A new framework for optimisation of pressurised water reactor design as a trigeneration system

Abstract

Conventional nuclear power reactors convert between 30 - 35 % only of the total energy input into electricity while the remaining was wasted. The waste heat is sometimes used for desalination processes while the remaining heat is transferred to a cooling media or lost to the surrounding. Therefore, heat from nuclear reactor can be used to produce heat and power, as well as for cooling in a trigeneration system. This paper presents the Trigeneration System Cascade Analysis (TriGenSCA) for an optimal Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) design. The TriGenSCA framework allows engineers to determine an optimum utility generation system size and estimate the required amount of external utilities. The analysis includes data extraction, cascade analysis for size estimation and calculation of the new trigeneration system size. The technique also enables users to determine accurate results for energy minimisation based on demand fluctuations. Application of the framework on a case study presented on this paper demonstrates the trigeneration PWR system successfully saved energy of 328GWh/y (97 %).