Development of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle: Improving PBR Efficiency and Testing Material Compatibility - 2004 Annual Report

The U.S. and other countries address major challenges related to energy security and the environmental impacts of fossil fuels. Solutions to these issues include carbon-free electricity generation and hydrogen production for fuel cell car, fertilizer synthesis, petroleum refining, and other applications. The Very High Temperature Gas Reactor (HTGR) has been recognized as a promising technology for high efficiency electricity generation and high temperature process heat applications. Therefore, the U.S. needs to make the HTGR intrinsically safe and proliferation-resistant. The U.S. and the world, however, must still overcome certain technical issues and the cost barrier before it can be built in the U.S. The establishment of a nuclear power cost goal of 3.3 cents/kWh is desirable in order to compete with fossil combined-cycle, gas turbine power generation. This goal requires approximately a 30% reduction in power cost for state-of-the-art nuclear plants. It has been demonstrated that this large cost differential can be overcome only by technology improvements that lead to a combination of better efficiency and more compatible reactor materials. The objectives of this research are (1) to develop a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle in the secondary power conversion side that can be applied to some Generation-IV reactors such as the HTGR and supercritical water reactor, (2) to improve the plant net efficiency by using the carbon dioxide Brayton cycle, and (3) to test material compatibility at high temperatures and pressures. The reduced volumetric flow rate of carbon dioxide due to higher density compared to helium will reduce compression work, which eventually increase turbine work enhancing the plant net efficiency.