As the first university in South Africa to be awarded a chair in Nuclear Engineering by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), and the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Limited (PBMR), the North-West University is synonymous with pioneering initiatives and applications, and Van Antwerpen’s PhD study is no exception. “I want to shift perceptions and change society, my passion is to be the link between the Business World, Energy Processes and Greenpeace” says Van Antwerpen. His paramount respect for Greenpeace cofounder, Patrick Moore and also James Lovelock together with the North-West University’s positioning to deliver high quality training and his planned MBA studies at Hult International Business School in the UK and USA will provide Van Antwerpen with just that: The determination and resources to make a difference.
The Engineering Faculty’s expertise comes from its substantial research programme in support of the PBMR project, which involves more than 50 post graduate students. The PBMR was established in 1999 with the intention to develop and market small-scale, high-temperature reactors both locally and internationally. The PBMR is a High Temperature Reactor (HTR) with a helium closed-cycle gas turbine power conversion system. Although it is not the only HTR currently being developed in the world, the South African project is on schedule to be the first commercial scale HTR in the power generation field.
Van Antwerpen’s presentation at the International Youth Conference on Energetics contributes focuses on “Modelling the Effective Thermal Conductivity in the near-wall region of a Packed Pebble Bed”. This topic is of utmost importance because the phenomenon forms such an intricate part of the self acting decay heat removal chain which directly ties in with the PBMR safety case. Standard correlations used by the general thermal fluid community for Pebble Bed Reactors (PBR’s) are investigated, where special attention is given to the range of applicability of the correlations when simulating the effective thermal conductivity in the near-wall region. The results of the study is tested at the NWU facilities which include the pebble-bed micro model, which was constructed some six years ago, the High Temperature Test Unit (HTTU), and the High Pressure Test Unit (HPTU). Together, the HTTU and the HPTU form the Heat Transfer Test Facility (HTTF). “Research carried out for the PBMR at these facilities is of national importance in the quest for sustainable energy sources” says Dr Johan Slabber, Chief Technology Officer of the PBMR.
The HTTF is a First Of A Kind Engineering (FOAKE) project and test separated thermal hydraulic effects in PBR’s that couldn’t be tested before. It also demonstrates the capability of South Africans to construct such plants with confidence to ensure a better future.
Van Antwerpen is passionate about the alternative applications of nuclear engineering, and feels that nuclear energy is too often solely associated with power generation, and it’s purpose stretches far beyond pure power supply. The heat generated from the nuclear process can be used to produce H2 which in turn can be used as an alternative energy source to replace fuel in motor cars and other vehicles in times to come. The result will be an environmentally friendly vehicle that discharges water as by-product instead of detrimental CO2 gasses. “Due to its negative application in the past and specifically warfare, my dream is to break stigmas, and provide a safe product, resulting in a cleaner South Africa” states Van Antwerpen.
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