Optimal study of swordfish fin microchannel heat exchanger for the next generation nuclear power conversion system of lead-based reactor

2022 ◽  
Vol 165 ◽  
pp. 108679
Author(s):  
Yiming Lu ◽  
Zhangpeng Guo ◽  
Ya Gong ◽  
Tianyi Zhang ◽  
Yanping Huang ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 111-121 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhangpeng Guo ◽  
Yang Zhao ◽  
Yaoxuan Zhu ◽  
Fenglei Niu ◽  
Daogang Lu

Author(s):  
Colin F. McDonald ◽  
Ian R. Marshall ◽  
John Donaldson ◽  
Davdrin D. Kapich

The circulator is a key component in a gas-cooled nuclear power plant since it facilitates transfer of the reactor thermal energy (via the steam generator) to the electrical power conversion system. Circulator technology is well established and about 200 machines, which, in their simplest form, consist of an electrical motor driven compressor, have operated for many millions of hours worldwide in gas-cooled reactors. This paper covers the evolution of circulator design, technology and operating experience, with particular emphasis on how lessons learned over the last four decades (dominantly from the carbon dioxide cooled plants in the U.K.) are applicable to the helium cooled Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (MHTCR) which should see service in the U.S. at the turn of the next century. State-of-the-art technologies are covered in the areas of impeller selection, bearings, drive system, machine operation, and future trends are Identified.


Author(s):  
Alexey Dragunov ◽  
Eugene Saltanov ◽  
Igor Pioro ◽  
Glenn Harvel ◽  
Brian Ikeda

One of the current engineering challenges is to design next generation (Generation IV) Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) with significantly higher thermal efficiencies (43–55%) compared to those of current NPPs to match or at least to be close to the thermal efficiencies reached at fossil-fired power plants (55–62%). The Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is one of the six concepts considered under the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) initiative. The BN-600 reactor is a sodium-cooled fast-breeder reactor built at the Beloyarsk NPP in Russia. This concept is the only one from the Generation IV nuclear-power reactors, which is actually in operation (since 1980’s). At the secondary side, it uses a subcritical-pressure Rankine-steam cycle with heat regeneration. The reactor generates electrical power in the amount of 600 MWel. The reactor core dimensions are 0.75 m (height) by 2.06 m (diameter). The UO2 fuel enriched to 17–26% is utilized in the core. There are 2 loops (circuits) for sodium flow. For safety reasons, sodium is used both in the primary and the intermediate circuits. Therefore, a sodium-to-sodium heat exchanger is used to transfer heat from the primary loop to the intermediate one. In this work major parameters of the reactor are listed. The actual scheme of the power-conversion heat-transport system is presented; and the results of the calculation of thermal efficiency of this scheme are analyzed. Details of the heat-transport system, including parameters of the sodium-to-sodium heat exchanger and main coolant pump, are presented. In this paper two possibilities for the SFR in terms of the power-conversion cycle are investigated: 1. a subcritical-pressure Rankine-steam cycle through a heat exchanger (current approach in Russian and Japanese power reactors); 2. a supercritical-pressure CO2 Brayton gas-turbine cycle through a heat exchanger (US approach). With the advent of modern super-alloys, the Rankine-steam cycle has progressed into the supercritical region of the coolant and is generating thermal efficiencies into the mid 50% range. Therefore, the thermal efficiency of a supercritical Rankine-steam cycle is also briefly discussed in this paper. According to GIF, the Brayton gas-turbine cycle is under consideration for future nuclear power reactors. The supercritical-CO2 cycle is a new approach in the Brayton gas-turbine cycle. Therefore, dependence of the thermal efficiency of this SC CO2 cycle on inlet parameters of the gas turbine is also investigated.


