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Cable KurwitzNovember 8th, 2016

Nuclear Power Institute - IAEA NKM

Conference 20161

SEI Goals

Engage undergraduate engineering students in interdisciplinary & multilevel team projects sponsored by government / industry to:

– Target students from underrepresented groups

– Improve student retention in engineering

– Enhance the engineering education of our undergraduates with real world experiences

– Serve as an “Externship”

November 8th, 2016Nuclear Power Institute - IAEA NKM

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Sponsor

Defines

the Need

Faculty:

Technical expertise

Graduate Student:

Project management

Mentorship

Undergraduate Engineering Students

(8 students)

(multiple majors and levels)

SEI Approach


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•Part-time internships – no class credit

•Students work 10hrs/week

•Hourly pay $8-10/hr

•Students majors depend on technical skills

needed for project

•Handle project like a real world project• Semester plan with deliverables

• Weekly team meetings

• Regular interactions with sponsor

• Technical presentations

•Student performance evaluation

• Quality of work

• Initiative

• Teamwork

Program requirements

•Minimum GPA of 2.75

•Above average performance evaluation

SEIStakeholders

INDUSTRY BENEFITSIncrease Research Capability

• Gain low-cost research

• Scope/incubate projects

• Help develop high-tech workforce

• Increase public awareness of engineering value

Increase Access to Students

• Enhance engineering education

• Identify potential hires/interns

• Help/support underrepresented student

populations

• Increase company visibility with students/faculty

GOVERNMENT BENEFITSExpand the Research Infrastructure

• Gain low-cost research and excellent return

• Support needed industries

• Increase state/national engineering research

activity

• Develop high-tech workforce

• Raise public awareness of engineering/research

Enhance Education

• Encourage STEM in K-12 students

• Support underrepresented student populations

• Provide financial support to students

UNIVERSITY BENEFITS• Enhance engineering education

• Increase overall research activity

• Support underrepresented student populations

• Support interdisciplinary education/research

SOCIETAL BENEFITS• Enhance university/industry cooperation

• Enhance engineering/technical education

• Encourage STEM education in K-12 students

• Expand research infrastructure

• Increase engineering/technical workforce

NPI BENEFITS• Help expand the nuclear technical workforce

• Enhance engineering research

• Support Texas A&M academic and research

mission

• Expand ties with industry/government

FACULTY MENTOR

BENEFITS• Enhance research activity

• Develop a pool of graduate students

• Network with industry/government

GRADUATE MENTOR

BENEFITS• Earn a salary

• Learn project management

• Develop leadership skills

• Broaden research experience


UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT

BENEFITS• Gain real-world research experience

• Learn to work in a team environment

• Gain opportunities for mentoring


• Get paid!

• Enhance job marketability


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SEIStakeholders


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SEI Projects in Nuclear

• The multilevel, multidisciplinary teams paired with Industry

mentors working on real-world plant problems

• EAB room heat up under HVAC failure

• EAB building heat load analysis

• Interfacing systems LOCA analysis

• Spent fuel pool loading tool development

• Evaluation of probability of loss of service of

transportation and electrical networks

• PCM Materials for Nuclear Applications

• RCS Time-to-Boil Tool

• Loss of Cooling During Refueling Operations


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TAMU STP Decay Heat Load

• Carry out specific thermal calculations under refueling and shutdown

conditions for the South Texas Nuclear Power Plant.

• The main goals for the project:– Develop a tool for calculating time to boil in reactor coolant system and spent fuel pool under

specific plant mode conditions.

– Develop the ability to utilize the EPRI code GOTHIC in carrying out thermal calculations.

– Develop input decks for GOTHIC, test problems, and validation criteria for results.

– Utilize CFD software to better understand local heat transfer and fluid flow conditions.

– Develop and maintain a calculation notebook to support STP requirements.

• The team has completed all GOTHIC training modules and has

benchmarked STP calculations for a specific condition. Currently, the team

is developing a high fidelity model of the fuel transfer tube at STP to analyze

a specific condition during refueling operations.

• TAMU Faculty Mentor– Dr. Cable Kurwitz

• STP Industry Mentor– Steven Smiley

– Safdar Hafeez

• Start Fall 2013 (ongoing)November 8th, 2016

Nuclear Power Institute - IAEA NKM

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Decay Heat Load


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TAMU GUI Team

• The development and utilization of tools that can reduce human error are of high interest

to the nuclear industry and one such tool is motivation for the development of a digital tool

that can be utilized to determine acceptable storage locations of fresh and spent nuclear

fuel in the spent fuel pool at the South Texas Nuclear Plant.

