Experimental testing plays a crucial role in technological advancement as it validates the functionality of designed systems under specific conditions. In the Sodium Technology Complex (STC) at IGCAR, a test facility was designed, fabricated, and installed to meet the testing demands of reactor components within a sodium environment, fostering the development of fast reactor technology.

This versatile facility is equipped to handle full-scale assembly of reactor components.

A five-floor steel structure capable of bearing loads of up to 440 tons was engineered and erected to provide robust support for large test vessels (approximately 14 meters in size), various equipment, and the intricate piping system integral to the test facility.

The equipment layout was designed to fulfil testing, maintenance, installation, and process requirements while accommodating current equipment configurations and future expansion.

The steel structure construction involved carbon steel structural member sizes ranging from ISMB 100 to ISMB 600 using fillet welds by the SMAW process. Equipment parts were manufactured using SS 316 LN plates using the cold forming process and solution annealing for the parts subjected to high strain.

All the parts are integrated using butt weld joints using the GTAW process. All the equipment joints are subjected to a surface examination technique (LPE) and a volumetric examination technique (RT/UT). Pneumatic testing was performed for integrity and leak tests (soap bubble and helium leak tests) to ensure leak proof boundary of sodium-wetted equipment.

The steel structure is erected with stringent design requirements on levelling and straightness, followed by the erection of process equipment and the large vessel on the steel structure.

This paper provides a comprehensive account of the layout and design features of the steel structure and equipment, along with the fabrication and erection experience of the large steel structure and equipment of the test facility.

This article is shared by R. Nirmalkumar1*, R. K. Mourya1, N. Chakraborty1, Anant Kumar, S. Ignatius Sundar Raj and B. K. Sreedhar