{"id":3326,"date":"2024-07-11T19:12:57","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T19:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/?post_type=profiles&p=3326"},"modified":"2025-12-09T12:28:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:28:53","slug":"sarah-driscoll","status":"publish","type":"profiles","link":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/profiles\/sarah-driscoll\/","title":{"rendered":"Sarah Driscoll"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Sarah<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

MIT Department: <\/strong>Nuclear Science and Engineering
Faculty Mentor: <\/strong>Faculty Advisor: Prof. Koroush Shirvan
Research Supervisor:<\/strong> Arunkumar Seshadri
Undergraduate Institution: <\/strong>Vanderbilt University
Hometown:<\/strong> Cincinnati, OH
Website: <\/strong>LinkedIn<\/a>, Intern’s Website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Biography<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Driscoll is an undergraduate at Vanderbilt University, studying Chemical Engineering and Climate Studies. Her research pursuits began when she worked at the Vanderbilt Institute of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, where she helped restore lab equipment and advanced processes for growing graphene. She later joined Dr. Piran Kidambi\u2019s lab, where she worked on synthesizing 2-D nanostructures and improving proton exchange membranes. Sarah\u2019s passion for chemistry and clean energy led her to internships at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory with Dr. Simon Bare to enhance fluorescence detector setups for catalysis. Now, at MIT she is testing nuclear fluid coolants with Dr. Koroush Shirvan to make nuclear reactors safer and more economical.Studying abroad in Copenhagen to explore climate solutions made Sarah especially excited about researching engineering solutions to energy challenges. Her dedication to science communication has earned her awards like second place at the ORISE IGNITE Off! competition. With proven research and communication skills, Sarah is ready to make a positive impact as part of a Ph.D. program and eventually lead her own research group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abstract<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the Chemical and Physical Effects of Gamma Radiation on Potential Organic Coolants for Nuclear Reactors<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Driscoll1<\/sup>, Arunkumar Seshadri2<\/sup>, Koroush Shirvan2<\/sup>
1<\/sup>Vanderbilt University Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2<\/sup>Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Organic coolants present a promising alternative for nuclear reactors, offering potential reductions in capital costs and operational pressure compared to traditional light water-based systems The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the effects of gamma irradiation on organic coolant, specifically Paratherm HT (80% hydrogenated terphenyl, 20% terphenyl). Using Co-60 as the gamma irradiation source, we investigated the temperature dependent chemical and physical properties of Paratherm HT before and after irradiation. We conducted tests on the coolant to expose it to a range of irradiation doses spanning from 50 kGy to 2 MGy, under both atmospheric and inert conditions. Preliminary results indicate minimal changes in the coolant\u2019s characteristics post-irradiation. Comprehensive analyses were conducted to assess impact of irradiation on degradation temperature, viscosity, heat capacity, and molecular structure through NMR, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, and GC-MS. These results indicate that Paratherm HT maintains its integrity when exposed to gamma irradiation, affirming its suitability as a coolant for nuclear reactor applications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3757,"template":"","profile_category":[22],"class_list":["post-3326","profiles","type-profiles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","profile_category-2024-interns"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/3326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/profiles"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/3326\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4895,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profiles\/3326\/revisions\/4895"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"profile_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oge.mit.edu\/msrp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_category?post=3326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}