What are microreactor used for?

What are microreactor used for?

A microreactor is a small nuclear reactor that can operate as part of the electric grid, independently from the electric grid, or as part of a microgrid to generate up to 20 megawatts thermal energy that can be used to generate electricity and provide heat for industrial applications.

Is a micro nuclear reactor possible?

While it’s possible to build such a reactor with today’s technology, it might not have the portability or the efficiency needed to operate on a military base, for example, or in an Arctic community where renewable alternatives such as wind or solar energy are not feasible.

How does a nuclear microreactor work?

How does it work? Similar to conventional large reactors, microreactors use the heat from a nuclear reaction to boil water, creating steam. The steam spins a turbine generator that, in turn, produces electricity.

What is a micro channel reactor?

A micro channel reactor is a reactor that consists of numerous channels with small diameters of less than a few millimeters.

Where are microreactors used?

Microreactors engage the attention of researchers and engineers in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Microreactors can achieve the high yield and selectivity of a product owing to their advantages of rapid mixing, high heat transfer, and precise residence time control (Hessel et al., 2005).

How is heavy water made?

Heavy water can be made using hydrogen sulfide-water chemical exchange, water distillation, or electrolysis. Hydrogen Sulfide-Water Exchange – In a mixture of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and water at chemical equilibrium, the concentration of deuterium in water is greater than the concentration in H2S.

How much does a nuclear microreactor cost?

A recent report by the Nuclear Energy Institute: “Cost Competitiveness of Micro-Reactors for Remote Markets,” estimates the cost to generate electricity from the first microreactor will be between $0.14/kWh and $0.41/kWh.

How big is a nuclear microreactor?

Nuclear microreactors are very small reactors usually generating less than 50 megawatts electric (MWe). They are seen as an alternative to small modular (50-300 MWe) or conventional reactors (often around 1,000 MWe).

What is micro flow reactor?

Micro-flow reaction (Flow reactor) is a new solution performing chemical reaction by delivering raw materials into micro channels. Flow reactor enables various types of reactions which could not have been performed in a conventional batch mode (flask, vessel).

What is micro-flow reactor?

What is the smallest nuclear reactor?

Bilibino Nuclear power plant (NPP) in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, houses the world’s smallest commercial nuclear reactor. The plant, owned and operated by state-owned Rosenergoatom, is equipped with four EGP-6 light water graphite reactors (LWGR) with gross power capacity of 12MWe each.

How do you manufacture deuterium?

Deuterium is produced for industrial, scientific and military purposes, by starting with ordinary water—a small fraction of which is naturally-occurring heavy water—and then separating out the heavy water by the Girdler sulfide process, distillation, or other methods.