Thermal Integration Options for Hydrogen Cogeneration With Molten Salt Nuclear Reactors

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Wang ◽  
G. F. Naterer ◽  
K. S. Gabriel
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Molten Salt ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Thermochemical Cycles ◽  
Heat Exchanger Design ◽  
Steam Methane ◽  
Heat Quantity ◽  
Production Cycles ◽  
Very High

Thermochemical hydrogen cogeneration using heat of molten salt nuclear reactors (MSRs) is discussed in this paper. Sulfur-iodine and copper-chlorine cycles are taken as typical examples for analysis and discussion. It is found that the heat exchanger design is predominately determined by the maximum and range of temperatures of themochemical hydrogen production cycles with MSRs. Copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) thermochemical cycles can link with most MSRs, but sulfur-iodine (S-I) cycles can only link with very high temperature MSRs. The location of extracted heat from MSRs to S-I and Cu-Cl cycles is investigated, and its influence on the layout of nuclear reactor coolant loop is discussed. Some conceptual designs of heat exchangers are proposed to transfer heat from MSRs to Cu-Cl and S-I cycles. The available heat quantity at different hours of a day and corresponding hydrogen production scales are determined. It is found that the available heat at most hours of power demand in a day is equivalent to the hydrogen cogeneration capacity of an industrial scale steam methane reforming plant, if an MSR power station is operating at an invariable maximum power, independent of an electrical load throughout a day or year.

The Coupling of Nuclear Heat and Hydrogen Production Thermochemical Cycles

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhaolin Wang ◽  
Greg Naterer ◽  
Kamiel S. Gabriel ◽  
Rob Gravelsins ◽  
Venkata Daggupati
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Heat Extraction ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Thermochemical Cycle ◽  
Thermochemical Cycles ◽  
Maximum Heat ◽  
Nuclear Heat

The technology to use nuclear heat to thermally split water into hydrogen and oxygen attracts more and more attentions at present. This paper discusses some challenges to couple nuclear heat with thermochemical hydrogen production cycles. The challenges include matching the maximum heat grade of thermal chemical cycles and nuclear reactors, and extracting heat from nuclear reactors. Sulfur-iodine and copper-chlorine cycles are taken as typical examples for analysis and discussion. The heat grade and quantity required by each step of the cycles are discussed. The maximum heat grade of sulfur-iodine cycle is higher than 800°C which cannot be easily coupled by GenIV nuclear reactor and other sources of heat must be provided. In comparison, the maximum heat grade of copper-chlorine cycle is 530°C which can be coupled by more nuclear reactors such as advance Gen-III and future Gen-IV nuclear reactor. It is concluded that thermochemical cycles with lower temperature requirement are easier to couple with present and future generations of reactors. Low temperature thermochemical cycles such as copper-chlorine cycles are recommended to match the heat grade of most nuclear reactors. Some methods are proposed to couple heat between a thermochemical cycle and nuclear power generating station. Several heat extraction methods such as using working fluid of nuclear reactor to provide heat to thermochemical cycles are proposed in this paper.

Multipurpose Small Size Fast Reactor: Its Basic Concept and Application to Nuclear Hydrogen Production

2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Endo ◽  
T. Sawada ◽  
H. Ninokata
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Fast Reactor ◽  
Steam Reforming ◽  
Basic Concept ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Methane Reforming ◽  
Steam Methane Reforming ◽  
Steam Methane ◽  
Thermal Output ◽  
Near Future

Here we propose a basic concept of a multipurpose small-sized fast reactor and its applicability to produce nuclear hydrogen for near future mass use of hydrogen industrial and public use. The modular-type fast reactor of 150 MW thermal output does not require fuel exchange nor decommissioning on the site, and can be transported from the factory in a fabricated form. For the hydrogen production, we propose to use the sorption enhanced reforming process (SERP), in which the steam-methane reforming can take place around 450–550 °C. Since this temperature range is rather low compared to the ongoing steam reforming method (> 800°C), the SERP system combined with an adequate nuclear reactor system should be a promising one to cope with the coming age of hydrogen civilization.

