System simulation of a multicell thermionic space power reactor

For many years, thermionic power has been considered for space application. The prominent feature of the power conversion system is that there are no moving parts. Although designs have been developed by various organizations, no comprehensive system models are known to exist which can simulate transient behavior of a multicell design nor is there a method to directly couple these models to other codes that can calculate variations in reactivity. Thus, a procedure has been developed to couple the performance calculations of a space nuclear reactor thermal/hydraulics code with a neutron diffusion code to analyze temperature feedback.; Thermionic power is based on the thermionic emissions principle where free electrons in a conductor have sufficient energy to escape the surface. Kinetic energy is given to the electrons by heating the conductor. Specifically, a 48 kW_e thermionic power converter system model has been developed and used to model startup and other transients. Less than 10% of the fuel heat is converted to electricity, and the rest is rejected to space via a heat pipe radiator. An electromagnetic pump circulates the liquid metal coolant.; First, a startup transient model was developed which showed stable operation through ignition of the Thermionic Fuel Elements (TFEs) and thawing of the radiator heat pipes. Also, the model's capability was expanded to include two-phase heat transfer to model boiling using coupled mass and thermal energy conservation equations. The next step incorporated effects of reactivity feedback—showing that various mechanisms will prevent power and temperature run-up for a flow reduction scenario where the reactor control systems fail to respond. In particular, the Doppler effect was shown to counter a positive worth due to partial core voiding although steps must be taken to preclude film boiling in that high superheats will result in TFE failures. Finally, analysis of the core grid spacer location suggests it should be located at the core outlet only.; Applicable operational data were also assessed for TOPAZ II tests. A steady-state analysis showed a good comparison with other modeling codes, and TFE performance agreed within 3% of the experimental data—thus, validating the performance calculations.