• There were four main goals for the code developed under this project. They were:

– The creation of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that would display a map of the SFP at STP

– The determination of the categories of spent fuel assemblies given the relevant parameters

– To analyze the existing SFP configuration and determine acceptable locations for a given category

of spent fuel

– To allow the updating and saving of the SFP map

• The team successfully developed an application in Java that accomplishes these goals. It

loads a text file that contains the existing SFP layout, and displays a map of the pool. It

also loads a file containing the parameters of a spent fuel assembly, determines that

assembly’s category, and locates all the acceptable locations in the SFP for that assembly;

those locations are shown in the GUI and stored in an output file.

• TAMU Faculty Mentor

– Dr. Cable Kurwitz

• STP Industry Mentor

– David Bean

– Duane Gore

• Completed Summer 2014


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GUI User Interface


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TAMU Materials Team

• Utilize phase change materials to store thermal energy under accident conditions in nuclear facilities. In particular, identify and analyze various Phase ChangeMaterials (PCMs) that could be used to absorb thermal energy in a spent

nuclear fuel pool under a loss of cooling condition.

• There were four main goals for the code developed under this project. They were:

– Identify, measure, and analyze potential PCM materials using state-of-the-art instrumentation

– Work with both STP and Czech collaborators to develop a baseline set of conditions and interfaces for integration of PCM materials

– Design and optimize PCM material containing system to store thermal energy under given conditions

– Analyze spent fuel pool response under accident conditions

• The team has performed measurements of multiple PCMs using differential scanning calorimeter and reported these results to the community. Currently, the team is measuring thermal conductivity using a laser flash anemometer of selected PCMs as well as carrying out design and test activities associated with the design of the PCM enclosure.

• TAMU Faculty Mentor– Dr. Cable Kurwitz

• Czech Mentor– Dr. Radek Skoda

– Dr. Jiri Martinec

• Completed Summer 2014


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Design:ThemethodforthePCMtobeplacedintothespentfuelpoolisinaflatcontainerseenisFig.5.Theflatcontainersarehungacrossthespentfuelpoolfromsolidrods,thisdesigncanbeseeninFig.4.Thecontainersareclosedsothatcontamina onofthecoolingsystemisprevented.TheyarelocatedatthetopofthespentfuelpooltokeepthePCMawayfromthehighestradia onareas.

Experiment:Ascalemodelexperimentalapparatuseswasbuilt.ThePCMcontainersweremanufactureandSodiumAcetateTrihydratewasplacedinthePCMcontainers.Thecontainers—curtains,wereplacedinthemetal

tankasseeninFig.7.ABunsenburner,asseeninFig.6waslittoheatthetankandtemperaturewasmeasuredeverytwominutesun lthetankreached80C.

Results:

Whoweare:FourundergraduatesformtheDepartmentsofNuclearEngineeringandChemicalEngineeringatTexasA&M

University.• ZhiXuanTang• ClemenceChapeaux

• ElizabethTindle• JohnathonSkloss

Collabora on:The students workedwith a team from the BrnoUniversityofTechnologyintheCzechRepublic.Dr.Jiří

Mar necheadedtheBrnoteam.TheteamwasabletotraveltotheCzechRepublicforoneweekinMaytodiscusstheirfindingswiththeBrnoteamandhold

seminarsonfuturework.TheBrnoteamisimplemen ngPCMsinnuclearpowerplantcontainment.

PhaseChangeMaterialsinSpentFuelPools

Why:A erthe2011Fukushimaaccident,spentfuelpool

safetybecameatopicofconcern.

Problem:Intheeventthataspentfuelpoolhasalossofpowerandac vecoolingthewaterinthespentfuelpoolwill

boilwithin42hours.

Solu on:Designapassivesafetyfeaturetoimplementincurrentspentfuelpoolstoabsorbthermalenergyandprolong

thewater’s metoboil.

Overview

AcknowledgementsDr.CableKurwitz—Dr.RadekSkoda—Dr.JiříMar nec—Dr.MichaelSchuller—Dr.SeanMcDeavi —NuclearScienceCenter

MaterialSelec on:PhaseChangeMaterials(PCMs)wereselectedusingFig.1.Material selec on was based onmel ng point,

thermalconduc vityandlatentheatoffusion.• Paraffins:Tetracontane• SugarAlcohols:Xylitol

• Fa yAcids:Palmi cAcid• SaltHydrates:SodiumAcetateTrihydrate

Figure1:PCMsbyclass

MDSC:AModulatedDifferen alScanningCalorimeterwasused

todeterminethermalproper esofchosenmaterials.SevenRunsofeachsampleandthreesamplesofeachPCMweredonetoincreaseaccuracy.

Figure2:Temp.v.HeatCapacityforMagnesiumNitrateHexahydrate

MDSC

Why:Since these materials will be in a radioac ve

environment,theirbehaviorinsuchanenvironmentneededtobestudied.

