Saltworx - Capstone Project
Faculty Mentor Name
Jonathan Adams, Mehran Andalibi
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
We have many ways to power our daily lives, such as the sun, batteries, and gas. One of the most efficient ways to power the world currently is with a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plants are excellent at moving heat, which is a form of energy, and converting it to power. However, we can’t have the power of a nuclear plant on campus. The facilities needed would simply be too large. We need a way to show students the amazing power of nuclear generation on a smaller scale. To address these challenges, the Saltworx Capstone Team is creating an innovative solution to demonstrate nuclear power principles at a university scale. Our goal is to simulate the heat from a reactor, transfer it to a salt-based storage, and then move it through steel piping and a specialized pump to show temperature and pressure differences across a scaled system. Saltworx’s molten salt system is providing a means for ERAU to develop analysis and understanding for high temperature molten salt applications as they might be used in a nuclear power plant. We expect the project to be used by future students and teachers to test various molten salt compositions and components, advancing the technical readiness of associated nuclear technologies at ERAU.
Saltworx - Capstone Project
We have many ways to power our daily lives, such as the sun, batteries, and gas. One of the most efficient ways to power the world currently is with a nuclear power plant. Nuclear power plants are excellent at moving heat, which is a form of energy, and converting it to power. However, we can’t have the power of a nuclear plant on campus. The facilities needed would simply be too large. We need a way to show students the amazing power of nuclear generation on a smaller scale. To address these challenges, the Saltworx Capstone Team is creating an innovative solution to demonstrate nuclear power principles at a university scale. Our goal is to simulate the heat from a reactor, transfer it to a salt-based storage, and then move it through steel piping and a specialized pump to show temperature and pressure differences across a scaled system. Saltworx’s molten salt system is providing a means for ERAU to develop analysis and understanding for high temperature molten salt applications as they might be used in a nuclear power plant. We expect the project to be used by future students and teachers to test various molten salt compositions and components, advancing the technical readiness of associated nuclear technologies at ERAU.