阅读说明：本技术 一种核动力发动机装置 (Nuclear power engine device ) 是由 赵富龙 宁可为 何宇豪 谭思超 黄笛 卢瑞博 赵佳音 于 2021-08-11 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明提出一种核动力发动机装置,包括基座、反应堆系统、一体化发动机及连接管路；反应堆系统包括压力容器、反应堆冷却剂入口和出口、堆芯、控制棒驱动机构等,一体化发动机包括进气口、压缩机、换热器、涡轮、排气口；换热器包括互相隔离的一次侧、二次侧换热室；压缩机包括前端冷却剂压缩段和后端空气压缩段；一次侧换热室通过接管分别连接反应堆冷却剂出口和前端冷却剂压缩段入口,前端冷却剂压缩段出口通过接管连接反应堆冷却剂入口,二次侧换热室通过接管连接后端空气压缩段出口和涡轮。通过优化设计前、后压缩段结构及一、二次侧换热回路,实现了一、二次侧工质的一体压缩与高效换热和核动力发动机装置紧凑小型化且安全高效。(The invention provides a nuclear power engine device, which comprises a base, a reactor system, an integrated engine and a connecting pipeline, wherein the reactor system is arranged on the base; the reactor system comprises a pressure vessel, a reactor coolant inlet, a reactor coolant outlet, a reactor core, a control rod driving mechanism and the like, and the integrated engine comprises an air inlet, a compressor, a heat exchanger, a turbine and an exhaust port; the heat exchanger comprises a primary side heat exchange chamber and a secondary side heat exchange chamber which are isolated from each other; the compressor comprises a front-end coolant compression section and a rear-end air compression section; the primary side heat exchange chamber is respectively connected with a reactor coolant outlet and a front end coolant compression section inlet through connecting pipes, the front end coolant compression section outlet is connected with the reactor coolant inlet through the connecting pipes, and the secondary side heat exchange chamber is connected with a rear end air compression section outlet and a turbine through the connecting pipes. By optimally designing the front and rear compression section structures and the primary and secondary side heat exchange loops, the integrated compression and efficient heat exchange of the primary and secondary side working media and the compact, miniaturized, safe and efficient nuclear power engine device are realized.)

1. A nuclear powered engine assembly, characterized by: the reactor system comprises a fixed base, a reactor system, an integrated engine and a connecting pipeline, wherein the reactor system, the integrated engine and the connecting pipeline are arranged on the fixed base;

the reactor system comprises a pressure vessel, a reactor coolant inlet and a reactor coolant outlet which are positioned on two sides of the pressure vessel, a reactor core surrounding barrel, a control rod driving mechanism, a reflecting layer, an in-reactor instrument and an instrument supporting structure, wherein the reactor core comprises a fuel rod, a fuel limiting device, a control rod and a supporting structure;

the integrated engine comprises an air inlet, a compressor, a heat exchanger, a turbine and an air outlet; the heat exchanger is positioned behind the compressor and in front of the turbine and is directly connected with the compressor and the turbine structure; the heat exchanger comprises a primary side heat exchange chamber and a secondary side heat exchange chamber which are isolated from each other; the compressor comprises a front-end coolant compression section and a rear-end air compression section which are integrated in a structure and are mutually isolated from each other in the front and the rear;

the primary side heat exchange chamber is connected with a reactor coolant outlet through a heat pipe section connecting pipe respectively, and is connected with a front end coolant compression section inlet through a cold pipe section connecting pipe, the front end coolant compression section outlet is connected with the reactor coolant inlet through a connecting pipe to form a heat exchanger primary side loop, and the secondary side heat exchange chamber is connected with a rear end air compression section outlet and a turbine through a connecting pipe respectively to form a heat exchanger secondary side channel; the front-end coolant compression section compresses coolant of a primary side loop of the heat exchanger, and the rear-end air compression section compresses air entering a secondary side channel of the heat exchanger;

the reactor system is used as the only heat source of the system and provides all heat in the starting, speed increasing, power output, power changing and stopping processes of the integrated engine; the integrated engine outputs power outwards to drive the aircraft to move, and the heat energy is finally converted into kinetic energy for the aircraft to move forwards.

