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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1995

Environmentally safe aviation fuels

In response to the Air Force directive to remove Ozone Depleting Chemicals (ODC's) from military specifications and Defense Logistics Agency's Hazardous Waste Minimization Program, we are faced with how to ensure a quality aviation fuel without using such chemicals. Many of these chemicals are found throughout the fuel and fuel related military specifications and are part of test methods that help qualify the properties and quality of the fuels before they are procured. Many years ago there was a directive for military specifications to use commercially standard test methods in order to provide standard testing in private industry and government. As a result the test methods used in military specifications are governed by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM). The Air Force has been very proactive in the removal or replacement of the ODC's and hazardous materials in these test methods. For example, ASTM D3703 (Standard Test Method for Peroxide Number of Aviation Turbine Fuels), requires the use of Freon 113, a known ODC. A new rapid, portable hydroperoxide test for jet fuels similar to ASTM D3703 that does not require the use of ODC's has been developed. This test has proved, in limited testing, to be a viable substitute method for ASTM D3703. The Air Force is currently conducting a round robin to allow the method to be accepted by ASTM and therefore replace the current method. This paper will describe the Air Force's initiatives to remove ODC's and hazardous materials from the fuel and fuel related military specifications that the Air Force Wright Laboratory.

Liberio, Patricia D.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Fuel Cell Power Plant Initiative: Solid Oxide Fuel Cell/Logistics Fuel Processor 27 kWe Power System Demonstration for ARPA - Volume 1

This report describes the successful testing of a 27 kWe Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) generator fueled by natural gas and/or a fuel gas produced by a brassboard logistics fuel preprocessor (LFP). The test period began on May 24, 1995 and ended on February 26, 1996 with the successful completion of all program requirements and objectives. During this time period, this power system produced 118.2 MWh of electric power. No degradation of the generator's performance was measured after 5582 accumulated hours of operation on these fuels: local natural gas - 3261 hours, jet fuel reformate gas - 766 hours, and diesel fuel reformate gas - 1555 hours. This SOFC generator was thermally cycled from full operating temperature to room temperature and back to operating temperature six times, because of failures of support system components and the occasional loss of test site power, without measurable cell degradation. Numerous outages of the LFP did not interrupt the generator's operation because the fuel control system quickly switched to local natural gas when an alarm indicated that the LFP reformate fuel supply had been interrupted. The report presents the measured electrical performance of the generator on all three fuel types and notes the small differences due to fuel type. Operational difficulties due to component failures are well documented even though they did not affect the overall excellent performance of this SOFC power generator. The final two appendices describe in detail the LFP design and the operating history of the tested brassboard LFP.

Veyo, S.E.↗
DOE OSTI2022

AGR Program TRISO Fuel Topical Report Dialog

AGR Program Overview and Current Activities Fission Product Transport Data Short-Lived Fission Product Release Fuel Performance Margin Data Oxidation Testing Data

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Comparison of Subdivided Versus Full-Length Fuel Pin Burnup in the ATF-2 Safety Analysis

The Accident Tolerant Fuels (ATF) campaign, under the Fuel Cycle Research and Development (FCRD) Advanced Fuels program, was developed after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in 2011. Under ATF, fuel and cladding concepts are to be developed and tested that may more readily withstand an accident similar to the one that occurred at Fukushima Daiichi. ATF is a combination of industry, universities, and national laboratories in an effort to develop advanced accident tolerant cladding and fuel concepts. The end goal of the ATF program is to insert a lead test rod (LTR) or lead test assembly (LTA) into an operating commercial power light water reactor by 2022. In order to meet this 2022 insertion goal, ATF is split into three separate phases: ATF-1, ATF-2, and ATF-3. The first phase of the ATF program, ATF-1, is the concept feasibility study and early irradiation testing. Feasibility, fabrication, and out-of-pile testing are happening at universities and laboratories all over the United States. Irradiation testing of these concepts is happening at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Early irradiation testing involves testing clad and/or fuel in drop-in capsules in the ATR. Currently, these capsules are in the relatively low-flux positions in the ATR, but some newer concepts and concepts that require higher burnup will be moved to the higher-flux positions later on during irradiation. Currently, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Westinghouse Electric Company, Areva, and General Electric (GE) have inserted capsules for ATF-1, although more concepts are planned. The second phase of ATF, ATF-2, is the focus of this paper. ATF-2 is the loop testing of fuel pins with new cladding and fuel concepts to simulate pressurized water reactor (PWR) and boiling water reactor (BWR) environments. ATF-2 will concurrently be happening at the ATR and at the Halden Reactor in Norway. The ATF-2 irradiation at the ATR will only simulate a PWR environment. ATF-2 will be inserted into the ATR pressurized water loop, Loop 2A, in the Center Flux Trap (CFT), where chemistry, temperature, and pressure can all be controlled separately from the primary coolant system and other loops in ATR. Loop 2A will be borated, pressurized to 2200 psi nominal, and have an average water temperature of 300 deg. C. A borated loop with fueled rodlets is extremely rare for Nuclear Energy experiments in the ATR, so ATF-2 will demonstrate new and unique capabilities for INL. ATF-3 is the testing of fresh and irradiated ATF concepts at the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility. The TREAT Reactor is planned for restart, re-establishing U.S. transient testing capabilities after nearly 20 years of non-operations. TREAT will test ATF concepts under transient conditions, such as a reactivity insertion accident. In addition to fresh fuel pins, TREAT will use from ATF2 and do transient testing on those irradiated pins. The information TREAT will provide to the vendors to support fuel licensing will be valuable, showing that these concepts do enhance the accident tolerance of the fuel in commercial reactors. (author)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2016