Procedure:Neutronac va onAnalysiswasperformedonninePCMs.Allmaterialsthatwerenotac vatedwereplacedina1mega-wa researchreactor.EachPCMreceivedaneutronfluxof1014neutrons/cm2whichwascalculatedtobeaworkinglife meofoneyearinaspentfuelpool.ThematerialswerethenanalyzedusingthesameMDSCprocedureasbeforeinorderto compare pre- and post-irradia on thermalproper es.ResultsareshowninFig.3.

Figure3:Pre-andPost-Irradia onDataforMagnesiumNitrateHexahydrate

Irradia on

TheTeam

ClemenceChapeaux—JohnathonSkloss—ZhiXuanTang—ElizabethTindle

Pre-Irradia on

PCM

Post-Irradia on

PCM

Enthalpyof

fusion

149.85 187.66

Solidphase

heatcapacity

1.81 1.857

Liquidphase

heatcapacity

1.834 2.178

kJkg ×°C

kJkg

kJkg ×°C

kJkg ×°C

kJkg ×°C

kJkg

DesignandPhysicalExperimenta on

Figure4:SolidworksModelFigure5:ScalePCMContainerFigure6:BunsenBurnerFigure7:Tankwith16curtains

Theresultsofthescalemodelexperimentprovedtobeverypromisingforanactualspentfuelpoolapplica on.Everythingwas

calculatedandexecutedtoscale.The mechangefrom0mLofPCMto16curtainsor

3,117mLofPCMhada27minutedifferent.Thiswouldbe32hourswhencalculatedtoforaspentfuelpool.Theseresultscanbeseenif

Fig.8.

Figure8:Zero-Four-Eight-SixteenCurtainComparison

OtherTes ng:• LFA447NanoFlash®

• Usedtofindthethermaldivisisity

• SolidworksFlowSimula on• Usedtoseeflowpa ernofheatin

water

• StefanProblem• Usedtoop mizethethicknessof

thecontainer

• MeltFrontExperiment• Builtmodelandrecordedmeltfront

withinfraredcameraGoals:• Prolongboiling meofwaterby24hours

• Replacenomorethan20%ofthespentfuelpoolwater• DesignandtestaplausiblestoragedevicePresenta ons:• StudentResearchWeek,EngineeringExpo,HealthPhysicsConference,BrnoSeminars


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SEI Outreach

• Students Must Participate in Multiple Outreach

Activities

– K-12 and Civic Group Presentations

– George Bush Library and TAMU Activities

– Houston Hispanic Forum

• Dual Focus

– Generate interest/excitement for STEM careers

– Provide information regarding college life from a

student perspective

– ‘Near Peer’ outreach


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SEI Presentations • TAMU Research Week 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015

• TAMU COE Research Showcase 2013, 2014

• Health Physics Society 2011, 2013, 2014 Southwest Texas Chapter

(Best Student Presentation 2013, 2014)

• ANS Student Conference 2013, 2014 (Best Student Presentation,

2013)

• Regional Conferences

• National Conferences

• International Conference for Nuclear Engineers (ICONE)

– Belgium, 2009

– China, 2010

– ANS PRA, 2011

• Trip to Czech Republic, STP, other locations

COE

White ~75%

Hispanic ~11%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14

SEI Diversity

Caucasian

Hispanic

Other


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COE

Female ~20%

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14

SEI Gender Profile

Male

Female


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Breakdown For Current SEI Students

TAMU COE ~19% Female

TAMU COE ~26.5% Minority


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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Class '06 Class '07 Class '08 Class '09

SEI Student Graduation Rate from

EngineeringOnly for students who joined SEI as Freshman – students may join SEI at

their sophomore/junior/senior year

SEI demonstrates higher retention in engineering

than national averages even though it includes

higher percentages of underrepresented groups.


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Red Line indicates national average retention in engineering, Ref. “Engineering Education Aids Instruction” by N. Fortenberry, J. Sullivan,

P. Jordan, D. Knight, Education Forum, February 2008.

Metrics

• Program Participation

– 9 current students, 41 over last four years

• Program Results

– 16 graduates are full time employed• 15 of 25 graduates are employed in Texas

– 7 graduates are in post-baccalaureate programs• 5 of 7 Enrolled in graduate programs at Texas Universities

– 6 are employed in active research program under professor at Texas A&M

– Multiple student internships and participation in ongoing education programs

– Only one student has not graduated with BS degree


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What do our students think?

• “The experiences and opportunities I have had with SEI have been amazing in contributing to my academic success and preparing me for a career. I have a significant amount of job opportunities in front of me, and can honestly say that SEI has been a major contributing factor in landing these. At interviews, I tend to speak more about my experiences at SEI than my two internships combined. The breadth and depth of knowledge the program has given me has been a wonderful supplement to my course work”.


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Thank you!

Questions?

[email protected]

www.nuclearpowerinstitute.org

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