Novel Insulation for Liquid Metal Electromechanical Pump

Statement of Problem & DOE/Public Interest: Nuclear fission is a proven carbonless technology for electric generation, at present generating approximately 20% of US electricity1. The next-generation (Generation IV) advanced reactors will address many of the issues with current and past reactors including improved safety, far better utilization of the fuel, dramatic reduction in high level waste and higher thermal efficiency. Liquid sodium is desired as reactor coolant since it has high electrical and thermal conductivities, low viscosity, and low fast-neutron cross-section. Primary (submerged) liquid sodium pumps are located in the core of the reactor to convert fission energy to power generation in an SFR. Liquid sodium is a corrosive media, and mechanical liquid sodium pumps suffer from low impeller lifetime so a non-contact pump is desirable to offer maintenance free operation for lifetime of the reactor. How the Problem Will Be Addressed: An electromagnetic primary pump with high temperature insulation system will be developed and can be readily scaled to commercial power plant size. Having no contact with liquid sodium and no moving parts (other than the fluid being pumped) this technology is a robust, reliable, and economical way to perform the high temperature primary coolant pumping required in a sodium-cooled fast reactor. This technology avoids the drawbacks of mechanical pumps including rotating parts in a high temperature reactive environment and the need for seals or other mechanical couplings between the pump motor and impeller. Phase I & II Work: Diversified Technologies, Inc. (DTI) proposes to develop a high temperature insulation system for an electromagnetic, submersible, liquid sodium primary pump for SFRs. The insulation system will be electrically-insulating, thermally-conducting, mechanically stable, and radiation resistant. In Phase I DTI will design, analyze, simulate, fabricate the coils using the high temperature insulation system, and demonstrate and test them on a DTI-produced liquid metal test bed. In Phase II, DTI will work with liquid sodium experimental facilities at Argonne National Laboratoryĺs Mechanisms Engineering Test Loop Facility (METL) to develop and test a larger submerged prototype electromagnetic liquid sodium pump and evaluate its performance. Commercial Applications and Benefits: Liquid sodium and lead / lead-bismuth pumps have markets in research and approved reactors for fission reactors. Liquid lithium alloy pumping is required for fusion breading of tritium and is a very similar technology to the electromagnetic pump developed for the SFRĺs representing an additional market application. Importantly, apart from nuclear applications, the high temperature insulation system developed here will have uses in other fields requiring high temperature electric coils. Aerospace, other transportation (automotive and rail), oil and gas production especially downhole technologies, rare-earth material recovery, and industrial applications such as metal smelting and manufacturing, medical application such as sterilizing, etc.