GEN-IV Benchmarking of Triso Fuel Performance Models under accident conditions modeling input data

This document presents the benchmark plan for the calculation of particle fuel performance on safety testing experiments that are representative of operational accidental transients. The benchmark is dedicated to the modeling of fission product release under accident conditions by fuel performance codes from around the world, and the subsequent comparison to post-irradiation experiment (PIE) data from the modeled heating tests. The accident condition benchmark is divided into three parts: • The modeling of a simplified benchmark problem to assess potential numerical calculation issues at low fission product release. • The modeling of the AGR-1 and HFR-EU1bis safety testing experiments. • The comparison of the AGR-1 and HFR-EU1bis modeling results with PIE data. The simplified benchmark case, thereafter named NCC (Numerical Calculation Case), is derived from “Case 5” of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Coordinated Research Program (CRP) on coated particle fuel technology [IAEA 2012]. It is included so participants can evaluate their codes at low fission product release. “Case 5” of the IAEA CRP-6 showed large code-to-code discrepancies in the release of fission products, which were attributed to “effects of the numerical calculation method rather than the physical model” [IAEA 2012]. The NCC is therefore intended to check if these numerical effects subsist. The first two steps imply the involvement of the benchmark participants with a modeling effort following the guidelines and recommendations provided by this document. The third step involves the collection of the modeling results by Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and the comparison of these results with the available PIE data. The objective of this document is to provide all necessary input data to model the benchmark cases, and to give some methodology guidelines and recommendations in order to make all results suitable for comparison with each other. The participants should read this document thoroughly to make sure all the data needed for their calculations is provided in the document. Missing data will be added to a revision of the document if necessary. 09/2016: Tables 6 and 8 updated. AGR-2 input data added

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1985

Longitudinal mode combustion instabilities of a high-pressure fuel-rich LOX/RP-1 preburner

During the hot-fire testing of a high-pressure fuel-rich LOX/RP-1 preburner, longitudinal mode combustion instabilities were observed. The experimental data showing how the instability varied with the chamber pressure, mixture ratio, chamber length and turbulence ring are given. Technical rationales are given for the test-to-test hardware configuration changes that eventually led to the stable result.

Fang, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Longitudinal mode combustion instabilities of a high-pressure fuel-rich LOX/RP-1 preburner

During the hot-fire testing of a high-pressure fuel-rich LOX/RP-1 preburner, longitudinal mode combustion instabilities were observed. This paper presents the experimental data showing how the instability varied with the chamber pressure, mixture ratio, chamber length and turbulence ring. Technical rationales are given for the test-to-test hardware configuration changes that eventually led to the stable result.

