Coupling a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle to a Helium-Cooled Reactor.
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sandia National Lab. (SNL-CA), Livermore, CA (United States)
This report outlines the thermodynamics of a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) recompression closed Brayton cycle (RCBC) coupled to a Helium-cooled nuclear reactor. The baseline reactor design for the study is the AREVA High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR). Using the AREVA HTGR nominal operating parameters, an initial thermodynamic study was performed using Sandia's deterministic RCBC analysis program. Utilizing the output of the RCBC thermodynamic analysis, preliminary values of reactor power and of Helium flow rate through the reactor were calculated in Sandia's HelCO2 code. Some research regarding materials requirements was then conducted to determine aspects of corrosion related to both Helium and to sCO2 , as well as some mechanical considerations for pressures and temperatures that will be seen by the piping and other components. This analysis resulted in a list of materials-related research items that need to be conducted in the future. A short assessment of dry heat rejection advantages of sCO2> Brayton cycles was also included. This assessment lists some items that should be investigated in the future to better understand how sCO2 Brayton cycles and nuclear can maximally contribute to optimizing the water efficiency of carbon free power generation
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Idaho National Laboratory
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-94AL85000
- OSTI ID:
- 1236729
- Report Number(s):
- SAND2016-0696; 618863
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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