Stepped Conduit Housing for Nuclear Reactor Instrumentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In nuclear fission reactors, particularly traveling wave reactors (TWRs), there is a need for improved instrumentation conduit housings that allow efficient access and spatial utilization while minimizing the size and height of the housing to accommodate multiple conduits, ensuring effective monitoring and control of reactor parameters without compromising seismic stability and ease of access.
Innovation Solution
The design of a conduit housing with a top face, side faces, and a front side featuring stepped faces with alternating vertical and pitched conduit ports, optimized for spatial efficiency and access, allowing conduits to exit in a direction opposite the top face, and incorporating a curved lower portion to accommodate bend radius requirements, thereby reducing the housing's footprint and height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If multiple conduits are accommodated in a conventional housing configuration, then the housing size and height increase, but spatial utilization efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The housing utilizes stepped faces with conduit ports arranged at different vertical levels and angles, transitioning from a conventional single-plane arrangement to a multi-dimensional stepped configuration. This allows conduits to be routed through multiple faces (front, side, rear) at different elevations, effectively packing more conduits into the same horizontal footprint without increasing overall housing height.
Solution Approach 2:
The conduit ports are nested within the stepped facial structures, with each step providing a platform for additional conduit connections. The configuration allows conduits to be organized in a hierarchical manner across multiple levels, maximizing the use of available space within the housing volume.
2Ease of operation
If conduit ports are arranged on a single flat face, then the housing height can be minimized, but access to conduits becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Conduit ports are distributed across multiple stepped faces at different vertical levels and angular orientations rather than being confined to a single horizontal plane. This three-dimensional arrangement allows operators to access conduits from various directions and elevations, improving ergonomics and ease of connection without requiring excessive housing height.
Solution Approach 2:
The stepped faces create an asymmetric configuration where conduit ports are positioned at varying heights and angles on different faces (front, side, rear). This asymmetric arrangement optimizes access pathways for operators while maintaining a compact overall housing profile.
3Area of stationary object
If the housing footprint is reduced to save space, then spatial efficiency improves, but seismic stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The stepped multi-face configuration distributes conduit connections across vertical and angular dimensions rather than requiring a large horizontal footprint. By utilizing the vertical space and angular orientations of stepped faces, the housing achieves high conduit capacity within a compact footprint while maintaining a stable base area for seismic resistance.
Data Source
AI summary
A conduit housing includes a top face, a pair of side faces disposed opposite each other and adjacent to the top face, a front side, and a rear side. The top face includes a plurality of vertical conduit ports arranged in a plurality of rows. The front side is positioned between the pair of side faces and defines a plurality of stepped faces. The rear side is disposed opposite the front side and adjacent the top face. The stepped faces include a plurality of downward faces and each of the plurality of downward faces defines a downward face plane. The stepped faces also include a plurality of upward faces, where each of the plurality of upward faces defines an upward face plane. Each upward face includes a plurality of pitched conduit ports.