While there are many definitions of a DT, because the goal of this project is to enable licensing of design innovations, for this project a complete DT will include:
- A physical system (experiment or reactor), which may be operated by a human through digital controls, that provides digital instrumentation data to a local workstation.
- A faster-than-real-time computer code, installed on the local workstation, that predicts the system performance in order to:
- Inform the operator(s) of the current state of the system;
- Anticipate failures and/or identify anomalies; and
- Autonomously control operation of the system to improve performance.
- A high-fidelity computer code, installed on a remote cluster, that is regularly calibrated using operational data passed from the local workstation, in order to:
- Continuously quantify and improve the accuracy of the software and
- Create the faster-than-real-time software that is integrated with the physical system.
To this end, there are a suite of complete DTs that we plan to develop (pending contractual agreements), including DTs of:
- A dynamic flow loop at Abilene Christian University (ACU) that will incorporate salt flow while suspended between cover gases with pressure controllers that maintain system stability;
- A bubbly-flow salt loop at Texas A&M that will address a key safety question in MSRs (void fraction) and demonstrate the use of DTs to accurately predict the performance of design innovations;
- An irradiated flowing salt loop at MIT that will incorporate the use of radiation detectors adjacent to nuclear reactors to identify material composition, gas generation, and radioactivity; and
- An operating (TRIGA) nuclear reactor at UT that will incorporate the DT with control room software to understand the challenges associated with NRC licensing a system that includes a DT.
While these DTs will enable the team to build an understanding of how to create and use DTs for simple multiphysics systems, an operating MSR is much more complex. Because there won’t be operational data from an MSR during this project, there will be a separate effort to develop the high-fidelity software and faster-than-real-time models for an MSR. This will include (at least) two separate software packages, VERA and GenFOAM, but external collaborators are welcomed to partner with UT to evaluate additional options.
In addition, in support of the State of Texas’ desire to incorporate additional nuclear reactors, there will be an effort to provide real-time data to demonstrate the impact on wholesale pricing and electrical reliability of additional nuclear reactors on the Texas electrical grid (ERCOT). This will be used to inform Texas’ leadership on where to encourage nuclear construction, when it needs to be installed, and how to properly incentives this construction.
Therefore, this project will be divided into six DT application areas: 3 flow loops, UT TRIGA, MSR modeling, and ERCOT.