Japan's Post-Fukushima Energy Politics

2015 ◽  
Vol 07 (02) ◽  
pp. 109-116
Author(s):  
Tai Wei LIM
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Party ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Liberal Democratic Party ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
Energy Politics ◽  
Gubernatorial Election

A 2011 earthquake damaged the Fukushima nuclear reactor and provided a galvanising point for anti-nuclear resistance groups in Japan. Their public cause slowly faded from the political arena after the Democratic Party of Japan fell out of power and anti-nuclear politicians lost the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial election. The current Liberal Democratic Party Prime Minister Abe holds a pro-nuclear position and urges the reactivation of Japan's nuclear reactors after all safeguards have been satisfied.

Exploring the Use of Alumina Nanofluid as Emergency Coolant for Nuclear Fuel Bundle

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Chinchole ◽  
Arnab Dasgupta ◽  
P. P. Kulkarni ◽  
D. K. Chandraker ◽  
A. K. Nayak
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Nuclear Reactors ◽  
Electrical Heating ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Potential Candidate ◽  
Alumina Nanofluid ◽  
Core Cooling

Abstract Nanofluids are suspensions of nanosized particles in any base fluid that show significant enhancement of their heat transfer properties at modest nanoparticle concentrations. Due to enhanced thermal properties at low nanoparticle concentration, it is a potential candidate for utilization in nuclear heat transfer applications. In the last decade, there have been few studies which indicate possible advantages of using nanofluids as a coolant in nuclear reactors during normal as well as accidental conditions. In continuation with these studies, the utilization of nanofluids as a viable candidate for emergency core cooling in nuclear reactors is explored in this paper by carrying out experiments in a scaled facility. The experiments carried out mainly focus on quenching behavior of a simulated nuclear fuel rod bundle by using 1% Alumina nanofluid as a coolant in emergency core cooling system (ECCS). In addition, its performance is compared with water. In the experiments, nuclear decay heat (from 1.5% to 2.6% reactor full power) is simulated through electrical heating. The present experiments show that, from heat transfer point of view, alumina nanofluids have a definite advantage over water as coolant for ECCS. Additionally, to assess the suitability of using nanofluids in reactors, their stability was investigated in radiation field. Our tests showed good stability even after very high dose of radiation, indicating the feasibility of their possible use in nuclear reactor heat transfer systems.

A modified steam-methane-reformation reaction for hydrogen production

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (7) ◽  
pp. 4366-4369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surendra Saxena ◽  
Sushant Kumar ◽  
Vadym Drozd
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Steam Methane

Coupled Analysis of Thermal Hydraulics and Neutronics for a Molten Salt Reactor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Ge ◽  
Dalin Zhang ◽  
Wenxi Tian ◽  
Suizheng Qiu ◽  
G. H. Su
Keyword(s):  
Molten Salt ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Coupled Analysis ◽  
Molten Salt Reactor ◽  
Thermal Hydraulics ◽  
Delayed Neutron ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Liquid Salt ◽  
Energy Equations ◽  
Volume Method

As one of the six selected optional innovative nuclear reactor in the generation IV International Forum (GIF), the Molten Salt Reactor (MSR) adopts liquid salt as nuclear fuel and coolant, which makes the characteristics of thermal hydraulics and neutronics strongly intertwined. Coupling analysis of neutronics and thermal hydraulics has received considerable attention in recent years. In this paper, a new coupling method is introduced based on the Finite Volume Method (FVM), which is widely used in the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology. Neutron diffusion equations and delayed neutron precursors balance equations are discretized and solved by the commercial CFD package FLUENT, along with continuity, momentum and energy equations simultaneously. A Temporal And Spatial Neutronics Analysis Model (TASNAM) is developed using the User Defined Functions (UDF) and User Defined Scalar (UDS) in FLUENT. A neutronics benchmark is adopted to demonstrate the solution capability for neutronics problems using the method above. Furthermore, a steady state coupled analysis of neutronics and thermal hydraulics for the Molten Salt Advanced Reactor Transmuter (MOSART) is performed. Two groups of neutrons and six groups of delayed neutron precursors are adopted. Distributions of the liquid salt velocity, temperature, neutron flux and delayed neutron precursors in the core are obtained and analyzed. This work can provide some valuable information for the design and research of MSRs.

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