Fang, J. J.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Enhancement of Aviation Fuel Thermal Stability Characterization Through Application of Ellipsometry

ASTM D3241/Jet Fuel Thermal Oxidation Tester (JFTOT) procedure, the standard method for testing thermal stability of conventional aviation turbine fuels is inherently limited due to the subjectivity in the color standard for tube deposit rating. Quantitative assessment of the physical characteristics of oxidative fuel deposits provides a more powerful method for comparing the thermal oxidation stability characteristics of fuels, especially in a research setting. We propose employing a Spectroscopic Ellipsometer to determine the film thickness and profile of oxidative fuel deposits on JFTOT heater tubes. Using JP-8 aviation fuel and following a modified ASTM D3241 testing procedure, the capabilities of the Ellipsometer will be demonstrated by measuring oxidative fuel deposit profiles for a range of different deposit characteristics. The testing completed in this report was supported by the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Subsonics Fixed Wing Project

Browne, Samuel Tucker↗
NASA NTRS1984

USAF shale oil program status

The test and evaluation program on shale derived fuel being conducted by the Air Force is intended to accomplish the minimum amount of testing necessary to assure both the safe use of shale oil derived turbine fuels in operational USAF aircraft and its compatibility with USAF handling systems. This program, which was designed to take advantage of existing R&D testing programs, began in 1981. However, due to a problem in acquiring the necessary fuel, the testing program was suspended until July 1983 when an additional sample of shale derived fuel was received. Tentatively, the Air Force is planning to make three relatively minor revisions to the procurement specifications requirements for the production shale derived fuel. These are: (1) Aromatic Contest (min) - 9% (by volume); (2) Nitrogen (max - 20 ppm by weight); and (3) Antioxidants - 9.1 g/100 gal (U.S.)

Delaney, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Vibration behavior of fuel-element vibration suppressors for the advanced power reactor

Preliminary shock and vibration tests were performed on vibration suppressors for the advanced power reactor for space application. These suppressors position the fuel pellets in a pin type fuel element. The test determined the effect of varying axial clearance on the behavior of the suppressors when subjected to shock and vibratory loading. The full-size suppressor was tested in a mockup model of fuel and clad which required scaling of test conditions. The test data were correlated with theoretical predictions for suppressor failure. Good agreement was obtained. The maximum difference with damping neglected was about 30 percent. Neglecting damping would result in a conservative design.

Adams, D. W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Microstructurally validated stable and predictable swelling in low-enriched uranium monolithic U-10Mo fuel mini-plates

Qualification of the low-enriched uranium (LEU) monolithic U-10 wt%Mo (U-10Mo) plate-type fuel system requires a demonstration of a stable and predictable fuel swelling behavior over the anticipated operating conditions of the United States high-performance research reactors (USHPRRs) selected for conversion to LEU operation. This will allow each reactor to develop appropriate safety margins that will retain fuel element lifetime coolability. Additionally, the fuel system must maintain performance attributes when fabricated at a commercial scale. The Mini-plate 1 experiment represents the first irradiation test of commercially fabricated miniaturized monolithic LEU U-10Mo fuel plates. Here, the swelling behavior within this experiment was compared against that of historical fuel developmental tests to reveal that the commercially fabricated fuel performed within the current recommended U-10Mo swelling model's predictions. Additionally, the fuel microstructural evolution was evaluated to link initial conditions to subtle variations detected in the swelling response, providing validation and confidence that the fuel system is robust.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Thermal conductivity measurement of the interaction layer between UMo and Al produced by high-energy heavy ion irradiation

In this work, we report the first direct thermal conductivity measurement results for Al-UMo interaction layer (IL), which is typically observed in UMo/Al dispersion fuel plates under irradiation. The investigated IL was formed by irradiating Al coated UMo substrate using 80 MeV iodine ions at 180 degrees C up to 3.03 x 10 17 ions/cm 2 fluence. Microstructural characterization indicated that the induced IL is amorphous with an approximately (U 0.8 ,Mo 0.2 )Al 5.3 stoichiometry, which is similar to that formed under in-pile irradiation. Focused ion beam (FIB) was used to prepare nine specimens of various lengths from the IL that could be suspended across a microfabricated device for thermal conductivity measurement. The measured thermal conductivity values of the IL were significantly lower than the values for both the original UMo fuel and the Al. The successful measurement of the Al-UMo IL provides valuable information for the development and qualification of UMo/Al dispersion fuels for research and test reactor conversion applications, and further demonstrates the promising capabilities of utilizing the suspended bridge method in nuclear fuel research.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1982

Hot corrosion of low cobalt alloys

The hot corrosion attack susceptibility of various alloys as a function of strategic materials content are investigated. Preliminary results were obtained for two commercial alloys, UDIMET 700 and Mar-M 247, that were modified by varying the cobalt content. For both alloys the cobalt content was reduced in steps to zero. Nickel content was increased accordingly to make up for the reduced cobalt but all other constituents were held constant. Wedge bar test samples were produced by casting. The hot corrosion test consisted of cyclically exposing samples to the high velocity flow of combustion products from an air-fuel burner fueled with jet A-1 and seeded with a sodium chloride aqueous solution. The flow velocity was Mach 0.5 and the sodium level was maintained at 0.5 ppm in terms of fuel plus air. The test cycle consisted of holding the test samples at 900 C for 1 hour followed by 3 minutes in which the sample could cool to room temperature in an ambient temperature air stream.

