eVinci Micro Reactor – Electrical Demonstration Unit – Phase 1 Results

Abstract

The Electrical Demonstration Unit (EDU) is a key step in the test program for the eVinci™¹ Micro Reactor and serves to demonstrate operation of key integral components of the eVinci Micro Reactor design. The EDU represents a symmetric unit cell assembly (UCA) segment of the reactor core and is comprised of four essential components: the unit cell core block, heat source simulated by electrical heaters, heat pipes, and a forced-air convection heat exchanger. The objective of the EDU is to demonstrate heat transfer performance of the core block, heat pipes, and primary heat exchanger through various stages of normal operation and transients up to prototypic design temperature (>800°C) and heat pipe radial heat flux. Initial efforts to design, manufacture, assemble, and test the EDU, referred to as Phase 1, were completed in 2021. The EDU was successfully tested at prototypic temperatures through startup and steady state conditions, thus successfully demonstrating integral system operation. The high-level configuration of EDU, scaling considerations, test results, and planned use of the EDU are discussed.