19results about "Energy production using thermoelectric elements" patented technology

The invention relates to the technical field of nuclear reactor safety, and particularly discloses a reactor waste heat export, recovery and comprehensive utilization system and method based on a heat pipe, and the system comprises a nuclear energy generation system, a secondary loop energy conversion system, a primary loop waste heat discharge system, a secondary loop waste heat discharge system, and a waste heat recovery and comprehensive utilization system. According to the waste heat recycling system, the heat pipe can be used for heat transfer and storage under the peak regulation operation condition, the nuclear heat use efficiency is remarkably improved, the requirements of various types of energy sources such as electricity and heat are met, and passive export of reactor core waste heat can be achieved through multi-natural-circulation coupling cooperative operation under the condition of a whole-field outage accident. By means of the efficient heat transfer characteristic and the modularization characteristic of the heat pipes, independent operation of the heat pipes can be achieved, the problem of single-point failure of the system can be avoided, meanwhile, separation of a reactor coolant and a cooling medium of a waste heat removal system can be achieved, the inherent safety of a nuclear reactor is remarkably improved, and the requirements of multi-purpose scenes are met; and the purpose of fully utilizing resources is achieved.

A nuclear fission power plant (10) configured for extra-terrestrial use comprising a gas-cooled moderated nuclear reactor core (20) with a metallic fuel (30), a moderator (60), and a containment vessel (40) with a containment vessel inlet (42) and a containment vessel outlet (44). A neutron reflector (70) is disposed around a periphery of the gas-cooled moderated nuclear reactor core, and a plurality of neutronic control elements (50) comprising rotatable control drums disposed around the periphery of the gas-cooled moderated nuclear reactor core. A fluid circuit (90) is configured to receive hot gas from the containment vessel outlet and deliver cooled gas to the containment vessel inlet. An electricity generating system (91) is coupled to the fluid circuit so as to generate an electrical current.

A thermal power reactor (100) includes a reactor core (102) that generates thermal energy and a solid state thermal conductor (106) extending into and thermally integrated with the reactor core (102). The solid state thermal conductor (106) transfers thermal energy generated by the reactor core (102) away from the reactor core (102).

A system and method for a Scalable Liquid Metal cooled small Modular (SLIMM) reactor wherein the reactor vessel in the upper plenum is conductively coupled to the evaporator sections of the liquid metal heat pipes laid on the outside of the vessel wall.

A nuclear reactor includes a reactor vessel containing an alkali metal thermoelectric converter. The bottom part of the vessel contains liquid alkali metal. A reactor core is arranged in the vessel and includes fuel rods. The surface of each fuel rod is provided with a first liquid absorption core. The bottom part of the reactor core is provided with second liquid absorption cores which are connected to the first liquid absorption cores. The cores are together configured to use capillary action to pump liquid alkali metal to an upper portion of an outer surface of the fuel rods, where the liquid alkali metal is vaporized into alkali metal vapor. The converter divides the inside of the reactor vessel into a high-pressure vapor chamber and a low-pressure vapor chamber. The converter is configured to receive alkali metal vapor from the high-pressure vapor chamber for use in electric power generation.

The invention discloses a microminiature static liquid fuel reactor and a noiseless thermoelectric conversion method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of nuclear engineering. The reactor core comprises a reactor core body filled with liquid fission fuel; the natural negative feedback system comprises a first negative feedback unit formed by the thermal expansion effect of the liquid fission fuel and a second negative feedback unit formed by a plurality of gas expansion modules; the thermoelectric conversion system comprises a heat pipe in direct contact with the liquid fission fuel and a thermoelectric conversion assembly integrated on the heat pipe; the sensing and control system comprises a plurality of temperature sensors and neutron detectors, a control rod, a driving mechanism and a control system; wherein the control system judges whether the adjustment of the natural negative feedback system is sufficient or not based on the monitoring data of the temperature sensor and the neutron detector, and regulates and controls the position of the control rod when the adjustment is judged to be insufficient so as to maintain the stable power of the reactor core, and the high-reliability operation of the reactor in the whole life period can be ensured.

Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of nuclear reactors, and in particular to a thermionic reactor. The thermionic reactor provided by embodiments of the present application comprises: a thermionic reactor body configured to convert heat generated by the thermionic reactor body into electrical energy; an electromagnetic pump configured to drive circulation of a coolant of the thermionic reactor body; and a start-up power supply configured to drive the electromagnetic pump to drive circulation of the coolant before the thermionic reactor body is operated. Since the start-up power supply is configured to drive the electromagnetic pump before the thermionic reactor body is operated, self-power supply of the electromagnetic pump during the reactor start-up process can be achieved, which does not rely on an external power supply and drives the coolant to flow to take away excess heat of the thermionic reactor body; after the reactor start-up is completed and a normal operation stage is entered, the start-up power supply can continue to supply power to the electromagnetic pump and other system devices.

The application discloses a modular nuclear reactor power supply device, which comprises one or more power output subsystem cabin sections; the power output subsystem cabin section comprises a cabin shell, a final heat sink, a power adapter device, and a reactor, a helium-xenon thermoelectric conversion loop and a shadow shielding structure arranged in the cabin shell; a coolant channel is formed in the reactor, the coolant channel is filled with a helium-xenon mixed gas, the helium-xenon mixed gas is circulated in the helium-xenon thermoelectric conversion loop to export the heat of the reactor core and generate electric energy; the power adapter device converts the electric energy output by the helium-xenon thermoelectric conversion loop into a desired voltage value matched with a load end and then exports the electric energy to the load end; the power adapter device is connected with multiple power output subsystem cabin sections to realize power output in a parallel mode. Compared with the existing problems of insufficient chemical energy, solar energy and decay energy, the application can generate heat energy through a continuous chain fission reaction and realize continuous supply of electric energy through a thermoelectric conversion loop, and the energy density is high.

A nuclear fission power plant (10) for extra-terrestrial use comprising a nuclear reactor core (20) comprising a metallic fuel (30); a plurality of heat pipes (40), each heat pipe at least partially extending within the nuclear reactor core; a plurality of primary neutronic control elements (50) comprising rotatable control drums disposed around a periphery of the nuclear reactor core; a neutron reflector (70) disposed around the periphery of the nuclear reactor core; a plurality of thermoelectric generators (80); a fluid circuit (90) comprising a heat exchanger (92) and a pump (94), wherein heat is transferred from the nuclear reactor core to a working fluid of the fluid circuit via the heat pipes, and the fluid circuit transfers heat from the heat exchanger to the thermoelectric generators; and a passive radiator (100), wherein the thermoelectric generators are thermally coupled to the fluid circuit and the passive radiator.

A structured plasma cell includes a first electrode including a first plurality of micro-cavities and a first plasma disposed within one or more micro-cavities of the first plurality of micro-cavities. The structured plasma cell also includes a second electrode including a second plurality of micro-cavities and a second plasma disposed within one or more micro-cavities of the second plurality of micro-cavities. The structured plasma cell also includes an inter-electrode gap disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode.

A portable nuclear power system includes a nuclear reactor. The nuclear reactor includes a core comprising a vessel housing a nuclear fuel that produces radiation, a sleeve of a high temperature moderator material disposed circumferentially about the core, and a neutron screen disposed circumferentially about the sleeve. The portable nuclear power system generates electricity using heat received from the nuclear reactor and has one or more cooling units in thermal communication with the electricity generating unit.

A nuclear fission power plant (10) configured for extra-terrestrial use, the nuclear fission power plant comprising: an unmoderated nuclear reactor core (20), the unmoderated nuclear reactor core comprising an unmoderated fuel (30); a neutron reflector (70) disposed around a periphery of the unmoderated nuclear reactor core; a plurality of primary neutronic control elements (50); a plurality of heat pipes (40), each heat pipe comprising a first portion (41) extending within the unmoderated nuclear reactor core and a second portion (42) extending beyond an end of the unmoderated nuclear reactor core; and a plurality of thermoelectric generators (80), wherein a plurality of thermoelectric generators are coupled to each heat pipe, each thermoelectric generator having a hot first end coupled to the second portion of a corresponding heat pipe and a cold second end configured to radiate heat.