2. The compact nuclear powered engine of claim 1 wherein: the front-end coolant compression section compresses the coolant of the primary side loop of the heat exchanger, and the number of stages is small and comprises 1-3 stages; the rear-end air compression section compresses air entering a secondary side channel of the heat exchanger, and the number of stages is more, including 2-10 stages.

3. A compact, high efficiency, indirect cycle nuclear power engine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: the front-end coolant compression section and the rear-end air compression section are both designed by adopting axial flow compressor structures; the pressure ratio to the coolant at nominal operating conditions is about 2: 1, pressure ratio to air of about 10: 1.

4. a compact, high efficiency, indirect cycle nuclear power engine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: the compression blades of the front end coolant compression section are coaxially connected or eccentrically connected with the compression blades of the rear end air compression section; the driving force for the rotation of the compressor blades of the front end coolant compression section and the rear end air compression section both come from the turbine.

5. A compact nuclear powered engine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: the control rods are used as the only control mode of the reactor system, and the relative position of the control rod driving mechanism in the reactor core is changed to realize the introduction or reduction of the reactivity.

6. A compact nuclear powered engine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: the arrangement direction of the reactor system is parallel to the axial direction of the airplane.

7. A compact nuclear powered engine as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: the heat exchanger is internally provided with a printed circuit plate type heat exchanger or a shell-and-tube type heat exchanger.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of nuclear reactor engineering technology and power plant design, in particular to a nuclear power engine device.

Background

The peaceful utilization of nuclear energy can be realized by artificially controlling the speed of the chain fission reaction. A great deal of heat can be released in the fission reaction, the atomic energy generated in the fission process is converted into heat energy by the reactor, the heat energy is carried away by the coolant and is transmitted to the power device through the energy conversion device, and finally the heat energy is converted into mechanical energy to generate thrust to drive the aircraft to fly.

Conventional aircraft engines use jet fuel as the fuel, and aircraft are limited by fuel carrying capacity, typically only hundreds to thousands of kilometers. The nuclear power engine has extremely high energy density, a reactor with hundreds of megawatts of power only needs a space of a few cubic meters, and the demonstration shows that the parameters of the nuclear power engine, such as weight, volume and the like, can meet the bearing requirements of the aircraft, so that the nuclear power engine can be well adapted to the aircraft. And the nuclear fuel has long service life, and can maintain the output power for several months or even years through reasonable design, which endows the reactor with long-time and great energy output capability, so that the aircraft using the nuclear power engine can realize extremely long voyage.

At present, for nuclear power engine devices adapted to ground and ship gas turbines, aviation turbofan engines, turbojet engines, turboprop engines and turboshaft engines, two schemes of direct circulation and indirect circulation are available through experimental verification. The direct-circulation nuclear power engine has the characteristics of direct principle, simple circulation and convenience in installation. However, direct cycle engines inject radioactive material directly into the atmosphere, causing severe radioactive contamination in the flight zone. The indirect cycle engine separates the reactor system from the propulsion system, overcoming the problem of radioactive contamination, but in order to pressurize the primary coolant, the primary side generally requires a separate compressor. This design results in a reactor system that is relatively heavy overall and the arrangement of the nuclear power engine installation in the aircraft cabin cannot be made compact. In addition, the increase of the pipelines means that the leakage probability is increased and the possibility of the occurrence of a breach accident is increased, once the pipelines connected with the main pump are damaged, the operation of the nuclear power system is seriously influenced, even a serious accident of power loss is caused, and the serious accident can cause the great potential safety hazard of the whole power device.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention aims to solve the technical problems and provides an integrated nuclear power engine device which is efficient, indirect-circulating, safe, reliable, efficient and compact, and can overcome the problems that the conventional power device has limited endurance mileage, a direct-circulating nuclear power engine causes radioactive pollution, and an indirect-circulating scheme has large weight and volume and insufficient compactness.

