IGCAR : Annual Report - Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research

IGC
Annual Report 2007
Thermal expansion (%)
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
UO 2
10 mol % GdO 1.5
20 mol % GdO 1.5
50 mol % GdO 1.5
Gd 2
O 3
400 800 1200 1600 2000
Temperature (K)
Fig.2 Thermal expansion (%) as a
function of temperature
for UO 2 -GdO 1.5 solid solutions
on these solid solutions 298-
1973 K using high temperature
X-ray diffraction. The thermal
expansion of these solid
solutions are shown in Fig.2.
U-Zr metal alloys will be used
as the blanket material in fast
breeder reactors. Hence heat
capacity data of U-Zr alloys is
important. Heat capacity data
of U-Zr alloys are available
only for alloys with >13 at.% Zr
. Heat capacity measurements
were carried out on U-Zr alloy
with 2, 5 and 10 wt.% Zr using
heat flux differential calorimeter
in the temperature range 298-
800 K to generate the first
experimental data which are
shown in Fig.3. The measured
heat capacity of pure U along
C p, m
(J K -1 mol -1 )
45
40
35
30
25
C p, m
U
C p, m
U Hulgren et al.
C p, m
U Nakumura et al.
C p, m
U-2 wt.% Zr
C p, m
U-5 wt.% Zr
C p, m
U-10 wt.% Zr
300 400 500 600 700 800 900
Temperature (K)
Fig.3 Heat capacity of U and U-Zr
alloys
with other literature values is
also shown in Fig. 3 along with
the literature values.
IV.A.5. An Automated Facility for Charging of Fuel
Micro Spheres into the Sintering Furnace
Fuel preparation in the form
of micro spheres generated by
the SOLGEL process is an
attractive alternative to the
powder route of preparation.
An automated fabrication
facility on the SOLGEL route
has been set up in the
Radiochemistry Laboratory.
The fuel materials in the form
of micro spheres produced by
the gelation process are first
dried and are then to be
loaded in a charge carrier and
placed remotely into a high
temperature furnace for
sintering.This operation is to be
mechanized and performed
remotely. Towards this,an
automated gripping device
positionable along three coordinates,
for positioning and
subsequent lowering of the
charge carrier into the furnace,
has been developed. The
device consists of an
electrically actuated x-y
platform which is mounted
above the furnace as shown
Fig.1. The platform which can
be positioned in the horizontal
plane, is holding an electrically
operated telescopic arm fitted
with a pneumatically actuated
two jaw gripper.The Z axis
position indicator mounted on
the platform indicates the depth
to which the gripper has been
lowered. A reed sensor fixed
on the end effectors is used for
sensing the gripping
operation.The system has been
commissioned with an overall
positioning accuracy of 0.5
mm.With no direct vision,the
lowering of the charge into the
furnace is assisted by a PAN-
TILT camera ,as shown in the
inset in Fig.1.
Fig.1 Automated gripping devices
for the introduction of charge
carrier into the sintering furnace
FUEL CYCLE 87