UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGASDEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Design Concepts and Process...

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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

Eighth Information Exchange Meeting on Actinide and Fission Product Partitioning

and Transmutation

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Table of Contents

•Introduction

•Manipulator Dynamics

•Analysis Of Fuel Fabrication

•Simulations of Robotic Material Handling Processes

•Conclusion

Design Concepts and Process Analysis for Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing

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.

Transmutation

• Impact:– Lower

radiotoxicity– Shorter time

frame of concern– Smaller volume

of waste– Optimized waste

forms

10,000

1,000

100

10

1

0.1

10 100 1,000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000

No Transmutation(i.e., Direct Disposal orconventionalreprocessing)

Toxicity ofNaturalUranium

<1,000Years

300,000Years

WithTransmutationR

elat

ive

Tox

icity

Year

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Source: Herczeg 2003

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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

Modeling Fuel Manufacturing Process

ProEngineer: Solid Modeling

MSC.visualNastran:Dynamics

MATLAB Simulink:Control

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

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Wälischmiller Robot:

•Modular design

•All drives and Sensors in Base

•30 to 240 kg Load capacity

Fuel Fabrication Equipment

Robot Analysis

Kinematics

Dynamics

Inverse, ForwardKinematics

Control

Path PlanningTrajectory Generation

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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

i

jj

ji

ii

1

112

11

00 AAAAT

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

d dh4

a dh3

dh2

dh1

dh

0

Joint2

Joint3

0

Joint5

Joint6

Joint7 90deg

0

0

90deg

0

0

90deg

90deg

90deg

90deg

90deg

0

0

90deg

0

90deg

0

0

0

0

0

0

4.75

13.0

0

0

0

24

42.5

10.5

41.5 9

10.5

29.5

0

0

0

0

0

a d

n 11There are a total of 5 joints requiring 11 coordinate transformations to correctly model the system.

Key dimensions for the manipulator are as follows:

Joint7 0degJoint6 0degJoint5 0degJoint3 0degJoint2 0deg

The input angles for the joints () are as follows:

Kinematic Analysis of the Wälischmiller Manipulator (Mathcad analysis)

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ROBOT PATH PLANNING AND KINEMATICS

Path generation in Matlab

Smooth Motion Profile For Trajectory Planning

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Control Law Implementation Simulink and MSC.visualNastran

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(1) Hot Cell Design and Analysis for Powder Processing

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Pellet Press Sintering Oven Surface Grinder

Inspection StationCladding Tube

Possible Floor Plan for Powder Processing

Second Robot

First Robot

SinteringOven

V-Tray

CladdingTube

ConveyorBelt

Camera

Pellet Press

ShieldedGlass

Bin

SurfaceGrinder

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UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Hot Cell in OperationLoading Pellets for Insertion into the

Cladding Tube

The simulation permits the detailed analysis of process parameters, such as speed and forces on a fuel pellet.

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Two examples follow.

Robot Speed and Forces on Pellet

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Friction Forces on Pellet

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Accident AnalysisCollision

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

Accident AnalysisCollision

Impulses during Collisions with a rigid obstacle.

Accident AnalysisPellet Stack Buckling

Accident Recovery:Dropping a Pellet

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Time-Motion StudiesPowder Processing

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(1) Time-Motion Studies - Powder ProcessingPellet 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 14Robot 2: Sintering Boat to Grinder 6

Return robot arm to Sintering Boat 4

Grinder to Dimensional Inspection Station 8

Dimensional Inspection Station to V-tray for Insertion into the cladding tube

6

Return robot arm to Sintering Boat 6

Total time Robot 2 30

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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.

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Time-Motion StudiesMetallic Fuel Processing

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Insertion of Metal Pins into the Cladding Tube

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UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

(2) Time-Motion Studies - Metallic Fuel ProcessingPin 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

6

Return robot arm to Storage Rack 6

Total time for Robot, per pin 30

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Time-Motion StudiesDispersion Fuel Processing

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Dispersion Fuel Manufacture

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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.

Design Concepts and Process Analysis

for Transmuter Fuel Manufacturing

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End of Presentation

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UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

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

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Simulation Example: Torque in Joint 3 (Elbow) during Fuel Pin Loading

UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA LAS VEGAS DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

•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.

3D Modeling: Robot Simulation

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General Form of the Rotational Joint Matrix

cos i sin i

0

0

cos i sin i

cos i sin i

sin i 0

sin i sin i

sin i cos i

cos i 0

ai cos i

ai sin i

di

1

All joints are rotational, and therefore, the general form (Ai) of the rotational joint matrix will be used. Solving for the General Rotational Matrices:

i 1 n

Ai

cos i sin i

0

0

cos i sin i

cos i cos i

sin i 0

sin i sin i

sin i cos i

cos i 0

ai cos i

ai sin i

di

1

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 )

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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