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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Integration of a new Cryogenic Liquefier into the IB-1 Cryogenic Test Facility

aThe increase over the last years of the testing activities related to superconducting quantum materials, SRF cavities for the PIP-II and the LCLS-II projects, as well as superconducting magnets for the HL-LHC project and Fusion research activities, has required the addition of a new Helium cryogenic plant into the existing IB-1 Industrial Cryogenic Test Facility. The new cryogenic plant is composed of a cryogenic liquefier (Cold Box) able to provide up to 340 L/h, a 4kL Dewar and two Mycom compressors providing up to 120 g/s. AL-AT (Air Liquide Advanced Technologies) has taken part of this project by designing and manufacturing the cryogenic liquefier. This new cryogenic plant is connected through a cryogenic distribution system to a 10 kL Dewar, which is part of the existing cryogenic test facility, itself composed of another Cold Box and a Sullair compressor. The new cryogenic plant has two main operating modes: one allows to transfer liquid helium at 1.7 bar between the two Dewars, the other allows to transfer supercritical Helium at 2 bar or more between the new Cold Box and the 10 kL Dewar. The entire industrial cryogenic facility is handled by a common Inventory Control System, composed of three regulatory valves, and 9 tanks giving a total buffer volume of more than 1000 m3. This paper presents the technical features of the new Helium cryogenic plant, as well as the main results of the liquefier commissioning phase and details of the helium transfer between the two dewars, making the connection between the cryogenic plants at the IB-1 Industrial Cryogenic Test Facility.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Integration of a new Cryogenic Liquefier into the IB-1 Cryogenic Test Facility

The increase over the last years of the testing activities related to quantum systems, SRF cavities for the PIP-II and the LCLS-II projects, as well as superconducting magnets for the HL-LHC project and Fusion research activities, has required the addition of a new Helium cryogenic plant into the existing IB-1 Industrial Cryogenic Test Facility. The new cryogenic plant is composed of a cryogenic liquefier (Cold Box) able to provide up to 340 L/h, a 4 kL Dewar and two Mycom ® compressors providing up to 120 g/s. AL-AT (Air Liquide Advanced Technologies) has taken part of this project by designing and manufacturing the cryogenic liquefier. This new cryogenic plant is connected through a cryogenic distribution system to a 10 kL Dewar, which is part of the existing cryogenic test facility, itself composed of another Cold Box and a Sullair ® compressor. The new cryogenic plant has two main operating modes: one allows to transfer liquid helium at 1.7 bar between the two Dewars, the other allows to transfer supercritical Helium at 2 bar or more between the new Cold Box and the 10 kL Dewar. The entire industrial cryogenic facility is handled by a common Inventory Control System, composed of three control valves, and 9 tanks giving a total buffer volume of more than 1000 m3. This paper presents the technical features of the new Helium cryogenic plant, as well as the main results of the liquefier commissioning phase and details of the helium transfer between the two Dewars, making the connection between the cryogenic plants at the IB-1 Industrial Cryogenic Test Facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Validation of Oregon State University High Temperature Test Facility Experiments Using Pronghorn

The OSU High Temperature Test Facility is a quarter-scale diameter, 1/64 scale volume test facility meant to replicate thermophysical phenomena in the prototypical General Atomics Modular High Temperature Gas Reactor. Tests pertaining to conduction cooldown events were performed from 2016-2019, providing a large database by which computational methods that are applicable to different length scales can be validated. One of these codes is Pronghorn, which is a coarse-meshed, porous-based subchannel thermal hydraulics code based on the MOOSE application, with the intention of better capturing the physics of both conduction and convection heat transfer within the OSU HTTF core. The goal of this summer project is to develop the framework by which Pronghorn can perform validation exercises of the HTTF core for benchmarking, by generating a mesh appropriate to the geometry of the HTTF core, developing input decks that accurately capture the initial and boundary conditions, materials, and relevant equations to the physics seen in the HTTF core, and using a postprocessor to compare simulation results to various experimental data. While validation of codes is a multi-year project, a mesh has been generated and tested in Pronghorn that meets mass conservation and basic heat transfer principles. The next step is to accurate depict the fluid inlet and outlet boundary conditions, which will be performed using computational fluid dynamics software.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Magnet Test Facilities

Highlights of the various Magnet Test Facilities in the Test & Instrumentation Department.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Noble Liquid Test Facility at Fermilab

