Porous Fission Product Trap for Reactor Seal Emissions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques fail to effectively capture fission products at the source of emission in reactor systems, leading to undesirable buildup within containment vessels.
Innovation Solution
Fission product traps are designed to capture fission products at or in proximity to the source of emission, utilizing a porous container filled with absorbing materials like activated carbon or silver zeolite, mounted around pipe connections or pump shafts, and enclosed in a gas-tight assembly to prevent diffusion into the reactor environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If fission products are allowed to diffuse freely in the reactor containment, then the containment vessel can maintain a simple structure, but fission products accumulate to harmful levels causing environmental and safety risks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces fission product traps as intermediary devices positioned between the source of fission products (pipe connections, pump shafts) and the containment environment. These traps act as mediators that capture and retain fission products locally, preventing their diffusion into the broader containment space while maintaining overall system simplicity
Solution Approach 2:
The fission product traps are strategically positioned at or near the sources of emission (pipe connections, pump shafts) to capture fission products at the point of release. This preliminary action prevents fission products from entering the containment environment in the first place, rather than dealing with accumulation after diffusion occurs
2Reliability
If fission product traps are installed at pipe connections and pump shafts, then fission products are captured at the source, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fission product traps utilize porous materials with high surface area and adsorption capacity to capture fission products effectively. The porous structure provides numerous binding sites for radioactive iodine and other fission products, enhancing capture reliability without requiring excessively large trap volumes
Solution Approach 2:
The trap design employs a nested structure where the porous container is mounted about the pipe connection or pump shaft, and the absorbing material is contained within the porous container. This nested arrangement maximizes the use of space and integrates multiple functional elements in a compact configuration, reducing overall device complexity
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The traps effectively collect and retain fission products such as radioactive iodine, reducing their release into the broader containment space and mitigating environmental and safety risks.
Implementation Method 1
an absorbing material contained therein that is configured to collect fission products emitted from the pipe connection
Data Source
AI summary
A fission product trap for a reactor system, such as for a pipe connection and/or a pump shaft of a pump of the reactor system, includes a porous container. The porous container may be mounted about the pipe connection and/or pump shaft and include an absorbing material contained therein. The absorbing material may be configured to collect fission products emitted from the pipe connection and/or the pump shaft. The fission product trap further includes an assembly encompassing the porous container and that defines a volume about the porous container and the pipe connection and/or the pump shaft.