• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1482-1494
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• 2022

Power conversion cycles (Subcritical Steam, Supercritical Steam, Open Air Brayton, Recuperated Air Brayton, Combined Cycle, Closed Brayton Supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂), and Stirling) are evaluated for land-based nuclear microreactors based on technical maturity, system efficiency, size, cost and maintainability, safety implications, and siting considerations. Based upon these criteria, Air Brayton systems were selected for further evaluation. A brief history of the development and applications of Brayton power systems is given, followed by a description of how these thermal-to-electrical energy conversion systems might be integrated with a nuclear microreactor. Modeling is performed for optimized cycles operating at 3 MW(e) with turbine inlet temperatures of 500 ℃, 650 ℃ and 850 ℃, corresponding to: a) sodium fast, b) molten salt or heat pipe, and c) helium or sodium thermal reactors, coupled with three types of Brayton power conversion units (PCUs): 1) simple open-cycle gas turbine, 2) recuperated open-cycle gas turbine, and 3) recuperated and intercooled open-cycle gas turbine. Aeroderivative turboshaft engines employing the simple Brayton cycle and two industrial gas turbine engines employing recuperated air Brayton cycles are also analyzed. These engines offer mature technology that can facilitate near-term deployment with a modest improvement in efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Applied Superconductivity and Cryogenics Conference
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• 1999.02a
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• pp.165-168
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• 1999

Thermodynamic cycle analysis has been performed for the power generation systems to utilize the cold energy of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Among many possible configurations of the cycle, the open Rankine cycle, the closed Rankine cycle, and the closed Brayton cycle are selecte for the analysis because of their practical importance. The power output per unit mass of LNG has been analytically calculated for various design parameters. The optimal conditions for the parameters to maximize the power output are presented and some of the design considerations are discussed.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

Recently, Research and development activity of HTS (High Temperature Superconducting) power application is very progressive worldwide. Especially, HTS cable system and HTSFCL (HTS Fault current limiter) system are proceeding to practical stages. In such system and equipment, cryogenic cooling system, which makes HTS equipment cooled lower than critical temperature, is one of crucial components. In this article, cryogenic cooling system for HTS application, mainly cable, is reviewed. Cryogenic cooling system can be categorized into conduction cooling system and immersion cooling system. In practical HTS power application area, immersion cooling system with sub-cooled liquid nitrogen is preferred. The immersion cooling system is besides grouped into open cycle system and closed cycle system. Turbo-Brayton refrigerator is a key component for closed cycle system. Those two cooling systems are focused in this article. And, each design and component of the cooling system is explained.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2007

Current high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs) are based on a closed Brayton cycle with helium gas as the working fluid. Thermodynamic performance of the axial-flow helium gas turbines is of critical concern as it considerably affects the overall cycle efficiency. Helium gas turbines pose some design challenges compared to steam or air turbomachinery because of the physical properties of helium and the uniqueness of the operating conditions at high pressure with low pressure ratio. This report present a review of the helium Brayton cycle experiences in Germany and in Japan. The design and availability of helium gas turbines for HTGR are also presented in this study. We have developed a new throughflow calculation code to calculate the design-point performance of helium gas turbines. Use of the method has been illustrated by applying it to the GTHTR300 reference.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1584-1602
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• 2024

It is vital to output the required electrical power following various task requirements when the space reactor power supply is operating in orbit. The dynamic performance of the closed Brayton cycle thermoelectric conversion system is initially studied and analyzed. Based on this, a load tracking power regulation method is developed for the liquid metal cooled space reactor power system, which takes into account the inlet temperature of the lithium on the hot side of the intermediate heat exchanger, the filling quantity of helium and xenon, and the input amount of the heat pipe radiator module. After comparing several methods, a power regulation method with fast response speed and strong system stability is obtained. Under various changes in power output, the dynamic response characteristics of the ultra-small liquid metal lithium-cooled space reactor concept scheme are analyzed. The transient operation process of 70 % load power shows that core power variation is within 30 % and core coolant temperature can operate at the set safety temperature. The second loop's helium-xenon working fluid has a 65K temperature change range and a 25 % filling quantity. The lithium at the radiator loop outlet changes by less than ±7 K, and the system's main key parameters change as expected, indicating safety. The core system uses less power during 30 % load power transient operation. According to the response characteristics of various system parameters, under low power operation conditions, the lithium working fluid temperature of the radiator circuit and the high-temperature heat pipe operation temperature are limiting conditions for low-power operation, and multiple system parameters must be coordinated to ensure that the radiator system does not condense the lithium working fluid and the heat pipe.

