify what this graph is used for?

    Hi, I was asked by my senior to find out what this graph is and how to use it. No details were given as to where they found it. I know already that this is used to compare CSTRs and PFRs performance for first order reactions, but I can't deduce what the expressions Dd/(vxL) and kL/vx are for...
  11. sevenperforce

    Sustained nuclear criticality in liquid vortex

    In 1958, chemical operator Cecil Kelley was killed by a nuclear excursion in a mixing tank. A tank intended to reprocess trace amounts of dissolved plutonium-239 accidentally had dramatically more radioactive material dumped into it. The plutonium, being dissolved in a lower-density fluid than...
  12. Jeremy Thomson

    Buckyball encased uranium - the smallest possible pebble bed

    Is there a trend in pebble bed reactors towards smaller pebble sizes? The smallest conceivable would be a carbon buckyball encasing a (single?) uranium atom. This Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endohedral_fullerene) says two cerium atoms have been encapsulated in a c80...
  13. MexChemE

    Mass balance with reaction -- Chemical kinetics POV

    Good evening, people of PF. Recently, while studying chemical kinetics, I have come across some questions about reaction rates and rate equations. I've noticed some inconsistencies between the chemical kinetics point of view, and the approach taken by chemical reaction engineering and reactor...
  14. J

    Alternate fuel for TriAlpha Fusion Reactor Design?

    http://news.sciencemag.org/physics/2015/08/secretive-fusion-company-makes-reactor-breakthroughAbove is a link to a news story about the recent Tri Alpha Energy “breakthrough”. It looks to me like a very nice development in increased stability of a proposed reactor design. Tri Alpha emphasizes...
  15. S

    Atomic Layer Deposition Reactor Design?

    Is it made of quartz or stainless steel/aluminum or what? Does it matter which?that's all I need to know, I just can't seem to find if they can be made of standard vacuum metals or if they have to be quartz. Only really seen some diagrams mention quartz tubes but the pictures of large ones seem...
  16. J

    Reactor Design -- Plug Flow Reactors

    As part of a research project, I've been asked to design an industrial scale model for the synthesis of titania nanowires. These are currently being produced at a scale of 500 g every three days (being that it takes three days for the nanowires to morph using the given method). My director has...
  17. K

    EM2 Reactor Design: Facts, Pros & Cons

    I read a little bit about General Atomics EM2 reactor in the December issue of Nuclear News that someone had brought to work recently. I haven't had a chance to read all of the article and I am curious about this reactor design. Are any of you involved in it? It claims to be able to run for 30...
  18. M

    Chemical Reactor Design Optimization

    Homework Statement Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution For this problem, my group is having difficulty figuring out how much Styrene is reacting, since we don't know the molecular weight of polystyrene, we can't find the moles of polystyrene, which would be used to aid in finding the...
  19. H

    Pulse transformer/DC reactor design.

    Hi everyone, I am trying to understand the basic design requirements and rules for designing a pulse transformer which includes two secondary coils, one of which acts as a DC reactor. Does anyone know of any papers or software or have any experience with such a design?
  20. D

    Best graduate programs for GEN IV reactor design

    Hello, I would like some recommendations on universities that have nuclear engg. graduate programs that specialize in design and analysis of GEN IV reactors. My professors have recommended the following: 1. Michigan 2. Penn State 3. MIT 4. North Carolina State Any info regarding grad...
  21. N

    Hafnium neutron Absorber [Nuclear reactor design]

    Hi, I was reading about PWR control system and I saw that control rods are stainless steel tubes encapsulating a Hafnium absorber material , it has Excellent mechanical properties and exceptional corrosion-resistance properties allow its use in the harsh environment of a pressurized water...
  22. C

    Need to go to school for research on chemical reactor design?

    I'm looking to do experimental, hands on research on chemical reactor design. Some possibly areas of interest include multiphase catalysis, interface chemistry in fluids and gas liquefaction. I'd like to avoid semiconductors and materials as my background in this area is minimal and I do not see...
  23. T

    Calculating Fission Cross-Sections for Nuclear Reactor Fuel Designs

    A utility is considering changing its fuel vendor and resulting fuel assembly design. The current fuel in the reactor is standard Westinghouse 17x17 fuel with a fuel rod pitch of 1.215cm fuel rod OD of 0.916cm. The clad thickness is 0.055cm. The new fuel design has a fuel rod pitch of...
  24. E

    DOE judges IFR best reactor design

    19 reactor designs using 27 criteria, DOE concludes IFR to be the best reactor design to meet world's energy needs going forward. http://www.skirsch.com/politics/ifr/DOEnuclearstudy.pdf Do you agree?
  25. Topher925

    How is high temperature reactor design different?

    I think its common knowledge that the next generation of nuclear reactors are going to operate at much higher temperatures than current designs in order to get away from the Rankin cycle and take advantage of thermochemical cycles, but what is it that makes high temperature reactors (HTR)...
  26. E

    What nuclear fission reactor design has the least environmental impact?

    What nuclear fission reactor design has the least environmental impact? Including the building, operating, safety, and amount of pollution produced? I'd imagine IFR/breeder reactors as they burn actinides.
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