Design Concepts and Process Analysis for Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing Eighth Information Exchange Meeting on Actinide and Fission Product Partitioning and Transmutation Design Concepts and Process Analysis for Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing Georg F. Mauer, Professor Jamil Renno, Graduate Student Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Design Concepts and Process Analysis for Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing Table of Contents Introduction Manipulator Dynamics Analysis Of Fuel Fabrication Simulations of Robotic Material Handling Processes Conclusion UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

A manufacturing plant for transmuter fuel would have to process considerable quantities in a hot cell. Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing: Approx. 100 tons of Americium fuel annually. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Transmutation Impact: Lower radiotoxicity Shorter time frame of concern Smaller volume of waste Optimized waste forms Source: Herczeg 2003 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Dispersion Fuels (several subtypes exist) Transmuter Fuel Types With regard to fuel manufacturing, we may distinguish among three categories: Dispersion Fuels (several subtypes exist) Ceramic Fuels (several subtypes exist) Metallic Fuels UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Modeling Fuel Manufacturing Process 3D Drawings of Hot Cell Components Define Dynamic Properties, Kinematic Constraints Command generation, and Equipment Control through Feedback. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Fuel Fabrication Equipment Wälischmiller Robot: Modular design All drives and Sensors in Base 30 to 240 kg Load capacity UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Robot Analysis UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ROBOT PATH PLANNING AND KINEMATICS The robot model was developed using the Denavit-Hartenberg formulation Arm motion is modeled as a series of successive spatial rotations and translations. For an arm with n joints, the end effector position relative to the base (index 0) is     UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

ROBOT PATH PLANNING AND KINEMATICS     Path generation in Matlab UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Smooth Motion Profile For Trajectory Planning UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Control Law Implementation Simulink and MSC.visualNastran UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(1) Hot Cell Design and Analysis for Powder Processing Pellet Press Sintering Oven Surface Grinder Inspection Station Cladding Tube UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Possible Floor Plan for Powder Processing UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Hot Cell in Operation Loading Pellets for Insertion into the Cladding Tube UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

The simulation permits the detailed analysis of process parameters, such as speed and forces on a fuel pellet. Two examples follow. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Robot Speed and Forces on Pellet UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Friction Forces on Pellet UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Accident Analysis Collision Manipulator repeatedly impacts the wall, while moving the pellet to the inspection station.

Accident Analysis Collision Impulses during Collisions with a rigid obstacle.

Accident Analysis Pellet Stack Buckling

Accident Recovery: Dropping a Pellet

Time-Motion Studies Powder Processing UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(1) Time-Motion Studies - Powder Processing Pellet accelerations not to exceed 20 m/s2 Pick and Place Time Intervals, per pellet. Hot cell with two active Robots. Operation Time in Seconds Robot 1: Image Acquisition (Identify pellet in output tray of the pellet press, select pellet for grasping, compute pellet location and orientation) 5 Pellet Press to Sintering Boat 6 Return robot arm to Pellet Press 4 Total time Robot 1 14 Robot 2: Sintering Boat to Grinder Return robot arm to Sintering Boat Grinder to Dimensional Inspection Station 8 Dimensional Inspection Station to V-tray for Insertion into the cladding tube Total time Robot 2 30 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Time-Motion Studies - Powder Processing The time required for pellet handling is small in comparison to the sintering time. (between 1 and 18 hours, depending on process) The time required for the handling metal pins and dispersion fuel compacts will be comparable to those for powder processing, or less. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Metallic Fuel Processing Time-Motion Studies Metallic Fuel Processing UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Insertion of Metal Pins into the Cladding Tube     UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(2) Time-Motion Studies - Metallic Fuel Processing Pin accelerations not to exceed 20 m/s2 Pick and Place Time Intervals, per pin Hot cell with a single active Robot. Robot Operation Time in Seconds Storage Rack to Grinder 6 Return robot arm to Rack 4 Grinder to Dimensional Inspection Station 8 Dimensional Inspection Station to V-tray for Insertion into the cladding tube Return robot arm to Storage Rack Total time for Robot, per pin 30 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Dispersion Fuel Processing Time-Motion Studies Dispersion Fuel Processing UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Dispersion Fuel Manufacture     UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Design Concepts and Process Analysis for Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing Conclusion The simulation analysis performs detailed evaluation of the manufacturing process, and detects possible accidents and failures in the hot cell. It allows for the comprehensive examination and testing of failure scenarios as well as recovery procedures, and thus for the iterative optimization of all mechanical hot cell components, ensuring maximum reliability and safety. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

End of Presentation UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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    UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

    UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Simulation Examples Pick and Place Operation: Move fuel pellet from sintering press to preparation area for fuel pin loading. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Simulation Example: Friction Forces during Fuel Pin Loading UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Simulation Example: Torque in Joint 3 (Elbow) during Fuel Pin Loading UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

3D Modeling: Robot Simulation We developed a complete mathematical model of robot kinematics, dynamics, and control. 3D CAD models of hot cell equipment and robots were developed and integrated with the robot dynamics model, using Visual Nastran4D software. Each robot is controlled from Matlab through a Simulink interface with Visual Nastran4D. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

The Robot Controller (Matlab Simulink) Manipulator dynamics are represented as block ‘vNPlant’     UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Source: J. Breese, DOE, 1999 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Fuel Fabrication Equipment Hot Cell Equipment (Wälischmiller ) UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Fuel Conditioning Facility at ANL West, Idaho Falls. Hot Cell Schematic. UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Transmuter Fuel Fabrication Issues: Hot cell required Criticality concerns mandate small batch sizes Large fuel quantities suggest process automation Equipment for hot cell operation must be identified or developed. Material flow and operational sequence Long term reliability must be ensured Design must prove he ability to cope with a wide range of contingencies (e.g. equipment failures, spillage, breakage) UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Three processes for Americium Fuel Fabrication (Haas et al.), 1998 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Americium Fuel Fabrication for 1 ton of Am/year (Haas et al.), 1998 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING