Utilization of organic Rankine cycles in a cogeneration system with a high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor – thermodynamic analysis

Abstract

The paper presents results of a parametric analysis of a high-temperature nuclear-reactor cogeneration system. The aim was to investigate the power efficiency of the system generating heat for a high-temperature technological process and electricity in a Brayton cycle and additionally in organic Rankine cycles using R236ea and R1234ze as working fluids. The results of the analyses indicate that it is possible to combine a 100 MW high-temperature gas-cooled nuclear reactor with a technological process with the demand for heat ranging from 5 to 25 MW, where the required temperature of the process heat carrier is at the level of 650 ◦ C. Calculations were performed for various pressures of R236ea at the turbine inlet. The cogeneration system maximum power efficiency in the analysed cases ranges from ~35.5% to ~45.7% and the maximum share of the organic Rank-ine cycle systems in electric power totals from ~26.9% to ~30.8%. If such a system is used to produce electricity instead of conventional plants, carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by about 216.03–147.42 kt/year depending on the demand for process heat, including the reduction achieved in the organic Rankine cycle systems by about 58.01–45.39 kt/year (in Poland).