Need some help with my physics homework, also, why does the coolant circulate through sealed popies to and from the heat exchanger?
Just imagine the USNavy Aircraft Carriers, they are all powered by nuclear reactor. Heat exchanger are circulated in and around coolant through the use of pumps.
the thick walls prevent neutrons, gamma rays, x-rays, ect from escaping. gamma rays and x-rays are ionizing radiation, they can knock electrons off molecules and cause harmful chemical reactions. Neutrons can cause nuclear reactions inside your body which is not good. Neutrons are not repelled by a nucleus like protons so they can contact a nucleus and bind to it (nuclear reaction). There are a lot of neutrons inside a reactor. often times the coolant is under high pressure to keep it in the liquid state, so you must have sealed pipes. Also, the coolant comes in contact with all those neutrons in the reactor, which changes atoms like normal hydrogen in water into something like radioactive tritium, so the coolant is also radioactive. In the heat exchanger the heat from the coolant is transferred to another source of water. The coolant water is kept separated from the fresh water it is transferring heat to so that the fresh water is not contaminated. This fresh water is vaporized to steam which runs turbines creating electricity .
