Session: 04-10: SMRs, Advanced Reactors and Fusion

Paper Number: 133679

133679 - The Experimental Research of Integrative Smr Using Teg for Power Generation 

Abstract: 

The Lead cooled fast reactor(LFR)is a technology with great potential to meet the small-unit electricity  needs of remote sites while also offering advantages as a large system for grid-connected power stations. It has many advantages such as the sustainability,safety,reliability and economy.An important feature of the LFR is the high temperature of the core  outlet  that  results relatively high energy transformation  efficiency.The  Thermometric  generators (TEGs)consist  of  a  set  of thermometric (TE)modules inserted between a hot side and a cold side. Each TE module is then composed of several tens to  hundreds of pairs of TE couples connected together electrically in series and thermally in parallel, which directly convert a part of the thermal energy that passes through them into electricity.

LFR using TEG as the power output unit is a new reactor concept that integrates the superior of LFR and TEG.A TEG using silicon-based alloy has been adapted to the thermometric converter. The heat source is the outlet coolant path of LFR.The cold source is water with room temperature.The advantages of LFR wing TEGs are numerous, such as thermal energy directly converts to electric energy skipping an intermediate mechanical energy using alternator. No moving parts and no working fluids inside the TEG conversion which can be reduced the cost of maintenance.a long lifespan and the reduction of the reactor total space.

Based on the conceptual of LFR-TEG nuclear system,this paper presents an experiment to demonstrate the energy conversion of a small LFR-TEG test facility.The main perspective is to validate the feasibility of electric generation by Lead-TEG coupling and test the performance of the TEG testing modular using liqud Lead as the heat source.

 

 

Our experimental study of Lead-TEG thermo-electric effect has led to the following main conclusions.

1.The maximum output electric power of total Lead-TEG test facility is 928kW in the Lead temperature range of 45 nearly approaching the nominal power of six thermo-electric modular which-is-1200kW,the electric power of t dependent on the temperature of hot side when the cold side is constant.

2.The dissipation of TEG modular was 17~19kW in the Lead temperature range of 450℃~510℃.

3.The  maximum thermo-electric efficiency is 4.65% in the temperature range of 450~510℃.

4.In the 10min test time,the output electric power is stable.

The demonstration of Lead-TEG thermo-electric effect confirms the feasibility of LFR using TEG for power generation the  thermo-electric  efficiency is approaching 5% lower  than the Rankine cycle but still display a huge potential of output mode.Relatively experiment results also can be used for the future optimization of Thermo-electric Generator reactor   design.

Presenting Author: Suhao Wang Nuclear Power Institute of China

Presenting Author Biography: Working in NPIC for six years

Authors:

Suhao Wang Nuclear Power Institute of China
Yong Li Nuclear Power Institute of China
Hui Xiao Nuclear Power Institute of China
Liang Guo Nuclear Power Institute of China
Ying Li Nuclear Power Institute of China
Ruifan Lou Nuclear Power Institute of China
Hairong Tang Nuclear Power Institute of China