Physical properties of KCl-UCl3 molten salts as potential fuels for molten salt reactorsopen access
- Authors
- Kim, Hyeonwoo; Kwon, Choah; Ham, Seongwon; Lee, Juhyung; Kim, Sung Joong; Kim, Sangtae
- Issue Date
- Apr-2023
- Publisher
- ELSEVIER
- Keywords
- Molten salt reactors; Molecular dynamics; KCl-UCl3; Polarizable ion model; Molten salt nuclear fuel
- Citation
- JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS, v.577, pp.1 - 6
- Indexed
- SCIE
SCOPUS
- Journal Title
- JOURNAL OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS
- Volume
- 577
- Start Page
- 1
- End Page
- 6
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/hanyang/handle/2021.sw.hanyang/184987
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2023.154329
- ISSN
- 0022-3115
- Abstract
- Passive molten salt reactors are receiving a significant amount of research attention for their inherent safety. While KCl-UCl3 exhibit high UCl3 loading of 53 mol% at the eutectic composition, their physical properties remain largely unexplored for both forced and natural circulation. Here, we employ classical molecular dynamics simulations to calculate the physicochemical properties of KCl-UCl3 molten salts at various temperatures and compositions. The computed density, heat capacity, and viscosity show that only viscosity exhibits temperature dependence while the others rarely change between 600 °C to 800 °C. The computed ionic structures reveal the formation of polymer-like uranium network structures at compositions above 40% UCl3, a distinct feature of KCl-UCl3 compared to NaCl-33%UCl3 eutectic mixture. We rationalize that the U network structure increases the absolute viscosity, yet also provides the temperature-dependent viscosity via allotropic U3+-Cl− polyhedral coordination. The molten salts are also assessed for both forced and natural convection with the computed physicochemical properties.
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