The Noble Liquid Test Facility (NLTF) at Fermilab is a liquid argon detector R\&D facility open to the national and international HEP community. The facility consists of 4 permanent cryostats, ranging from 250L up to 3000L, open space for small open dewar testing, and an optical test stand facility capable of measuring the optical properties of materials and characterizing photon detectors. NLTF’s strongest advantage is its capability to provide ultra-pure LAr in a reliable manner. Its inline filters are capable of filtering all of the three biggest contaminants for standard LAr detectors, O$_2$ and H$_2$O down to $< 1$ppb and N$_2$ $< 1$ppm. This is critical for the users of the test stands as small levels of impurities can dramatically change the efficiency of LArTPCs for the collection of charge and light. The smallest cryostat is mainly used for material testing, a service provided to the international HEP community interested in understanding how the introduction of a specific material might affect the electron lifetime in LAr. The test stands can be equipped with a purity monitor, which allows measuring the electron lifetime in real time, as well as gas sampling and analyzing, and in the near future, local recirculation and filtering. The facility has hosted many successful R\&D projects, which have published their results in well-known journals and talks. A few examples of such projects are: NIR light production in LAr and GAr, the characterization of VUV metalenses, the testing of new filter media capable of filtering N$_2$ from LAr, high voltage studies and direct charge amplification in LAr, and various doping studies.

Blaszczyk, Flor María [Fermilab]↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design and Construction of a High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, together with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is building a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) to be situated in the Magnet Test Facility at Fermilab. The HFVMTF is jointly funded by the US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics, and Fusion Energy Sciences, and will serve as a superconducting cable test facility for both communities. The background magnetic field for test samples is 15 T and will be produced by a magnet provided by LBNL operating at 1.9 K in superfluid helium. The samples will be placed in the background magnetic field, cooled to between 4.5 K and a user-specified upper limit, and will be powered with a super-conducting transformer at up to 100 kA. Additionally, this facility will be used to test high-field superconducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, produced by the US Magnet Development Program. Presently, the various tasks of the project are at different stages of execution, from conceptual to ready-for-construction designs. Here, this paper describes the parameters and design status of the pit construction, cryostat, heat exchanger, lambda plate, power system, and quench protection and monitoring systems of the facility.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Status of the High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are building a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) for testing superconducting cables in high magnetic field. The background magnetic field of 15 T in the HFVMTF will be produced by a magnet provided by LBNL. The HFVMTF is jointly funded by the US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics (HEP), and Fusion Energy Sciences (FES), and will serve as a superconducting cable test facility in high magnetic fields and a wide range of temperatures for HEP and FES communities. This facility will also be used to test high-field superconducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, produced by the US Magnet Development Program (MDP). The paper describes the status of the facility, including construction, cryostat designs, top and lambda plates, and systems for powering, and quench protection and monitoring.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Investigation of thermal hydraulic behavior of the High Temperature Test Facility's lower plenum via large eddy simulation

A high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model for the lower plenum of the High–Temperature Test Facility (HTTF), a ¼ scale test facility of the modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor (MHTGR) managed by Oregon State University. In most next–generation nuclear reactors, thermal stress due to thermal striping is one of the risks to be curiously considered. This is also true for HTGRs, especially since the exhaust helium gas temperature is high. In order to evaluate these risks and performance, organizations in the United States led by the OECD NEA are conducting a thermal hydraulic code benchmark for HTGR, and the test facility used for this benchmark is HTTF. HTTF can perform experiments in both normal and accident situations and provide high-quality experimental data. However, it is difficult to provide sufficient data for benchmarking through experiments, and there is a problem with the reliability of CFD analysis results based on Reynolds–averaged Navier–Stokes to analyze thermal hydraulic behavior without verification. To solve this problem, high-fidelity 3-D CFD analysis was performed using the LES model for HTTF. It was also verified that the LES model can properly simulate this jet mixing phenomenon via a unit cell test that provides experimental information. As a result of CFD analysis, the lower the dependency of the sub-grid scale model, the closer to the actual analysis result. In the case of unit cell test CFD analysis and HTTF CFD analysis, the volume-averaged sub-grid scale model dependency was calculated to be 13.0% and 9.16%, respectively. As a result of HTTF analysis, quantitative data of the fluid inside the HTTF lower plenum was provided in this paper. As a result of qualitative analysis, the temperature was highest at the center of the lower plenum, while the temperature fluctuation was highest near the edge of the lower plenum wall. The power spectral density of temperature was analyzed via fast Fourier transform (FFT) for specific points on the center and side of the lower plenum. FFT results did not reveal specific frequency-dominant temperature fluctuations in the center part. It was confirmed that the temperature power spectral density (PSD) at the top increased from the center to the wake. The vortex was visualized using the well-known scalar Q-criterion, and as a result, the closer to the outlet duct, the greater the influence of the mainstream, so that the inflow jet vortex was dissipated and mixed at the top of the lower plenum. Additionally, FFT analysis was performed on the support structure near the corner of the lower plenum with large temperature fluctuations, and as a result, it was confirmed that the temperature fluctuation of the flow did not have a significant effect near the corner wall. In addition, the vortices generated from the lower plenum to the outlet duct were identified in this paper. It is considered that the quantitative and qualitative results presented in this paper will serve as reference data for the benchmark.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Post-Transient Examination Results of RIA Commissioning Teats at the Transient Reactor Test Facility

