Current Research Activities

The research group is specialized in large-scale experiments on the simulation of core melt accidents in GENII, GENIII and GENIV nuclear power plants. The simulant materials and heating methods stress the similarity in approach in prototypic conditions. The main topics are:

• In-vessel melt behavior of PWR after the relocation of core melt from the core region into the lower head of the RPV in the LIVE test program, including LIVE-3D and LIVE-2D test facility
• The interaction of the core melt with an in-vessel core catcher in GENIV sodium fast reactors (SFR):
  - Impingement of the core melt jet on the core catcher substrate (JIMEC experiments).
  - Ablation process of the core catcher substrate by the core melt in a modified LIVE test facility (ESFR-LIVE).
• Molten corium concrete interaction (MCCI) in 3D large-scale geometry in the MOCKA test facility.

Completed Research Activities

• DISCO (Direct Containment Heating and Fuel-Coolant Interaction)
• COMET (Development of core catcher concepts based on water addition from below)
• BETA (Investigation of molten corium concrete interaction, MCCI)
• KATS (Core melt spreading)
• ECOKATS (Core melt spreading)
• KAJET (Erosion of metallic jet and oxide jet on concrete)
• KAPOOL (Melt-through of a metallic plate by a core melt)

Codes and Modelling

Projects

Contact: Ms. Dr. Xiaoyang Gaus-Liu, email: xiaoyang gaus-liu ∂does-not-exist.kit edu

Depending on its composition, molten salt can be used as a pressureless storage material at temperatures of up to 750 °C. Solar salt, for example, has been used for decades in concentrated solar thermal power plants at temperatures of up to 550 °C. This makes salt a market-ready, cost-effective storage and transfer material with a large storage capacity and ideal for a wide range of applications in electricity production and industrial heating processes.

In contrast to water, salts remain single-phase - i.e. completely liquid - at high temperatures and without pressure. Although they only have around a third of the heat storage capacity of water, they are chemically stable. Compared to solid storage media, the liquid salt is also the thermal transfer medium, which simplifies the heat transfer process by saving on system components.

Nitrate and nitrite salts are chemically and physically stable up to 550 °C. They are mainly used as a storage medium and heat transfer medium for steam power plants and industrial heating processes. The thermal properties of 3 typical salts are shown below: