Spherical fuel element continuous heat treatment equipment and method

Abstract

The invention relates to spherical fuel element continuous heat treatment equipment and method. The equipment comprises a furnace body, a heating and heat preservation system, a temperature control system, a loading and unloading system, a vacuum system, a waste discharge system, a process gas path system, a pneumatic system, a water path system, a tail gas combustion system and an electrical control system. Continuous heat treatment of low-temperature carbonization and high-temperature purification of the spherical fuel element in the same equipment is realized. The equipment and the method not only can be used for continuous heat treatment of spherical fuel element green bodies, but also can be used for preparation of matrix graphite nodule products, low-temperature carbonization and high-temperature purification are continuously performed in the same equipment, material transfer is reduced, the heat treatment time of the spherical fuel element is shortened to about 50 hours of continuous heat treatment from about 90 hours which are originally performed separately and independently, and the production efficiency can be improved by 44.4%.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to the technical field of nuclear fuel preparation, in particular to equipment and a method for continuous heat treatment of spherical fuel elements. Background technique [0002] In the prior art, the spherical fuel element used in my country's pebble bed high temperature gas-cooled reactor has a diameter of about 60mm, and the whole is a graphite matrix. - 12,000 coated fuel particles (TRISO particles) of approximately 1 mm diameter dispersed in a graphite matrix to form a fuel zone. Spherical fuel elements after compression molding need to be processed through carbonization and purification processes. Carbonization treatment is under the protection of argon, heated to 800°C under a certain heating condition, so that the binder is cracked and coked to form a binder coke bridge, and the aggregate particles are firmly combined. Purification treatment is to place the carbonized spherical fuel element in the furnace, heat it to 190...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

The existing process can only meet the production requirements at the current stage, and there are problems such as low-temperature carbonization and high-temperature purification separately, many times of material loading and unloading, and low energy utilization rate.

With the development of various types of reactors such as high-temperature reactors and molten salt reactors, higher requirements are placed on the production efficiency and cost of preparing spherical fuel elements. As one of the key production processes, the heat treatment process needs to be greatly improved in terms of processing methods and production efficiency. improve

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