Six reactivity-initiated-accident (RIA) commissioning tests have been performed at Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL) Transient Reactor Test Facility. Five of these tests were performed using fresh fuel rodlets, and the sixth test was performed using a previously irradiated rodlet from the ATF-2 irradiation experiment. These experiments demonstrate the ability to perform RIA testing including the ability to perform experiments using previously irradiated materials. Post-transient examinations revealed pellet cladding interactions and cladding ballooning depending on the initial boundary conditions of the test. Increased thickness of both zirconium oxide and alpha-zirconium were found in the cladding with tests performed at higher levels of total energy deposition. No oxide or alpha-zirconium was found in the test with the greatest amount of ballooning, which was also the test with the highest initial rod internal pressure. The highest energy deposition test (1110 J/g) resulted in failure of the rodlet. Fragmentation of the fuel pellets occurred in this test with the size of the fragments decreasing inversely to the pellet radius.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Scaling methodologies and similarity analysis for thermal hydraulics test facility development for water-cooled small modular reactor

Small modular reactors (SMRs) represent a promising option for providing clean and sustainable energy due to their potential for enhanced safety, reduced capital costs, and increased siting flexibility. However, new reactor systems require the development and operation of representative scaled-down test facilities to support the verification and validation of system computer codes and models. Here this study reviews the research on scaling methodologies and similarity principles pivotal in developing non-nuclear integral effects test and separate effects test facilities for water-cooled SMRs. The study focuses on a review of the scaling methods, similarity approaches, and possible challenges posed by the unique and compact design features of integral-pressurized water reactor-type SMRs, and their representative test facilities. This study also reviews previous research related to scaling and similarity methodologies and provides insights into design considerations for achieving prototypic conditions in test facilities. The findings and recommendations emphasize the broader impact of appropriate scaling and similarity principles to ensure meaningful and transferable results from non-nuclear test facilities to accelerate the safe and efficient deployment of next-generation water-cooled SMRs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Status of the Top Plate and Anticryostat for High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) is currently constructing a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) designed for testing High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) cables under high magnetic fields. This facility is expected to offer capabilities similar to those of EDIPO at PSI and FRESCA2 at CERN. The background magnetic field of 15 T will be generated by a magnet supplied by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The primary function of HFVMTF will be to serve as a superconducting cable test facility, facilitating tests under high magnetic fields and a broad spectrum of cryogenic temperatures. Additionally, the facility will be utilized for testing high-field superconducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, developed by the US Magnet Development Program (MDP). This paper provides a comprehensive description of the current status of two pivotal components of the facility: the Top/Lambda Plates Assembly and the Anticryostat for the Test Sample Holder. The latter will serve as a principal interface component connecting cable test samples with the facility's cryostat.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Modeling of the High Temperature Test Facility Using RELAP-7

The High Temperature Test Facility (HTTF) at Oregon State University (OSU) is an electrically heated, helium cooled, experimental facility. The HTTF was modeled using RELAP-7 in both 1-D and 3-D for validation. Due to core symmetry, 1/6th of the HTTF core was modeled in 3-D using the coupled heat conduction and forced convection capabilities of RELAP-7. This served as a validation case for RELAP-7 and its capabilities to model advanced nuclear technologies such as high temperature gas-cooled reactors.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Magnetic and Mechanical Analysis of a Large Aperture 15 T Cable Test Facility Dipole Magnet

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science (SC), is funding a large bore “Cable Test Facility Magnet” for testing advanced cables and inserts in high transverse field. This is a joint effort between the Office of High Energy Physics (HEP) and the Office of Fusion Energy Sciences (FES). The background field magnet for this facility is being developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) while the cryostat and test facility will be located and operated by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL). The Nb 3 Sn dipole magnet, which will provide the transverse background field, is designed to generate a field of 15 T in a 100 × 150 mm bore at 1.9 K. The conceptual design of a block-type dipole with flared ends and a structure based on key-and-bladder technology will be introduced. The results of the magnetic and mechanical analysis will be presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Test for Reconditioning RA Waste with Simulated Bitumen and Concrete in a 1,2 MW Plasma Test Facility - 20092

The operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants, the non nuclear fuel cycle, etc generate low-level radioactive waste which, along with the historical radioactive waste from past nuclear activities, needs to be treated and stored, awaiting final disposal. Plasma technology offers a very effective way of treating this waste with a high volume reduction factor (VRF), free from organics, liquids and moisture, and meets without a doubt the acceptance criteria for safe storage and disposal. By means of a plasma beam of approximately 5000 deg. C, the inorganic materials are melted into a glassy slag, containing most of the radioactive isotopes while the organic material is gasified, oxidized and purified in an off-gas cleaning system. First the paper describes the new full-scale Plasma Melting Facility (PMF) at the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria which was taken in nuclear operation In May 2018. The plant has a capacity of 250 tons per year and the maximum contact dose rates of the incoming waste is 2 mSv/h. Different mixtures of radioactive waste packed in 200 l drums were successfully treated resulting in a glassy slag free from liquids and organic material with an important volume reduction factor (VRF). The Project was co-financed through a grant by Kozloduy International Decommissioning fund (KIDSF) administrated by the EBRD through Bulgarian national funding. Plasma is a suitable technology for treatment of problematic waste or even reconditioning waste so Belgoprocess was contracted to do plasma tests with simulated conditioned waste types. One can do tests on a laboratory scale on smaller samples and torch capacities of e.g. 50 kW but Belgoprocess wanted to do more realistic and reliable tests. So Belgoprocess contracted Phoenix Solutions Co who has a full-scope test facility equipped with a 1200 kW plasma torch for full-scope treatment of simulated conditioned waste. For a first confidential contract simulated 200 l (55 gallon) bitumen drums were treated. The drums contained different pucks of compacted waste such as rags, used filters, granulates, etc. The pucks were stacked in the 200 l drums and subsequently embedded with bitumen. A total of 6 drums were treated in the plasma facility. For a second contract simulated homogeneous 200 l (55 gallon) concrete drums with on the one hand concentrates and on the other hand spent resins were selected. A total of 6 drums with concrete and spent resins were treated and melted in the plasma testing facility. The paper describe the test facility, volume reduction factor (VRF) of different waste streams and most important parameters. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2023

Status of the Top Plate and Anticryostat for High Field Cable Test Facility at Fermilab

Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL) and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) are building a new High Field Vertical Magnet Test Facility (HFVMTF) for testing superconducting cables in high magnetic field. This facility will be located at Fermilab and will have a capability similar to EDIPO at PSI and FRESCA2 at CERN. The background magnetic field of 15T in HFVMTF will be produced by a magnet pro-vided by LBNL. The HFVMTF is jointly funded by the US DOE Offices of Science, High Energy Physics, and Fusion Energy Sciences. As a primary use it will be superconducting cable test facility, in high magnetic fields and wide range of temperatures. Complementary, this facility will be used to test high-field super-conducting magnet models and demonstrators, including hybrid magnets, produced by the US Magnet Development Program (MDP). The paper describes the status of Top Plates Assembly and Sample Insert Anticryostat, which will be a main interface component between cable test mode and magnet test mode at this facility.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

PV High Wind User Test Facility

The creation of a PV high wind test facility at the NREL Flatirons Campus that will enable private and public research efforts aimed at storm hardening PV systems. The facility will be instrumented to monitor effects of high wind conditions on modules and other array components. These in-field tests will coordinate with flow models, wind tunnel testing, validation of PV aeroelastic design codes, and post-testing module and system component analysis.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Introduction of the PELICAN loop, a Full-Scale Pressure Drop Test Facility

The Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) is a test reactor currently under development by the US Department of Energy. This reactor will rely on fast neutrons enabling novel and wide-ranging experiment to support the development of the various advanced reactor technologies. With the high flux achievable, accelerated testing of fluid and materials will be made possible. To support VTR design efforts [1], an experimental facility has been designed and constructed at Argonne National Laboratory to recreate the hydraulic flow conditions within the VTR’s primary heat transport system (PHTS). This facility, the Pressure drop Experimental Loop for Investigations of Core Assemblies in advanced Nuclear reactors, PELICAN, measures the pressure drop across a full-scale fuel assembly containing prototypic axial reflectors, fuel, and plena components. Here, we first describe the design considerations required to recreate aspects of the VTR. Then we discuss the design and construction of PELICAN to address these design requirements, the design and construction of the test articles placed inside PELICAN’s test section, and finally present some of the first experimental results.

Grannan, A. M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Measurements at peak operational beam current in the SNS beam test facility

Work at the SNS beam test facility has focused on high dimensional and high dynamic range measurements of the medium energy (2.5 Mev) beam distribution. This is motivated by the need to understand and predict beam losses down to one-part-per-million. The initial demonstration of full-and-direct 6D phase space measurement was done at a current of 40 mA transported through the RFQ. Since that demonstration, more detailed studies have been performed at lower transported currents (in the range 30 mA and below). This is due to a hardware change - recent runs utilize the original SNS RFQ, which after a decade of service in the SNS achieves transmission significantly below design (50-60%, vs >80%). A short run in 2023 with a newly-commissioned RFQ enables maximum transmission. Preliminary results from beam distribution measurements during this run are discussed.

Ruisard, Kiersten↗