Effect of particle properties on die filling behavior in nuclear oxide fuel pellet production

赤司 雅俊; 仁科 匡弘; 加藤 正人; 田中 達也*; 下坂 厚子*; 白川 善幸*; 日高 重助*

no journal, , 

A simplified fabrication method has been developed as advanced MOX fuel pellet fabrication process. It is important to fill powder uniformly into die and to produce good green pellets for stable supply of MOX fuel pellet. Die filling behavior is affected by various particle properties such as particle diameter, particle density and so on. In this work, die filling behavior was investigated as a function of particle diameter. MOX tumbling granule having mean particle diameters of 359, 296, 220 and 130 m were used for filling experiment. Particles of 359 and 296 m were filled constantly. However, under the condition of 130 m, the filling ratio was a mere 12. Simulation code combined the discrete element method and the computational fluid dynamics was applied to analyze the experimental results of the filling behavior. It was found that substitution between particle and air inside die affected the filling behavior of small size particle.