The purpose of the invention is realized as follows:

a nuclear power engine device comprises a fixed base, a reactor system, an integrated engine and a connecting pipeline, wherein the reactor system, the integrated engine and the connecting pipeline are installed on the fixed base;

the reactor system comprises a pressure vessel, a reactor coolant inlet and a reactor coolant outlet which are positioned on two sides of the pressure vessel, a reactor core surrounding barrel, a control rod driving mechanism, a reflecting layer, an in-reactor instrument, an instrument supporting structure and the like, wherein the reactor core comprises fuel rods, a fuel limiting device, control rods, a supporting structure and the like;

the integrated engine comprises an air inlet, a compressor, a heat exchanger, a turbine and an air outlet; the heat exchanger is positioned behind the compressor and in front of the turbine and is directly connected with the compressor and the turbine structure; the heat exchanger comprises a primary side heat exchange chamber and a secondary side heat exchange chamber which are isolated from each other; the compressor comprises a front-end coolant compression section and a rear-end air compression section which are integrated in a structure and are mutually isolated from each other in the front and the rear;

the primary side heat exchange chamber is connected with a reactor coolant outlet through a heat pipe section connecting pipe respectively, and is connected with a front end coolant compression section inlet through a cold pipe section connecting pipe, the front end coolant compression section outlet is connected with the reactor coolant inlet through a connecting pipe to form a heat exchanger primary side loop, and the secondary side heat exchange chamber is connected with a rear end air compression section outlet and a turbine through a connecting pipe respectively to form a heat exchanger secondary side channel; the front-end coolant compression section compresses coolant of a primary side loop of the heat exchanger, and the rear-end air compression section compresses air entering a secondary side channel of the heat exchanger;

the reactor system is used as the only heat source of the system and provides all heat in the starting, speed increasing, power output, power changing and stopping processes of the integrated engine; the integrated engine outputs power outwards to drive the aircraft to move, and the heat energy is finally converted into kinetic energy for the aircraft to move forwards.

Optionally, the front-end coolant compression section compresses the coolant in the primary-side loop of the heat exchanger, and the number of stages is small and comprises 1-3 stages; the rear-end air compression section compresses air entering a secondary side channel of the heat exchanger, and the number of stages is more, including 2-10 stages.

Optionally, the front-end coolant compression section and the rear-end air compression section are both designed by adopting an axial flow compressor structure; the pressure ratio to the coolant at nominal operating conditions is about 2: 1, pressure ratio to air of about 10: 1.

optionally, the compression blades of the front end coolant compression section are coaxially or non-coaxially connected with the compression blades of the rear end air compression section; the driving force for the rotation of the compressor blades of the front end coolant compression section and the rear end air compression section both come from the turbine.

Alternatively, the control rods serve as the sole control means for the reactor system, and the introduction or abatement of reactivity is achieved by the control rod drive mechanism changing its relative position within the core.

Optionally, the reactor system is arranged in a direction parallel to an aircraft axis.

Optionally, a printed circuit plate heat exchanger or a shell-and-tube heat exchanger is built in the heat exchanger.

When the nuclear power engine device works, the coolant heated by the reactor core is output from a reactor coolant outlet and enters a primary side heat exchange chamber, the air which transfers heat to a secondary side heat exchange chamber when flowing through a heat exchanger is led into a front end coolant compression section through an air entraining machine, and flows back to a reactor system again through a connecting pipe after pressurization and acceleration are completed; meanwhile, when entering the secondary side heat exchange chamber, the external cold air firstly flows into the rear end air compression section to complete compression, then enters the heat exchanger, exchanges heat with the primary side heat exchange chamber, then enters the turbine to do work, expands to generate thrust, and is ejected out through the exhaust port to push the aircraft to move forward. The reactor pipeline, the heat exchange chamber and the front end coolant compression section on the primary side form a circulation loop, and the rear end air compression section, the heat exchanger, the turbine and the atmosphere on the secondary side form another circulation loop.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the beneficial effects that:

