Marine Technology Nuclear Propulsion in High-Performance Cargo Vessels

2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (01) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Julio A. Vergara ◽  
Chris B. McKesson
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Maritime Transportation ◽  
Stable Operation ◽  
Fuel Price ◽  
Nuclear Propulsion ◽  
Recent Developments

It has been about 40 years since nuclear-powered merchant ships were seriously discussed in the naval architecture community. But recent developments in commercial shipping include bigger, faster, and more powerful ships, where nuclear propulsion may be an option worth considering. The development of advanced ship designs opens an opportunity for high-speed maritime transportation that could create new markets and recover a fraction of the high value goods currently shipped only by air. One of the vessels being considered is FastShip, a large monohull ship that would require 250 MW in 5 gas turbine-waterjet units. An estimate of the operation cost of FastShip reveals that its success relies heavily, among other things, on the fuel price, a single factor that comprises more than one third of the total operating costs. The alternative, a nuclear FastShip, would save, per trip, almost 5000 tons of exposure to fuel price fluctuation, and about half of this savings would further be available for additional cargo and revenues. Nuclear power results in a more stable operation due to the relatively constant low price of nuclear fuel. The nuclear power option is suitable for high-power demand and long-haul applications and a reactor pack could be available within the decade. A candidate design would be the helium-cooled reactor, which has been revisited by several nuclear reactor design teams worldwide. For the FastShip a suggested plant would consist of two modular helium reactors, each one with two 50 MW helium turbines and compressors geared to waterjet pumps, plus a single 50 MW gas turbine. This vessel becomes more expensive to build but saves in fuel, and still provides margin for cost, weight and size optimization. This paper discusses general characteristics of a FastShip with such a nuclear power plant and also highlights the benefits, drawbacks, pending issues and further opportunities for nuclear-powered high-speed cargo ships.

The Effect of Transient Fuel Staging on Self-Excited Instabilities in a Multi-Nozzle Model Gas Turbine Combustor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wyatt Culler ◽  
Janith Samarasinghe ◽  
Bryan D. Quay ◽  
Domenic A. Santavicca ◽  
Jacqueline O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Gas Turbines ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Equivalence Ratio ◽  
Growth Time ◽  
Stable Operation ◽  
Time Constants ◽  
Decay Times ◽  
Fuel Staging ◽  
Passive Techniques

Combustion instability in gas turbines can be mitigated using active techniques or passive techniques, but passive techniques are almost exclusively used in industrial settings. While fuel staging, a common passive technique, is effective in reducing the amplitude of self-excited instabilities in gas turbine combustors at steady-state conditions, the effect of transients in fuel staging on self-excited instabilities is not well understood. This paper examines the effect of fuel staging transients on a laboratory-scale five-nozzle can combustor undergoing self-excited instabilities. The five nozzles are arranged in a four-around-one configuration and fuel staging is accomplished by increasing the center nozzle equivalence ratio. When the global equivalence ratio is φ = 0.70 and all nozzles are fueled equally, the combustor undergoes self-excited oscillations. These oscillations are suppressed when the center nozzle equivalence ratio is increased to φ = 0.80 or φ = 0.85. Two transient staging schedules are used, resulting in transitions from unstable to stable operation, and vice-versa. It is found that the characteristic instability decay times are dependent on the amount of fuel staging in the center nozzle. It is also found that the decay time constants differ from the growth time constants, indicating hysteresis in stability transition points. High speed CH* chemiluminescence images in combination with dynamic pressure measurements are used to determine the instantaneous phase difference between the heat release rate fluctuation and the combustor pressure fluctuation throughout the combustor. This analysis shows that the instability onset process is different from the instability decay process.

scholarly journals Thermodynamic analysis of high temperature nuclear reactor coupled with advanced gas turbine combined cycle

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (Suppl. 4) ◽  
pp. 1187-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Jaszczur ◽  
Michal Dudek ◽  
Zygmunt Kolenda
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Thermodynamic Analysis ◽  
Thermal Efficiency ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Coal Gasification ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Oil Processing

One of the most advanced and most effective technology for electricity generation nowadays based on a gas turbine combined cycle. This technology uses natural gas, synthesis gas from the coal gasification or crude oil processing products as the energy carriers but at the same time, gas turbine combined cycle emits SO2, NOx, and CO2 to the environment. In this paper, a thermodynamic analysis of environmentally friendly, high temperature gas nuclear reactor system coupled with gas turbine combined cycle technology has been investigated. The analysed system is one of the most advanced concepts and allows us to produce electricity with the higher thermal efficiency than could be offered by any currently existing nuclear power plant technology. The results show that it is possible to achieve thermal efficiency higher than 50% what is not only more than could be produced by any modern nuclear plant but it is also more than could be offered by traditional (coal or lignite) power plant.

