Analysis of a nuclear hybrid energy system using absorption chillers and stratified chilled-water storage with an mPower reactor - 187

Conference · Thu Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2017

OSTI ID:23035315

Misenheimer, Corey T.; Terry, Stephen ^[1]; Doster, J. Michael ^[2]; Bragg-Sitton, Shannon ^[3]

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1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 911 Oval Drive, Box 7910 (United States)
2. Department of Nuclear Engineering, North Carolina State University, Box 7909 (United States)
3. Systems Integration Department, Idaho National Laboratory (United States)

The intermittency of renewable energy technology, such as wind and solar power, puts strain on electric grids, often forcing carbon-based and nuclear sources of energy to operate in a load follow mode. Operating nuclear reactors in a load-follow fashion is undesirable due to the associated thermal and mechanical stresses placed on the fuel and reactor components. Various methods of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can be coupled to nuclear (or renewable) power sources to help absorb grid instabilities caused by daily load demand changes and renewable intermittency. This is known as a Nuclear Hybrid Energy System (NHES). Previous research has found that a stratified chilled-water storage tank can help displace peak cooling loads to off-peak hours. In this study, a dynamic single effect, lithium bromide absorption chiller model was developed as a callable FORTRAN subroutine. Cooling towers, a stratified chilled-water storage tank, and cooling loads characteristic of a large campus were included to form a comprehensive TES model. This TES model was coupled to a high-fidelity mPower sized Small Modular Reactor (SMR) FORTRAN code that provides the transient behavior of primary and secondary-side components. Control algorithms based on excess capacity and conditions in the stratified chilled-water storage tank were used to determine when to divert low-pressure steam from the turbines to the absorption chillers in order to keep reactor power near steady-state. Simulation results depict how the TES system and SMR interact, and demonstrate that stratified chilled-water storage is a viable TES technology for an SMR in a NHES. (authors)

• Research Organization: American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (United States)
• OSTI ID: 23035315
• Resource Relation: Conference: NPIC and HIMIT 2017: 10. International Conference on Nuclear Plant Instrumentation, Control, and Human-Machine Interface Technologies, San Francisco, CA (United States), 11-15 Jun 2017; Other Information: Country of input: France; 22 refs.; available from American Nuclear Society - ANS, 555 North Kensington Avenue, La Grange Park, IL 60526 (US)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
25 ENERGY STORAGE
ABSORPTION
ALGORITHMS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
COOLING TOWERS
ENERGY STORAGE
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FORTRAN
LITHIUM BROMIDES
REACTOR COMPONENTS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SMALL MODULAR REACTORS
STEADY-STATE CONDITIONS
TRANSIENTS
TURBINES
WATER