Design of heat pipe cooled microreactor based on cycle analysis and evaluation of applicability for remote regions

Abstract

In spite the efforts to specify the design of heat pipe cooled microreactors, there are lack of conclusive information on microreactors based on cycle analysis. To provide a design guideline for power conversion systems and management, large nuclear power plants (NPPs) were compared in terms of electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) losses and the microreactors were assessed for transportability. To this end, a cycle code was developed, and a thermodynamic analysis and an economic evaluation were conducted. Two different operating conditions with a maximum cycle efficiency of 52.0% and a minimum levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of 81.82 USD/MWh were derived using the developed code. The best economic microreactor cycle condition was compared with a commercial large NPP. When considering T&D losses, the microreactor seemed more economical if operated for more than 4.3y in Hungary, where the T&D losses are high, and for 13.8y in Germany, where the electricity cost is high. However, the microreactor is more economical than the large NPP only for short period because the designed lifetime of microreactors is currently being investigated. We also designed small power generation systems for microreactor’s transportability; the small power generation systems with the microreactor demonstrated better economics compared with other small power generation systems when using oil, ammonia, and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) as fuels to evaluate the availability of the microreactor in the remote regions. The findings indicate that the microreactor could be more economical when generating the same amount of electricity compared to that using power generation systems if the detailed designs satisfy the design points developed from the cycle analysis.