1. according to the nuclear power engine system, the front end of the compressor is skillfully designed to be the coolant compression section through the high integration of the engine compressor and the reactor compressor, the number of stages is small, the rear end of the compressor is the air compression section, the number of stages is large, the simultaneous compression of primary side coolant loop and secondary side air is realized, and the compression loops are mutually isolated, so that compared with a traditional nuclear power system, the nuclear power engine system omits the primary side coolant loop compressor of the reactor, reduces the volume of the reactor system, is more compact and efficient in whole, ensures radioactive substance accommodation, can better realize the adaptation of the nuclear power engine and an aircraft, and improves the operation convenience and safety and reliability of the system;

2. in the invention, by reasonably designing the primary side coolant circulation pipeline and the secondary side air circulation pipeline of the heat exchanger and the high-energy-density reactor core structure, the mutual isolation, safety, reliability and no pollution between the reactor coolant circulation loop and the air circulation loop are ensured, and the purposes of compact indirect circulation structure, small volume and high energy conversion efficiency of the two heat exchange loops are realized;

3. in the invention, the power regulation of the integrated engine is not mediated by a fuel system, a reactor system is used as the only heat source of the system to provide all heat in the processes of starting, increasing the rotating speed, outputting power, changing the power and stopping the engine, the reactor is closely matched with the integrated engine, and the reactor is independently used as the integral energy input and control terminal of the system to form a complete nuclear power aircraft power system;

4. in the invention, the power output of the system is controlled by changing the reactivity of the whole reactor through the movement of the control rod, the compressor of the integrated engine provides driving force for forced circulation of coolant, and the pressure container and the pipeline are used as radioactive boundaries, so that the compact carrier gas cold small reactor is formed.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention and not to limit it. In the drawings:

fig. 1 is a schematic structural view of a nuclear power engine apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Wherein, the relationship between the reference numbers and the names of the components in fig. 1 is:

1 air inlet, 2 compressors, 21 front end coolant compression section, 211 inlet of front end coolant compression section, 212 outlet of front end coolant compression section, 22 rear end air compression section, 3 heat exchanger, 31 hot pipe section connecting pipe, 32 cold pipe section connecting pipe, 4 turbine, 5 exhaust port, 6 control rod and control rod driving mechanism, 7 pressure vessel, 8 reactor coolant inlet, 9 fuel rod, 10 reactor core surrounding barrel, 11 fuel limiting device, 12 reactor coolant outlet.

Detailed Description

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment and the drawing.

The invention provides a compact high-efficiency indirect circulation nuclear power engine device, and the specific embodiment of the device is shown in figure 1, and the device comprises a fixed base, a reactor system, an integrated engine and a connecting pipeline, wherein the reactor system, the integrated engine and the connecting pipeline are arranged on the fixed base; the reactor system comprises a pressure vessel 7, a reactor core surrounding cylinder 10, a control rod driving mechanism 6, a reflecting layer, an in-reactor instrument, an instrument supporting structure and the like, wherein a reactor coolant inlet 8 and a reactor coolant outlet 12 are respectively arranged at two ends of the pressure vessel 7, and the reactor core comprises fuel rods 9, a fuel limiting device 11, control rods 6, a supporting structure and the like. Wherein the reflector layer is located in a region outside the pressure vessel 7 for reflecting neutrons escaping from the core. The control rod and the control rod driving mechanism 6 are positioned at the end part of the reactor pressure vessel 7, and the control rod driving mechanism drives the control rod to move through electric power when the control rod and the control rod driving mechanism work normally. The fuel rods 9 are located inside the pressure vessel 7 and their position is fixed by a core shroud 10 and a stop device 11. In order to save the space in the aircraft, the arrangement direction of the reactor system is parallel to the axial direction of the aircraft.

