Thermo hydraulics / Hydrogen and safety technology

Thermal Hydraulics

The focus area of thermohydraulics is primarily devoted to the experimental investigation of special phenomena that arise primarily during the operation of existing nuclear power plants with light-water reactors. In addition, we consider possible phenomena to be expected during the development of Generation 3+ light-water reactors.

The focus is on single-phase and two-phase natural circulation flows, which play a crucial role especially in the operation of passive heat removal systems:

passive heat removal by means of containment condensers
passive heat removal from fuel element wet storage systems
safety of spent fuel pools

In addition to the experiments, the professorship performs theoretical analyses using the integral code ATHLET.

Hydrogen and Safety technology

In the focal area of hydrogen and safety technology, we transfer the proven methods of safety and risk analysis from the nuclear field to further applications in a wide variety of systems.

In addition, this focus area is dedicated to the development as well as investigation of technical solutions or key concepts for energy conversion and storage. This includes in particular:

Evaluation of safety-relevant processes and technical equipment in the field of hydrogen technology
Development of flexible conversion technologies for the efficient transfer of volatile surplus reserves into various forms of energy (e.g. power-to-methanol, power-to-heat, heat-to-power)
Development of chemical/thermal storage technologies for short-, medium- and long-term energy supply.

The competences in the following areas are to be emphasized

safety analyses for risk assessment of hydrogen technologies
technical implementation of different plant concepts with associated measurement and control technology
chemical process and plant engineering as well as energy and systems process engineering
thermodynamic and fluid dynamic modeling and optimization of high-temperature processes and multiphase flows in complex geometries

For details on current research activities, please refer to the individual projects.

Student research projects

Experimental and theoretical work is part of the training of students in the context of student research projects or employment as student assistants. Current assignments and SHK announcements can be found here.
In addition, individual topics can be worked out jointly between the students and the professorship.

Responsible employees

Head

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Antonio Hurtado

Projects

09/2022 - 02/2025	NPHyCo: Nuclear Powered Hydrogen Cogeneration
08/2021 - 06/2022	HITEMAGEN4: Hochtemperaturwerkstoffe für Flüssigsalz-Reaktoren der Generation IV
01/2018 - 06/2021	H2-INES: Integrative Erhöhung des Sicherheitsniveaus in der Wertschöpfungskette für Wasserstoff
03/2017 - 06/2021	AMTEC-D: Entwicklung eines Alkalimetall-Konverters zur hocheffizienten Direktumwandlung von Wärme in elektrischen Strom
11/2016 - 06/2020	SYNKOPE-flex: Synergetische Kopplung von Energieträgern für effiziente Prozesse
10/2016 – 01/2017	TWIAT: Hydraulisches Gutachten zur Erforschung des dynamischen Verhaltens von Trinkwassersystemen
09/2016 - 12/2020	DELTA: Entwicklung eines tubularen Dampf-Elektrolyseurs mit integrierter Kohlenwasserstoffsynthese
07/2015 – 01/2022	Verbundprojekt PANAS: Untersuchungen zu passiven Nachzerfallswärme-Abfuhrsystemen: Experimentelle Analyse, Modellbildung und Validierung für System- und CFD-Codes
03/2015 – 08/2018	Verbundprojekt EASY: Integrale experimentelle und analytische Nachweise der Beherrschbarkeit von Auslegungsstörfällen allein mit passiven Systemen
10/2013 - 09/2019	Verbundprojekt SINABEL: „Sicherheit der Nasslager für abgebrannte Brennelemente: Experimentelle Analyse, Modellbildung und Validierung für System- und CFD-Codes“
01/2014 – 09/2021	LUKA: Passive Wärmeabfuhr aus einem Brennelement-Nasslager
10/2011 - 09/2014	Generische Untersuchungen zum Betriebsverhalten passiver Wärmeabfuhrsysteme
08/2009 - 07/2012	Verbundprojekt Sieden: Experimentelle Untersuchung des Einflusses reaktorspezifischer Kühlmittelzusätze auf Siedevorgänge
10/2009 - 09/2012	Untersuchung der Stabbelastung in Brennelementen unter Nachwärmebedingungen beim Ausdampfen des Reaktordruckbehälters und des Lagerbeckens
11/2010 – 03/2011	Weiterführende ISOTRAN-Experimente zum Transport von Isoliermaterialfasern durch SWR-Abstandshalter mit einer Zweiphasenströmung
07/2010 - 10/2010	Untersuchung der Erosionskorrosion an Lichtgitterrosten
09/2009 - 02/2010	Untersuchung des Transports von Isoliermaterial durch SWR-Abstandshalter
04/2006 – 12/2006	Experimentelle Untersuchung des Verhaltens eines langsam ausdampfenden Brennelement-Lagerbeckens
09/2005 – 08/2009	Analyse der Reaktivitätswirksamkeit der Einspeisung von Bor
01/2004 – 12/2006	Vertiefte nichtlineare Analyse des Stabilitätsverhaltens von Siedewasserreaktoren
06/1997 – 05/2000	Experimentelle Untersuchungen zu den thermohydraulischen Eigenschaften des Passiven Impulsgebers
11/1995 – 12/1996	Simulation des Kühlluft-Kühlers als Naturumlaufverdampfer mit Hilfe der Versuchsanlage DANTON