• Progress in Superconductivity and Cryogenics
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 1999

thermodynamic cycle analysis has been performed for the power generation systems to utilize the cold energy of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The power cycle used the air or water at room temperature as a heat source and the LNG at cryogenic temperature as a heat sink. Among manypossible configurations of the cycle. the open Rankine cycle. and the closed Brayton cycle, and the closed Rankine cycle are selected for the basic analysis because of their practical importance. The power output per unit mass of LNG has been analytically calculated for various design parameters such as the pressure ratio. the mass flow rate. the adiabatic efficiency. the heat exchanger effectiveness. or the working fluid. The optimal conditions for the parameters are presented to maximize the power output and the design considerations are discussed. It is concluded that the open Rankine cycle is the most recormmendable both in thermodynamic efficency and in practice.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.488-493
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• 2018

The Firebrick Resistance-Heated Energy Storage (FIRES) concept developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology aims to enhance profitability of the nuclear power industry in the next decades. Studies carried out at Massachusetts Institute of Technology already provide estimates of the potential revenue from FIRES system when it is applied to industrial heat supply, the likely first application. Here, we investigate the possibility of operating a power plant (PP) with a fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor and a closed Brayton cycle. This variant offers features such as enhanced nuclear safety as well as flexibility in design of the PP but also radically changes the way of operating the PP. This exploratory study provides estimates of the revenue generated by FIRES in addition to the nominal revenue of the stand-alone fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor, which are useful for defining an initial design. The electricity price data is based on the day-ahead markets of Germany/Austria and the United States (Iowa). The proposed method derives from the equation of revenue introduced in this study and involves simple computations using MatLab to compute the estimates. Results show variable economic potential depending on the host grid but stress a high profitability in both regions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2697-2711
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• 2023

In this study, the validity of reducing the number of gas turbine stages designed for a nitrogen Brayton cycle coupled to a sodium-cooled fast reactor was assessed. The turbine performance was evaluated through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations under different off-design conditions controlled by a reduced flow rate and reduced rotational speed. Two different multistage gas turbines designed to extract almost the same specific work were selected: two- and three-stage turbines (mid-span stage loading coefficient: 1.23 and 1.0, respectively). Real gas properties were considered in the CFD simulation in accordance with the Peng-Robinson's equation of state. According to the CFD results, the off-design performance of the two-stage turbine is comparable to that of the three-stage turbine. Moreover, compared to the three-stage turbine, the two-stage turbine generates less entropy across the shock wave. The results indicate that under both design and off-design conditions, increasing the stage loading coefficient for a fewer number of turbine stages is effective in terms of performance and size. Furthermore, the Ellipse law can be used to assess off-design performance and increasing exponent of the expansion ratio term better predicts the off-design performance with a few stages (two or three).

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.91-98
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• 1994

In this study hydrogen gas and oxygen gas are used to make a pollution-free engine which is a closed system with the components such as a combustor, two turbines, a radiator and a compressor. One of the two turbines produces main power, and the other is used to drive a compressor to compress unburned gases and to return them to the combustor. Some of the water from the radiator is pumped to cool down the internal wall of the combustor and to be used as a working fluid which expands from liquid state to vapor state to get more expansion work. The possibility of operating the whole system is checked by the thermodynamic analysis to make the closed engine system. The calculations in the thermal analysis are based on the Brayton cycle and the Rankine cycle. The closed system in this study shows similar efficiency as usual internal combustion engines, but it produces water only without air pollution such as $NO_x$ and soot.

• 한국초전도학회:학술대회논문집
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• v.9
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• pp.7-11
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• 1999

The recent progress in new cooling techniques of the high Tc superconductor(HTS) systems is reported and discussed with some practical examples. At the beginning stage of the HTS development in research laboratories, liquid nitrogen(LN$_2$) is the standard medium for an effective cooling. The success of HTS in many different application areas, however, has required a variety of need in the cooling temperature and the cooling capacity with specific design restrictions. While the utilization of alternative liquid cryogens such as liquid neon (LNe) or liquid hydrogen (LH$_2$) has been tired in some of them, even solid cryogens such as solid nitrogen (SN$_2$) or solid hydrogen (SH$_2$) may be another option in special applications. The gaseous helium cooled by a cryogenic refrigerator has also been a good candidate in many cases. One of the best cooling methods for the HTS is the direct conduction-cooling by a closed-cycle refrigerator with no cryogen at all. The refrigeration may be based on Joul-Thomson, Brayton, Stirling, Gifford-McMahon, or pulse tube cycles. The pros and cons of the newly proposed cooling methods are described and some significant design issues are presented.