Author(s):  
Chang H. Oh ◽  
Eung S. Kim

The Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), a very High temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (VHTR) concept, will provide the first demonstration of a closed-loop Brayton cycle at a commercial scale, producing a few hundred megawatts of power in the form of electricity and hydrogen. The power conversion unit (PCU) for the NGNP will take advantage of the significantly higher reactor outlet temperatures of the VHTRs to provide higher efficiencies than can be achieved with the current generation of light water reactors. Besides demonstrating a system design that can be used directly for subsequent commercial deployment, the NGNP will demonstrate key technology elements that can be used in subsequent advanced power conversion systems for other Generation IV reactors. In anticipation of the design, development and procurement of an advanced power conversion system for the NGNP, the system integration of the NGNP and hydrogen plant was initiated to identify the important design and technology options that must be considered in evaluating the performance of the proposed NGNP. As part of the system integration of the VHTRs and the hydrogen production plant, the intermediate heat exchanger is used to transfer the process heat from VHTRs to the hydrogen plant. Therefore, the design and configuration of the intermediate heat exchanger is very important. This paper will include analysis of one stage versus two stage heat exchanger design configurations and simple stress analyses of a printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE), helical coil heat exchanger, and shell/tube heat exchanger.


Author(s):  
Chang H. Oh ◽  
Eung S. Kim ◽  
Mike Patterson

The next generation nuclear plant (NGNP), a very high temperature gas-cooled reactor (VHTR) concept, will provide the first demonstration of a closed-loop Brayton cycle at a commercial scale, producing a few hundred megawatts of power in the form of electricity and hydrogen. The power conversion unit for the NGNP will take advantage of the significantly higher reactor outlet temperatures of the VHTRs to provide higher efficiencies than can be achieved with the current generation of light water reactors. Besides demonstrating a system design that can be used directly for subsequent commercial deployment, the NGNP will demonstrate key technology elements that can be used in subsequent advanced power conversion systems for other Generation IV reactors. In anticipation of the design, development, and procurement of an advanced power conversion system for the NGNP, the system integration of the NGNP and hydrogen plant was initiated to identify the important design and technology options that must be considered in evaluating the performance of the proposed NGNP. As part of the system integration of the VHTRs and the hydrogen production plant, the intermediate heat exchanger is used to transfer the process heat from VHTRs to the hydrogen plant. Therefore, the design and configuration of the intermediate heat exchanger are very important. This paper describes analyses of one stage versus two-stage heat exchanger design configurations and simple stress analyses of a printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE), helical-coil heat exchanger, and shell-and-tube heat exchanger.


Author(s):  
C. F. McDonald ◽  
L. Cavallaro ◽  
D. Kapich ◽  
W. A. Medwid

To meet the energy needs of special terrestrial defense installations, where a premium is placed on high plant efficiency, conceptual studies have been performed on an advanced closed-cycle gas turbine system with a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) as the heat source. Emphasis has been placed on system compactness and plant simplicity. A goal of plant operation for extended periods with no environmental contact had a strong influence on the design features. To realize a high plant efficiency (over 50%) for this mode of operation, a combined cycle was investigated. A primary helium Brayton power conversion system coupled with a Freon bottoming cycle was selected. The selection of a gas turbine power conversion system is very much related to applications where high efficiency is paramount and this can be realized with the utilization of a cold heat sink. Details are presented of the reactor arrangement, power conversion system, major components, installation, and performance for a compact nuclear power plant currently in a very early stage of concept definition.


2021 ◽  
Vol 345 ◽  
pp. 00032
Author(s):  
Michal Volf ◽  
Martin Pelikán ◽  
Pavel Žitek

The article focuses on a power conversion system for a gas-cooled fast reactor working with helium. The power conversion system, i.e., secondary and possible tertiary system of a power plant, is used to convert heat generated by nuclear fission into electrical energy. The presented research deals with the conceptual design of this system, mainly its secondary circuit, which is assumed to be a Brayton cycle. Several concepts are evaluated, including single and staged compression and possible heat regeneration. The goal of the work is to select the main parameters of such a cycle that would not only be ideal in terms of efficiency, but would also allow decay heat to be used and further converted into electricity. In this way, the secondary cycle could be used as an additional safety system for the nuclear power plant.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document