A spouted bed reactor monitoring system for particulate nuclear fuel

Conversion and coating of particle nuclear fuel is performed in spouted (fluidized) bed reactors. The reactor must be capable of operating at temperatures up to 2000°C in inert, flammable, and coating gas environments. The spouted bed reactor geometry is defined by a graphite retort with a 2.5 inch inside diameter, conical section with a 60° included angle, and a 4 mm gas inlet orifice diameter through which particles are removed from the reactor at the completion of each run. The particles may range from 200 m to 2 mm in diameter. Maintaining optimal gas flow rates slightly above the minimum full spouting flow rate throughout the duration of each run is complicated by the variation of particle size and density as conversion and/or coating reactions proceed in addition to gas composition and temperature variations. In order to achieve uniform particle coating, prevent agglomeration of the particle bed, and monitor the reaction progress, a spouted bed monitoring system was developed. The monitoring system includes a high-sensitivity, low-response time differential pressure transducer paired with a signal processing, data acquisition, and process control unit which allows for real-time monitoring and control of the spouted bed reactor. The pressure transducer is mounted upstream of the spouted bed reactor gas inlet. The gas flow into the reactor induces motion of the particles in the bed and prevents the particles from draining from the reactor due to gravitational forces. Pressure fluctuations in the gas inlet stream are generated as the particles in the bed interact with the entering gas stream. The pressure fluctuations are produced by bulk movement of the bed, generation and movement of gas bubbles through the bed, and the individual motion of particles and particle subsets in the bed. The pressure fluctuations propagate upstream to the pressure transducer where they can be monitored. Pressure fluctuation, mean differential pressure, gas flow rate, reactor operating temperature data from the spouted bed monitoring system are used to determine the bed operating regime and monitor the particle characteristics. Tests have been conducted to determine the sensitivity of the monitoring system to the different operating regimes of the spouted particle bed. The pressure transducer signal response was monitored over a range of particle sizes and gas flow rates while holding bed height constant. During initial testing, the bed monitoring system successfully identified the spouting regime as well as when particles became interlocked and spouting ceased. The particle characterization capabilities of the bed monitoring system are currently being tested and refined. A feedback control module for the bed monitoring system is currently under development. The feedback control module will correlate changes in the bed response to changes in the particle characteristics and bed spouting regime resulting from the coating and/or conversion process. The feedback control module will then adjust the gas composition, gas flow rate, and run duration accordingly to maintain the bed in the desired spouting regime and produce optimally coated/converted particles.