Enhancing nuclear cogeneration efficiency using the low-grade waste heat recovery from nuclear hydrogen production system

IF 1.9 3区工程技术 Q1 NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Nuclear Engineering and Design Pub Date : 2025-05-19 DOI:10.1016/j.nucengdes.2025.114166

Mehran Abolghasem , Khashayar Sadeghi , Seyed Hadi Ghazaie , Ekaterina Sokolova , Vitaly Sergeev , Naypak Ksenia , Wei Peng

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Abstract

This study investigates the integration of modular high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE) into a nuclear power plant (NPP) to enhance cogeneration efficiency through low-grade waste heat recovery. Three integration scenarios are proposed, focusing on changing the discharge points within the NPP second cycle to minimize the power loss factor (PLF) and maximize overall system efficiency. Using Aspen HYSYS, detailed simulations were conducted to evaluate the thermodynamic performance of each scenario, while a PLF-based economic model developed to calculate the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOHY) in each scenario. The results demonstrate that discharging low-grade steam after the last high-pressure preheater (Scenario 3) yields the highest cogeneration efficiency (38%) and the lowest LCOHY at 1.74 $/kg for large-scale systems. This scenario also achieves a 36.7% reduction in heat cost compared to the baseline configuration, which shows the economic and technical superiority of this scenario. The study reveals that large-scale HTSE systems outperform small-scale configurations, with lower PLF (36%) and higher scalability. By integrating waste heat recovery and optimizing steam return points, this work provides a novel framework for improving nuclear-hydrogen cogeneration, contributing to sustainable energy systems and the global transition to net-zero emissions.

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利用核制氢系统低品位废热回收提高核热电联产效率

本研究探讨了模块化高温蒸汽电解（HTSE）集成到核电厂（NPP）中，通过低品位废热回收来提高热电联产效率。提出了三种集成方案，重点是改变核电厂第二周期内的放电点，以最小化功率损耗因子（PLF）和最大化系统整体效率。利用Aspen HYSYS进行了详细的模拟，以评估每种情况下的热力学性能，同时开发了基于plf的经济模型来计算每种情况下的氢气平准化成本（LCOHY）。结果表明，在最后一个高压预热器（场景3）后排放低品位蒸汽，大型系统的热电联产效率最高（38%），LCOHY最低，为1.74美元/kg。与基线配置相比，该方案还实现了36.7%的热成本降低，这显示了该方案的经济和技术优势。研究表明，大规模HTSE系统优于小规模配置，具有更低的PLF（36%）和更高的可扩展性。通过整合废热回收和优化蒸汽回流点，这项工作为改善核氢热电联产提供了一个新的框架，有助于可持续能源系统和全球向净零排放过渡。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Nuclear Engineering and Design 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

3.40

自引率

11.80%

发文量

377

审稿时长

5 months

期刊介绍： Nuclear Engineering and Design covers the wide range of disciplines involved in the engineering, design, safety and construction of nuclear fission reactors. The Editors welcome papers both on applied and innovative aspects and developments in nuclear science and technology. Fundamentals of Reactor Design include: • Thermal-Hydraulics and Core Physics • Safety Analysis, Risk Assessment (PSA) • Structural and Mechanical Engineering • Materials Science • Fuel Behavior and Design • Structural Plant Design • Engineering of Reactor Components • Experiments Aspects beyond fundamentals of Reactor Design covered: • Accident Mitigation Measures • Reactor Control Systems • Licensing Issues • Safeguard Engineering • Economy of Plants • Reprocessing / Waste Disposal • Applications of Nuclear Energy • Maintenance • Decommissioning Papers on new reactor ideas and developments (Generation IV reactors) such as inherently safe modular HTRs, High Performance LWRs/HWRs and LMFBs/GFR will be considered; Actinide Burners, Accelerator Driven Systems, Energy Amplifiers and other special designs of power and research reactors and their applications are also encouraged.