The integrated engine comprises an air inlet 1, a compressor 2, a heat exchanger 3, a turbine 4 and an exhaust port 5; the heat exchanger 3 is positioned behind the compressor 2 and in front of the turbine 4 and is directly connected with the compressor 2 and the turbine 4; the heat exchanger 3 consists of a primary side heat exchange chamber and a secondary side heat exchange chamber which are isolated from each other; the compressor 2 comprises a front-end coolant compression section 21 and a rear-end air compression section 22 which are integrated in a structure and are mutually isolated from each other in the front and the rear; the primary side heat exchange chamber is connected with a reactor coolant outlet 12 through a heat pipe section connecting pipe 31, and is connected with an inlet 211 of a front end coolant compression section through a cold pipe section connecting pipe 32, an outlet 212 of the front end coolant compression section is connected with a reactor coolant inlet 8 through a connecting pipeline, and the secondary side heat exchange chamber is connected with an air outlet of a rear end air compression section 22 and a turbine 4 through a connecting pipeline; the front end coolant compression section 21 compresses the coolant of the primary side loop of the heat exchanger, the number of stages is small and comprises 1-3 stages, the rear end air compression section 22 compresses the air entering the secondary side channel of the heat exchanger, namely, the air flowing into the integrated engine, and the number of stages is large and comprises 2-10 stages.

Wherein, the back-end air compression section 22, the secondary-side heat exchange chamber, the turbine 4 and the external air form a secondary-side air loop in the center of the heat exchanger 3, and the primary-side reactor pipeline, the primary-side heat exchange chamber and the front-end coolant compression section 21 form a primary-side coolant circulation loop at the periphery of the secondary-side air loop. The primary side coolant loop and the secondary side air loop flow in opposite directions and are isolated from each other, and energy conversion is completed by exchanging heat through the opposite flow.

As shown in the embodiment of fig. 1, when the nuclear power engine device normally operates, compressed coolant flows into a reactor core through a cold pipe section connecting pipe 32 and a reactor coolant inlet 8, flows out of a reactor core after being heated by a fuel element, enters a primary side heat exchange chamber through a hot pipe section connecting pipe 31, transfers heat to air in a secondary side heat exchange chamber when flowing through a central heat exchange chamber of a heat exchanger 3, then is introduced into a front end coolant compression section 21 through the cold pipe section connecting pipe 32, flows back to a reactor system through the connecting pipe after pressurization and acceleration are completed, and a primary side loop completes forced circulation; meanwhile, the compressor 2 sucks air, the air is compressed at the rear end air compression section 22, high-pressure air flows into the secondary side heat exchange chamber, heat exchange is achieved with the primary side coolant, the high-pressure air flows into the turbine 4 to do work after being heated to a certain temperature, the high-pressure air expands to generate thrust, and the thrust is ejected through the exhaust port 5 to push the aircraft to move forward.

In the embodiment of the invention, on one hand, the integrated engine integrates the height of the compressor part of the engine and the compressor part of the reactor together, the front end of the compressor is skillfully designed to be the coolant compression section 21, the number of stages is less, the rear end of the compressor is the air compression section 22, the number of stages is more, meanwhile, the coolant working medium on the primary side of the heat exchanger and the air working medium on the secondary side of the heat exchanger are compressed, and the compression loops of the two are mutually isolated. On the other hand, the heat exchanger in the integrated engine is combined with a one-machine dual-purpose structural design of a front compression section and a rear compression section of the compressor, a primary side coolant circulation loop and a secondary side air circulation loop and a high-energy-density reactor core structure are reasonably designed, mutual isolation, safety, reliability and no pollution between a reactor coolant and air are guaranteed, and meanwhile, the purpose of compact indirect circulation structure, small size and high energy conversion efficiency between two heat exchange loops is further achieved by taking mutually separated physical boundaries as boundaries of a primary side and a secondary side of indirect circulation.

