Compact passive decay heat removal system for transportable micro-reactor applications
AssigneeWestinghouse Electric Corp.
InventorsMatthew M. Swartz, Anthony G. Trupiano, Jurie J. Van Wyk
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A container for transporting a reactor is disclosed. The container includes a loop thermosiphon including a chamber, a heat exchanger fluidically coupled to the chamber, and an actuator including an unactuated state and an actuated state. The actuator is configured to automatically transition to the actuated state. The transition is based on an event occurring within the reactor. A working medium is configured to remove heat from the reactor in the actuated state.
Claims23
A container configured for transporting a reactor, the container comprising:
- a loop thermosiphon, comprising:
- a chamber in direct thermal contact with the reactor based on the reactor being positioned in the container;
- a working medium;
- a heat exchanger fluidically coupled to the chamber;
- and
- an actuator configurable in a plurality of states, the plurality of states comprising:
- an unactuated state, wherein the actuator maintains the working medium within the chamber in the unactuated state;
- and
- an actuated state, wherein the actuator is configured to transition from the unactuated state to the actuated state based on an event;
- wherein the working medium is configured to remove heat from the reactor based on the reactor being positioned in the container, and wherein the working medium is configured to flow from the chamber to the heat exchanger based on the actuator transitioning from the unactuated state to the actuated state.
A container configured for transporting a reactor, the container comprising:
- a closed-loop thermosiphon, comprising:
- an enclosure in direct thermal contact with the reactor based on the reactor being positioned in the container;
- a working medium;
- a heat exchanger in fluid communication with the enclosure, the heat exchanger configured to remove thermal heat from the working medium;
- and
- a passive actuator, wherein the passive actuator prevents the working medium from flowing from the enclosure to the heat exchanger until a predefined event occurs, and wherein the predefined event is to actuate the passive actuator to permit the working medium to flow from the enclosure to the heat exchanger to remove the thermal heat from the reactor based on the reactor being positioned in the container.
A container configured for transporting a reactor, the container comprising:
- a loop thermosiphon, comprising:
- an evaporator region comprising a working medium, the evaporator region being in direct thermal contact with the reactor based on the reactor being positioned in the container, wherein the working medium is configured to absorb thermal heat from the reactor based on the reactor being positioned in the container;
- a condenser region fluidically coupled to the evaporator region, the condenser region including a heat exchanger, wherein the working medium is configured to transport the absorbed thermal heat from the evaporator region to the condenser region;
- and
- a passive actuator configured to prevent the working medium from flowing from the evaporator region to the condenser region until occurrence of an event, wherein the passive actuator is configured to be actuated to permit the working medium to flow from the evaporator region to the heat exchanger based on the occurrence of the event, and wherein the heat exchanger is configured to remove the absorbed thermal heat from the working medium.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.