Publications related to Breeder reactor

Heterogeneous catalysis via light-heat dual activation: A path to the breakthrough in C1 chemistry

A hybrid photothermal catalytic system, which combines both the photochemical (light) and thermal (heat) activation pathways over a bifunctional catalyst, has demonstrated remarkable levels of reaction activity and selectivity when compared with individual ...

Cell Press2024

Demonstration of a sparse sensor placement technique to the limited diagnostic set in a fusion power plant

Artur Perek, Lorenzo Martinelli

DEMO will have a limited diagnostic set for optimization of reactor performance, and limited diagnostic coverage due to challenging reactor conditions. This poses challenges for control, especially for detachment control which is planned to be performed wi ...

Elsevier Science Sa2024

Intra-pin Reaction Rate Measurements in the CROCUS Experimental Reactor

Andreas Pautz, Vincent Pierre Lamirand, Mathieu Hursin, Oskari Ville Pakari, Thomas Jean-François Ligonnet, Tom Mager

In response to the need for validating high-fidelity deterministic neutronics solvers capable of providing pin-resolved neutron flux distributions, intra-pin reaction rates measurements were performed in the CROCUS experimental reactor. A specially designe ...

2024

Experimental study and interpretative modelling of the Power Exhaust in Configurations with Multiple X-Points in TCV

Sophie Danielle Angelica Gorno

Nuclear fusion presents a promising clean energy source to mitigate future energy crises, with magnetic confinement fusion well-positioned to provide a baseload scenario to power future reactors. The unmitigated power exhaust of such reactors threatens its ...

EPFL2024

Atomic level insight into irradiation effects in nuclear fuel materials

Shaileyee Bhattacharya

Microstructural evolution during in-pile irradiation, radiation damage effects and fission products behavior in UO2 nuclear fuel are key issues in understanding and for the modeling of the performance as well as safety characteristics of nuclear fuels in t ...

EPFL2024

High brightness neutron source optimized for very high pulsed magnetic field experiments

Mina Akhyani

Conducting neutron scattering experiments in the presence of high pulsed magnetic fields, namely above 40 T, provides valuable information about the magnetic structures of materials. However, these experiments are challenging and time-consuming because the ...

EPFL2024

A holistic investigation of photocatalytic hydrogen generation

Sangram Ashok Savant

Photocatalytic (PC) solar hydrogen production is a promising way to provide green hydrogen using only sunlight and abundant reactants such as water. PC approaches use catalytically active semiconductor particles suspended in liquid electrolytes. The partic ...

EPFL2023

Extension, validation, and optimization of Serpent/DYN3D/ATHLET code system for SFR applications

Vincenzo Anthony Di Nora

The sequence of codes Serpent/DYN3D has been developed by the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf and successfully applied to core static and transient analyses of sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). The successful application of the sequence to SFRs was ...

EPFL2023

Design and operational guidelines of solar-driven catalytic conversion of CO2 and H2 to fuels

Sophia Haussener, Sha Li

Sunlight-powered catalytic conversion of CO2 and (green) H2 into fuels and chemicals via Sabatier and reverse water gas shift (RWGS) processes offers a promising solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase renewable energy utilization. The suc ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2023

Metal Catalysts for the Electrochemical Reduction of CO2

Cedric David Koolen

The world by and large has adopted the The Paris Agreement, which commits any signing party to cut greenhouse emissions drastically and prevent global heating above 2 °C beyond pre-industrial levels. For this ambitious goal to be met, ratifying states need ...

EPFL2023

Design of an Instrumented Fuel Rod for Intra-pin Neutron Flux Measurements in the CROCUS Experimental Reactor

Andreas Pautz, Vincent Pierre Lamirand, Mathieu Hursin, Thomas Jean-François Ligonnet, Won Dong Shin, Tom Mager

In response to the need for validating high-fidelity deterministic neutronics solvers capable of pin-resolved neutron flux distributions, an instrumented fuel rod was designed for the experimental reactor CROCUS, operated by EPFL’s Laboratory for Reactor P ...

2023

Extension of GeN-Foam to departure from nucleate boiling prediction and validation against the OECD/NRC PSBT benchmark

Alessandro Scolaro, Carlo Fiorina, Yuhang Niu, Hao Qin

The prediction of departure from nucleate boiling (DNB) has always been a crucial aspect of thermal-hydraulic codes for the analysis of Light Water Reactors. In this paper, GeN-Foam, a multi-physics code developed based on OpenFOAM, has been enhanced to in ...

Elsevier Science Sa2023

Full-discharge simulation and optimization with the RAPTOR code, from present tokamaks to ITER and DEMO

Simon Van Mulders

Tokamak devices aim to magnetically confine a hydrogen plasma at sufficiently high pressure to achieve net energy production from nuclear fusion of light isotopes. Predictive modeling and optimization is crucial for reliable operation of tokamak reactors, ...

EPFL2023

Advanced methodologies for modeling and assessment of SFR safety functions

Janos Bodi

The present doctoral work was performed to contribute to the conceptual design development and safety assessment of a Generation IV Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR) in the frame of the European Sodium Fast Reactor Safety Measures Assessment and Research Tools (ES ...

EPFL2022

Enhanced Solar-to-Fuel Efficiency of Ceria-Based Thermochemical Cycles via Integrated Electrochemical Oxygen Pumping

Sophia Haussener, Clemens Gregor Suter, Meng Lin

The solar thermochemical cycle based on ceria is a promising route for renewable fuel production. The solar-to-fuel efficiency of a thermochemical reactor is highly dependent on the oxygen removal during the reduction step. Conventional nitrogen sweeping ( ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2022

Unmoderated molten salt reactors design optimisation for power stability

Andreas Pautz, Axel Guy Marie Laureau, Andrea Bellè

The critical region of unmoderated molten salt reactors consists in a cavity filled with a liquid fuel. The lack of internal structure implies a complex flow structure of the circulating fuel salt. A preliminary core shape optimization has been performed d ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Quantitative Design of a New e-Methanol Production Process

Alfred Rufer

In the context of the need to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions from personal transportation, a new process for the production of e-methanol is presented. It is a CO2 hydrogenation process, powered mainly by renewable energy sources such as pho ...

MDPI2022

Investigation and Validation of Unstructured Mesh Methodologies for Modeling Experimental Reactors

Andreas Pautz, Mathieu Hursin, Carlo Fiorina, Tom Mager

This paper summarizes a methodology developed at Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne for the neutronic modeling of the CROCUS experimental reactor and proposes solutions to the challenges one may face while modeling a research reactor with a complex g ...

MDPI2022

High accuracy measurement of the prompt neutron decay constant in CROCUS using Gamma Noise and bootstrapped uncertainties

Andreas Pautz, Vincent Pierre Lamirand, Oskari Ville Pakari, Pavel Frajtag, Tom Mager

We experimentally demonstrate the advantages of gamma detection for noise measurements to deter-mine the prompt neutron decay constant a of a nuclear reactor using the power spectral density (PSD) method, coupled to a new uncertainty estimation scheme base ...

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022

Cross verified independent measurements of correlated bubble property distributions as part of the scale-up of a catalytic bubbling fluidized bed reactor

Philipp Fedor Riechmann

Methanation can be applied as part of a Power-to-Gas (PtG) concept to store renewable electricity. Using a catalytic bubbling fluidized bed (BFB) methanation reactor allows a flexible and economic operation. Properties of bubbles rising through the fluidiz ...

EPFL2022