Stearns, C. A.↗
DOE OSTI2017

Flux in a 1D-Reactor Cell by Response Matrix

Legacy computational reactor physics software tools and protocols currently used in support of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) core fuel management and safety assurance, and to some extent, experiment management, are inconsistent with the state of modern nuclear engineering practice. Thus, they are difficult, if not impossible, to verify and validate (V and V) according to modern standards. Furthermore, the legacy staff knowledge required for effective application of their application and protocols from the 1960's and 1970's is rapidly being lost due to staff turnover and retirements. In late 2009, the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) initiated a focused effort, the ATR Core Modeling Update Project, to address this situation through the introduction of modern high-fidelity transport theory based computational software and models to replace the legacy methods, with appropriate (V and V) protocols according to applicable national standards. The new computational tools include: - The 2-dimensional HELIOS deterministic transport code for integrated ATR core fuel and experiment management and Core Safety Analysis Package (CSAP) physics data generation. The MCNP5 3-dimensional stochastic simulation (Monte Carlo) code for verification and validation applications and for specialized ATR core analysis along with its longstanding traditional role in experiment support - The 2-dimensional deterministic NEWT transport code and the 3-dimensional KENO6 stochastic simulation code, with their SCALE-based support infrastructure for use in V and V applications and as supporting modules for sensitivity-uncertainty analysis via the TSUNAMI system. The ATTILA 3-dimensional discrete-ordinates transport code for specialized experiment support and possibly additional applications. Regardless of application, every neutron transport code, new or legacy, requires verification. The aim of this presentation is to provide a neutron transport benchmark for a simple 1D-reactor cell in plane geometry. The benchmark finds use as a standard of comparison for the codes listed above intended for the ATR upgrade. The method developed here is in contrast to the finite Fourier transform solution found in Ref. 1, which is limited to isotropic scattering and particularly difficult to numerically implement unless the total cross section is constant over the cell.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS2004

Mechanism of Pinhole Formation in Membrane Electrode Assemblies for PEM Fuel Cells

The pinhole formation mechanism was studied with a variety of MEAs using ex-situ and in-situ methods. The ex-situ tests included the MEA aging in oxygen and MEA heat of ignition. In-situ durability tests were performed in fuel cells at different operating conditions with hydrogen and oxygen. After the in-situ failure, MEAs were analyzed with an Olympus BX 60 optical microscope and Cambridge 120 scanning electron microscope. MEA chemical analysis was performed with an IXRF EDS microanalysis system. The MEA failure analyses showed that pinholes and tears were the MEA failure modes. The pinholes appeared in MEA areas where the membrane thickness was drastically reduced. Their location coincided with the stress concentration points, indicating that membrane creep was responsible for their formation. Some of the pinholes detected had contaminant particles precipitated within the membrane. This mechanism of pinhole formation was correlated to the polymer blistering.

Stanic, Vesna↗
NASA NTRS2005

Modeling and Diagnostic Software for Liquefying-Fuel Rockets

A report presents a study of five modeling and diagnostic computer programs considered for use in an integrated vehicle health management (IVHM) system during testing of liquefying-fuel hybrid rocket engines in the Hybrid Combustion Facility (HCF) at NASA Ames Research Center. Three of the programs -- TEAMS, L2, and RODON -- are model-based reasoning (or diagnostic) programs. The other two programs -- ICS and IMS -- do not attempt to isolate the causes of failures but can be used for detecting faults. In the study, qualitative models (in TEAMS and L2) and quantitative models (in RODON) having varying scope and completeness were created. Each of the models captured the structure and behavior of the HCF as a physical system. It was noted that in the cases of the qualitative models, the temporal aspects of the behavior of the HCF and the abstraction of sensor data are handled outside of the models, and it is necessary to develop additional code for this purpose. A need for additional code was also noted in the case of the quantitative model, though the amount of development effort needed was found to be less than that for the qualitative models.

Poll, Scott↗