Flibe Energy

partnered with

pacific northwest National Laboratory

Metal Organic Frameworks for Noble Gas Management in the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, NE-19-18706

YEAR AWARDED: FY-2019

ABSTRACT: Flibe Energy recognizes that the Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) introduces potentially unique challenges to the management of noble-gas fission products. By utilizing a liquid fuel form with active removal of fission product xenon from the fuel, the LFTR is capable of highly dynamic load-following behavior. This is an asset for integration into a mixed energy generation portfolio which includes variable-generation sources such as wind and solar power. However, active removal of noble-gas fission products from the fuel salt also presents challenges to the facility design.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory developed and demonstrated large number of nanostructured materials called metal-organic frameworks for selective removal of xenon and krypton (ppm level) from process off-gases using solid sorbents at near-room temperature. For this project, Flibe Energy and PNNL will evaluate the commercially available metal-organic frameworks in an engineered form to capture Xe selectively from simulated LFTR off-gas. This will establish the viability of designing a dramatically improved approach to noble gas management as compared to activated carbon.