On the Feasibility of Nuclear Versus Combustion Gas Turbine Propulsion for High-Speed Cargo Ships

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Boonstra ◽  
A. C. Groot ◽  
C. A. Prins
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Parametric Design ◽  
Pebble Bed ◽  
Pressurized Water ◽  
Combustion Gas ◽  
The Impact

This paper presents the outcome of a study on the feasibility of a nuclear powered High-Speed Pentamaran, initiated by Nigel Gee and Associates and the Delft University of Technology. It explores the competitiveness of a nuclear power plant for the critical characteristics of a marine propulsion plant. Three nuclear reactor types are selected: the Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), the Pebble-bed and Prismatic-block HTGR. Their characteristics are estimated for a power range from 100 MWth to 1000 MWth in a parametric design, providing a level base for comparison with conventional gas turbine technology. The reactor scaling is based on reference reactors with an emphasis on marine application. This implies that preference is given to passive safety and simplicity, as they are key-factors for a marine power plant. A case study for a 60-knot Pentamaran shows the impact of a nuclear power plant on a ship designed with combustion gas turbine propulsion. The Prismatic-block HTGR is chosen as most suitable because of its low weight compared to the PWR, in spite of the proven technology of a PWR. The Pebble-bed HTGR is considered too voluminous for High-Speed craft. Conservative data and priority to simple systems and high safety leads to an unfavorable high weight of the nuclear plant in competition with the original gas turbine driven Pentamaran. The nuclear powered ship has some clear advantages at high sailing ranges.

Development of High Performance Moisture Separator Reheater

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Issaku Fujita ◽  
Kotaro Machii ◽  
Teruaki Sakata
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Tube Bundle ◽  
Separation Performance ◽  
Heating Steam ◽  
Severe Erosion ◽  
Moisture Separator ◽  
And Performance

Moisture Separator Reheaters (MSRs) of Nuclear power plants, especially 1st generation type (commercial operation started from between 1970 and 1982), has been suffered from various problems like severe erosion, moisture separation performance deterioration, drain sub cooling. To solve these problems and performance improvement, improved MSR was developed. At the new MSR, high performance SS439 stainless steel round type tube bundle was applied, where heating steam distribution is optimized by orifice plate in order to minimize the drain sub cooling. Based on the CFD approach, cycle steam distribution was optimized and FAC resistant material application for the internal parts of MSRs was determined. As a result, pressure drop was reduced by 0.6% against the HP turbine exhaust pressure. Performance of moisture separation was improved by the latest chevron type separator. Where, the reverse pressure is locally caused at the drainage area of the separator because remarkable longitudinal pressure distribution is formed by the high-speed steam flow in the manifold. Then, a new moisture separation structure was developed in consideration of the influence that this reverse pressure gave to the separator performance.

scholarly journals Performance Analyses and Evaluation of Co2 and N2 as Coolants in a Recuperated Brayton Gas Turbine Cycle for a Generation IV Nuclear Reactor Power Plant

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel O. Osigwe ◽  
Arnold Gad-Briggs ◽  
Theoklis Nikolaidis ◽  
Pericles Pilidis ◽  
Suresh Sampath
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Reactor Power ◽  
Critical Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Closed Cycle ◽  
Gas Turbine Cycle

Abstract As demands for clean and sustainable energy renew interests in nuclear power to meet future energy demands, generation IV nuclear reactors are seen as having the potential to provide the improvements required for nuclear power generation. However, for their benefits to be fully realized, it is important to explore the performance of the reactors when coupled to different configurations of closed-cycle gas turbine power conversion systems. The configurations provide variation in performance due to different working fluids over a range of operating pressures and temperatures. The objective of this paper is to undertake analyses at the design and off-design conditions in combination with a recuperated closed-cycle gas turbine and comparing the influence of carbon dioxide and nitrogen as the working fluid in the cycle. The analysis is demonstrated using an in-house tool, which was developed by the authors. The results show that the choice of working fluid controls the range of cycle operating pressures, temperatures, and overall performance of the power plant due to the thermodynamic and heat properties of the fluids. The performance results favored the nitrogen working fluid over CO2 due to the behavior CO2 below its critical conditions. The analyses intend to aid the development of cycles for generation IV nuclear power plants (NPPs) specifically gas-cooled fast reactors (GFRs) and very high-temperature reactors (VHTRs).

scholarly journals Numerical investigation of advanced gas turbine combined cycle coupled with high-temperature nuclear reactor and cogeneration unit

2019 ◽  
Vol 128 ◽  
pp. 03005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Jaszczur ◽  
Michal Dudek ◽  
Zygmunt Kolenda
Keyword(s):  
High Temperature ◽  
Power Plant ◽  
Power Systems ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Coal Gasification ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel

In the European Union by 2050, more than 80% of electricity should be generated using nongreenhousegases energy technology. Nuclear power systems share at present about 15% of the power market and thistechnology can be the backbone of a carbon-free European power system. Energy market transitions are similar to global pathways were analysed in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. From a practical point of view currently, the most advanced and most effective technology for electricity generation is based on a gas turbine combined cycle. This technology in a normal way uses natural gas, synthesis gas from the coal gasification or crude oil processing products as the energy carriers but at the same time, such system emits sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and CO2 to the environment. In thepresent paper, a thermodynamic analysis of environmentally friendly power plant with a high–temperature gas nuclear reactor and advanced configuration of gas turbine combined cycle technology is investigated. The presented analysis shows that it is possible to obtain for proposed thermalcycles an efficiency higher than 50% which is not only more than could be offered by traditional coal power plant but much more than can be proposed by any other nuclear technology.

