Heat Storage Coupled to Generation IV Reactors for Variable Electricity from Base-load Reactors: Workshop Proceedings. Changing markets, technology, nuclear-renewables integration and synergisms with solar thermal power systems

Forsberg, Charles W.; Sabharwall, Piyush; Gougar, Hans D.

doi:10.2172/1575201

Cited by 10 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…These systems have a Brayton power cycle and a steam bottoming cycle. The technical advances in gas turbines enable NACC plants 2,3,[6][7][8][9] with thermodynamic topping cycles and integrated heat storage (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Air-brayton Power Cycles With Thermodynamic Topping Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Air-Brayton Power Cycles with Thermodynamic Topping Cycles, Assured Peaking Capacity, and Heat Storage for Variable Electricity and Heat

2020

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Electricity markets are changing because of (1) the addition of wind and solar generating capacity and (2) the goal of a low-carbon electricity grid. The large-scale addition of wind and solar photovoltaics results in low wholesale electricity prices at times of high wind and solar output and high prices at times of low wind and solar input. Today, gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) plants burning natural gas or oil provide dispatchable electricity and provide the most economic method to match electricity production with demand. Nuclear Air-Brayton Combined Cycles (NACCs) with heat storage and a thermodynamic topping cycle enable base-load nuclear plants with sodium or salt coolants to provide dispatchable electricity to the grid and heat to industry. This capability maximizes nuclear plant revenue and enables a base-load nuclear reactor with NACCs to be a low-carbon replacement for a GTCC. The NACC power cycle, alternative heat storage technologies, and development status of the different technologies are described. The technology applies to other heat generating technologies including hightemperature concentrated solar power and future fusion systems.

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Section: Air-brayton Power Cycles With Thermodynamic Topping Cyclesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nuclear Air-Brayton Power Cycles with Thermodynamic Topping Cycles, Assured Peaking Capacity, and Heat Storage for Variable Electricity and Heat

2020

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“…Many FHR and MSR designs include hightemperature heat storage to enable economic base-load operation with variable electricity to the grid to match changing market requirements and maximize revenue, 27 as discussed in Sec. VI.…”

Section: Iva Power Cycles and Heat Storagementioning

confidence: 99%

“…3. Sodium-potassium-magnesium-chloride salts: The next-generation CSP system designs 13,27 propose using a sodium-potassium-chloride salt with a melting point of 420°C. It is extremely cheap and proposed for large-scale multigigawatt-hour heat storage systems.…”

Section: Potassium-zirconium Fluoridementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today CSP towers use centrifugal pumps to pump nitrate salts at temperatures that approach 600°C (Ref. 27). The experience with these pumps has been excellent.…”

Section: Vf Equipmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, hot nitrate salts are compatible with air and water whereas flibe salt is not. The next generation CSP systems (Gen-III systems 13,27 ) plan to use sodiumpotassium-magnesium-chloride salts that require chemically reducing conditions and will operate in the temperature range of 450°C to 750°C. The base-case redox control agent for these chloride salts is magnesium metal dissolved in the chloride salt versus beryllium metal dissolved in flibe salt.…”

Section: Vf Equipmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fusion Blankets and Fluoride-Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactors with Flibe Salt Coolant: Common Challenges, Tritium Control, and Opportunities for Synergistic Development Strategies Between Fission, Fusion, and Solar Salt Technologies

et al. 2019

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Recent developments in high-magnetic-field fusion systems have created large incentives to develop flibe (Li 2 BeF 4) salt fusion blankets that have four functions: (1) convert the high energy of fusion neutrons into heat for the power system, (2) convert lithium into tritium-the fusion fuel, (3) shield the magnets against radiation, and (4) cool the first wall that separates the plasma from the salt blanket. Flibe is the same coolant proposed for fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactors that use clean flibe coolant and graphite-matrix coated-particle fuel. Flibe is also the coolant proposed for some molten salt reactors (MSRs) where the fuel is dissolved in the coolant. The multiple applications for flibe as a coolant create large incentives for cooperative fusion-fission programs for development of the underlying science, design tools, technology (pumps, instrumentation, salt purification, materials, tritium removal, etc.), and supply chains. Other high-temperature molten salts are being developed for alternative MSR systems and for advanced Gen-III concentrated solar power (CSP) systems. The overlapping characteristics of flibe salt with these other salt systems create significant incentives for cooperative fusion-fission-solar programs in multiple areas. We describe the fission and fusion flibe-cooled systems, what has created this synergism, what is different and the same between fission and fusion in terms of using flibe, and the common challenges. We review (1) the characteristics of flibe salts, (2) the status of the technology, (3) the options for tritium capture and control in the salt, heat exchangers, and secondary heat transfer loops, and (4) the coupling to power cycles with heat storage. The technology overlap between flibe systems and other high-temperature MSR and CSP salt systems is described. This defines where there are opportunities for cooperative programs across fission, fusion, and CSP salt programs.

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Numerical investigation of a vertical triplex‐tube latent heat storage/exchanger to achieve flexible operation of nuclear power plants

Ali

Alkaabi

Addad

2021

Intl J of Energy Research

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The current numerical investigation is carried out to assess the possibility of integrating a latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) in a nuclear power plant (NPP) system. This would allow improving the capability of such plants to operate in a load-following mode by eliminating the gap between energy supply and energy demand by the grid. In contrary to previously published TES designs, the phase change material (PCM) triplex-tube containers are vertically oriented in the present study to take advantage of melting/solidification enhancements induced by the buoyancy forces. In addition, two different fluids simultaneously co-circulating within the storage, hence, allowing for this component to operate as a storage system (under extreme charging/discharging conditions) or as simple heat exchanger (under normal steady-state conditions). The computational domain, in this study, is reduced from the full TES geometry to a single triplextube container owing to the homogeneous triangular positioning of the annular tubes within the storage vessel. The results show that the time required to fully melt the solid PCM is around 27 hours during charging mode, thus, allowing for a relatively long-time margin even under an extreme postulated accident scenario consisting in the inability of the secondary loop to remove heat from the system. In the opposite discharging mode, the time needed to fully solidify the 100% liquid PCM is 17 hours. During the simultaneous charging and discharging (SCD) mode, with constant load, the fraction of liquid PCM is nearly fixed with time. Hence, TES in this mode is said to take the role of a standard heat exchanger. Finally, simulations conducted for the SCD mode, with variable load, demonstrate that the coupled system can follow the daily variations in the grid demand without having any significant impact on the constant operation of the reactor. In this operating mode, the PCM is changing phases from solid to liquid and vice versa to adapt to the energy demand variations as anticipated.

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Heat Storage Coupled to Generation IV Reactors for Variable Electricity from Base-load Reactors: Workshop Proceedings. Changing markets, technology, nuclear-renewables integration and synergisms with solar thermal power systems

Cited by 10 publications

References 35 publications

Nuclear Air-Brayton Power Cycles with Thermodynamic Topping Cycles, Assured Peaking Capacity, and Heat Storage for Variable Electricity and Heat

Nuclear Air-Brayton Power Cycles with Thermodynamic Topping Cycles, Assured Peaking Capacity, and Heat Storage for Variable Electricity and Heat

Fusion Blankets and Fluoride-Salt-Cooled High-Temperature Reactors with Flibe Salt Coolant: Common Challenges, Tritium Control, and Opportunities for Synergistic Development Strategies Between Fission, Fusion, and Solar Salt Technologies

Numerical investigation of a vertical triplex‐tube latent heat storage/exchanger to achieve flexible operation of nuclear power plants

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