Unsteady State Heat Transfer in Externally Heated Magnesio Thermic Reduction Reactor: An overview

Abstract

The magnesio thermic reduction process for the production of uranium which involves reduction of uranium tetra fluoride with magnesium in a sealed reactor has been studied in the present work. The process is highly exothermic and generates very high temperature in the core region. Safe operations of the process require accurate temperature control and heating. Simulations are carried out using Anupravha a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and heat transfer solver to study the temperature profiles inside the reactor including its lining. The results are studied for both preheating and reaction stage which gives an idea about the reaction temperature and molten mass inside the reactor. Thus the present study can be of great help for correct design of reactor thereby preventing nuclear radiation to the surroundings.