Performance Analysis of Generation IV Nuclear Reactor Power Plant Using CO2 and N2: Case Study of a Recuperated Brayton Gas Turbine Cycle

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel O. Osigwe ◽  
Arnold Gad-Briggs ◽  
Theoklis Nikolaidis ◽  
Pericles Pilidis ◽  
Suresh Sampath
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Performance Analysis ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Reactor Power ◽  
Critical Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Closed Cycle

With renewed interest in nuclear power to meet the world’s future energy demand, the Generation IV nuclear reactors are the next step in the deployment of nuclear power generation. However, for the potentials of these nuclear reactor designs to be fully realized, its suitability, when coupled with different configurations of closed-cycle gas turbine power conversion systems, have to be explored and performance compared for various possible working fluids over a range of operating pressures and temperatures. The purpose of this paper is to carry out performance analysis at the design and off-design conditions for a Generation IV nuclear-powered reactor in combination with a recuperated closed-cycle gas turbine and comparing the influence of carbon dioxide and nitrogen as working fluid in the cycle. This analysis is demonstrated in GTACYSS; a performance and preliminary design code developed by the authors for closed-cycle gas turbine simulations. The results obtained shows that the choice of working fluid controls the range of cycle operating pressures, temperatures and overall performance of the power plant due to the thermodynamic and heat properties of the fluids. The performance results favored the nitrogen working fluid over CO2 due to the behavior CO2 below its critical conditions.

scholarly journals New high-speed system for controlling the parameters of a nuclear reactor in a nuclear power plant

2019 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 02001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Davydov ◽  
Valery Antonov ◽  
Sergey Makeev ◽  
Yury Batov ◽  
Valentin Dudkin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Control Systems ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Reactor ◽  
Fiber Optic ◽  
Fiber Optic Communication ◽  
Optic Communication ◽  
Communication Lines

The necessity of modernizing current control systems for functional units of a nuclear power plant, as well as the development of new control systems with a high degree of reliability and speed, is substantiated. The advantages of using optical sensors and fiber-optic communication lines to solve these problems are noted. Cases for which it is necessary to develop new fiber-optic sensors for monitoring parameters, for example, the flow of coolant or feed water, are considered. In some of them, it is more expedient to use standard designs of fiber-optic sensors to control the operating parameters of various blocks, for example, to control the electric field strength. A device and a control scheme for the parameters of the units and systems of a nuclear power plant using fiber-optic communication lines have been developed. The results of measuring various parameters of a nuclear reactor are presented. They showed that our proposed fiber-optic control and monitoring system for nuclear power plants operates more reliably and efficiently than systems with analogue control and measurement channels. The use of fiber-optic systems allows real-time remote control and high-speed control in terms of issuing commands to devices. This is very important when servicing a nuclear power plant while it is operating in extreme conditions.

Innovative high-speed machines with active magnetic bearings for special submerged gas processing

2002 ◽  
Vol 216 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-197
Author(s):  
L M C Mhango ◽  
R Perryman
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Magnetic Bearings ◽  
First Century ◽  
Active Magnetic Bearings ◽  
Electric Drives ◽  
Gas Processing ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Gas Circulation

The combination of advances in active magnetic bearings, recent developments in power electronics technology, new design techniques of electrical machines and advances in magnetic materials is contributing to innovative forms of submerged high-speed electric drives which will be suitable for special gas processing applications well into the twenty-first century. Typical applications include submerged industrial high-pressure and high-temperature gas processes, calibration of gas meters, gas circulation in nuclear power plants, etc. This paper looks at the results of case studies of high-speed drives and discusses their benefits and advantages.

Propulsion Machinery of the “Koeln” Class Escort Frigates With Special Consideration of Gas Turbine Propulsion

1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. H. Kurzak ◽  
H. Reuter
Keyword(s):  
High Pressure ◽  
Diesel Engine ◽  
Gas Turbine ◽  
High Speed ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Space Structure ◽  
Propulsion Systems ◽  
Design Work ◽  
High Speed Diesel ◽  
Advanced Development

The Koeln Class escort frigates represents the first larger type of vessel built for the German Federal Navy. The design work dates back as far as 1955–1956. In view of the planned operational use of the ships an extremely light construction of the propulsion machinery with a long operating range was required. Furthermore, combat safety required an appropriate space structure of the propulsion machinery. For this purpose various propulsion systems were examined at the time, e.g., steam-turbine and diesel-engine propulsion, and a comparison was made between direct and electrical output transmissions. The advanced development of gas-turbine technique in connection with the introduction of high pressure-charged, high-speed diesel engines together with the development of high-performance, variable-pitch propellers led to a design which, compared with other types of propulsion, proved to be extremely advantageous not only with regard to the standard displacement of the vessel but, because of the low fuel consumption, also to the displacement of the fully equipped ship (1, 2).

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