Embodiments of the present application relate to the field of residual heat removal during shutdown, and particularly to a residual heat removal system suitable for a lunar reactor and the lunar reactor. The lunar reactor comprises a reactor core, a first heat transfer member and a thermoelectric conversion element. The reactor core is configured to provide heat, the first heat transfer member is configured to transfer heat of the reactor core to the thermoelectric conversion element, and the thermoelectric conversion element is configured to convert the heat of the reactor core into electric energy. The residual heat removal system comprises a second heat transfer member and a radiation structure. The second heat transfer member is configured to transfer heat of the reactor core to an outside of the reactor core, and the radiation structure is in thermal conductive connection with the second heat transfer member to radiate heat transferred by the second heat transfer member to an external environment. The second heat transfer member is configured to be non-activated when the lunar reactor is in normal operation, and to be non-actively activated to transfer heat of the reactor core to the radiation structure as the temperature of the reactor core increases when the lunar reactor is in an accident. The residual heat removal system provided by the embodiments of the present application can non-actively remove residual heat of the reactor core.

An alkali metal reactor power supply, comprising: a reactor vessel (1), the bottom part of which is provided with a liquid alkali metal (2); a reactor core (4), which is arranged in the reactor vessel (1) and comprises a plurality of fuel rods (3) and a radial reflection layer (11) arranged at the periphery of the plurality of fuel rods (3), wherein the surface of each fuel rod (3) is provided with a first liquid absorption core (5), the bottom part of the reactor core (4) is provided with second liquid absorption cores (19) which are connected to the first liquid absorption cores (5), and the second liquid absorption cores (19) can be in contact with the liquid alkali metal (2); and alkali metal thermoelectric converters (7), which are arranged along the circumferential direction of the radial reflection layer (11), and divide the inside of the reactor vessel (1) into a high-pressure steam chamber (6) located above the alkali metal thermoelectric converters (7) and a low-pressure steam chamber (8) located below the alkali metal thermoelectric converters (7). By using the phase-change heat transfer of alkali metal, the circulating power of the liquid alkali metal (2) is provided by using the liquid absorption cores, the structure is simple, the arrangement is flexible, and the power generation efficiency is high.

A nuclear fission power plant (10) for extra-terrestrial use comprising: a nuclear reactor core (20) comprising a metallic fuel (30) and a moderator (60); reactor heat pipes (40) that each at least partially extend within the nuclear reactor core; neutronic control elements (50) comprising rotatable control drums disposed around the periphery of the nuclear reactor core; a neutron reflector (70) disposed around a periphery of the nuclear reactor core; a fluid circuit (90) comprising a turbine (94), a heat dissipator (96), and compressor (98) arranged in flow series, wherein an end of the reactor heat pipes extends into the heat exchanger to transfer heat from the nuclear reactor core to a working fluid of the fluid circuit, which drives the turbine and transfers heat from the heat exchanger to the heat dissipator; and an electrical generator (80), wherein the turbine drives the compressor and electrical generator.

A nuclear fission power plant (10) for extra-terrestrial use, comprising: a nuclear reactor core (20) comprising a metallic fuel (30); a plurality of reactor heat pipes (40) at least partially extending within the nuclear reactor core; a neutron reflector (70) and a plurality of neutronic control elements (50) disposed around the periphery of the nuclear reactor core; a plurality of thermoelectric generators (80); a fluid circuit (90) comprising a heat exchanger (92) and a pump (94), wherein an end of the reactor heat pipes extends into the heat exchanger to transfer heat to a working fluid of the fluid circuit which transfers heat to the thermoelectric generators; a passive radiator (100); and a plurality of radiator heat pipes (86). The thermoelectric generators are thermally coupled to the fluid circuit and to at least one of the radiator heat pipes, which are thermally coupled to the passive radiator.

A simple nuclear reactor in which most of the reflector material is outside of the reactor vessel is described. The reactor vessel is a cylinder that contains all of the fuel salt and a displacement component, which may be a reflector, in the upper section of the reactor vessel. Other than the displacement component, the reflector elements including a radial reflector and a bottom reflector are located outside the vessel. The salt flows around the outside surface of the displacement component through a downcomer heat exchange duct defined by the exterior of the displacement component and the interior surface of the reactor vessel. This design reduces the overall size of the reactor vessel for a given volume of salt relative to designs with internal radial or bottom reflectors.