In addition, in the embodiment of the invention, the reactor system is used as the only heat source of the system and provides all heat in the processes of starting, increasing the rotating speed, outputting power, changing the power and stopping the engine. Through the cooperation of the internal structural components of the integrated engine, the primary side coolant is driven to complete forced circulation, the primary side working medium and the secondary side working medium complete high-efficiency heat exchange, secondary side air compression and expansion work in the heat exchanger, and power for aircraft movement is provided. The power regulation of the integrated engine is realized by the action of a reactor control system without the intervention of a fuel system, the reactor is closely matched with the integrated engine, the reactor is independently used as an integral energy input and control terminal of the system to form a complete nuclear power aircraft power system, the engine outputs power outwards to drive the aircraft to move, and the heat energy is finally converted into the advancing kinetic energy of the aircraft. The scheme avoids the problems that the whole structure is relatively complicated, the air circulation resistance is large and the substitution effect of the nuclear power system on conventional energy sources is not completely realized due to the fact that the heat exchanger and the combustion chamber structure are arranged inside the engine in the traditional nuclear power generation device.

In addition, the reactor core adopts a triangular or hexagonal dense arrangement mode of the fuel rods, the fuel rods 9 adopt a cladding-pellet mode, and the fuel rods 9 are not connected with each other. Wherein the fuel rod cladding is made of high temperature resistant alloy such as molybdenum-rhenium alloy or molybdenum-nickel alloy, and the cladding thickness is controlled to be 1 mm. The reactor fuel adopts high-abundance low-enriched uranium (HALEU), and the enrichment degree of U-235 in the fuel is between 5 and 20 percent; fuel pellet made of UO₂Or UN or ceramic fuel with added metal elements, in the form of a cylinder with a length/diameter ratio approximately equal to 1. The control rod 6 is in the form of clad-absorber pellets, and the control rod 6 is clad with a high temperature resistant alloy such as molybdenum-rheniumThe alloy or the molybdenum-nickel alloy is manufactured, and the thickness of the cladding is controlled to be 1 mm; the control rod 6 absorber core block is made of boron carbide (B)¹⁰B₄C) The diameter of the single control rod absorber core block is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the control rod cladding, and the length is about 5-10 cm.

In the operation process of the reactor system, the reactor core is kept fixed, and the control rod driving mechanism 6 is used for controlling the control rod 6 to move in the control rod guide tube; the control rods 6 serve as the sole control means for the reactor system, and reactivity is introduced or reduced by the control rod drive mechanisms 6 changing their relative positions within the core. And the reactor core fuel and the control rods 6 are arranged along the axial direction of the airplane, so that the technical effects that the power output of the system is controlled by changing the reactivity of the whole reactor through the movement of the control rods 6, the compressor 2 of the integrated engine provides driving force for forced circulation of coolant, and the pressure container 7 and the pipeline are used as radioactive boundaries are achieved, and the compact carrier gas cold small reactor is formed by the above components.

Preferably, a printed circuit plate heat exchanger or a shell-and-tube heat exchanger is built in the heat exchanger 3. The printed circuit plate type heat exchanger or the shell-and-tube type heat exchanger has small structure volume and high heat exchange efficiency, thereby being beneficial to improving the compactness and the high efficiency of the nuclear power engine device.

Preferably, the front-end coolant compression section 21 and the rear-end air compression section 22 are both designed by adopting an axial flow compressor, and the pressure ratio of the coolant under rated working conditions is about 2: 1, pressure ratio to air of about 10: 1. the compression blades of the front end coolant compression section 21 are coaxially or eccentrically connected with the compression blades of the rear end air compression section 22; the driving force for the rotation of the compressor blades of the front end coolant compression section 21 and the rear end air compression section 22 both come from the turbine. By adopting the structural design, on one hand, the arrangement of the front and rear end compression section structures is convenient, the high integration of the engine compressor part and the reactor compressor part is facilitated, the overall structural volume of the compressor is reduced, and the adaptability between the nuclear power engine and the aircraft is improved; on the other hand, the heat loss in the heat exchange process is reduced, the effects of increasing the air inlet temperature of the front edge of the turbine and reducing the temperature of the coolant at the inlet of the reactor are achieved, the thrust of the engine is increased, the energy utilization efficiency of the reactor system is improved, and the compact miniaturization and the efficient operation of the nuclear power engine device are finally achieved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.