Development of a cold plug valve with fluoride salt

Abstract. Experimental studies have been developed on a new freeze plug concept for safety valves in facilities
using molten salt. They are designed to allow the closure of an upstream circuit by solidifying the molten salt in a
section of the device and to passively melt in case of a loss of electric power, thus releasing the upper fluid. The
working principle of these cold plug designs relies on the control of the heat transfer balance inside the device,
which determines whether the salt inside the cold plug solidifies or melts. The device is mainly composed of steel
masses that are dimensioned to provide sufficient thermal heat storage to melt the salt and thus open the cold
plug after the electric power is stopped. The final goal of the work is to provide useful recommendations and
guidelines for the design of a cold plug for the emergency draining system of a molten salt reactor. Some
numerical thermal simulations were performed withANSYS mechanical (Finite Element Method) to be compared
with results of the experiments and to make extrapolations for a new component to be used in a reactor.