Exergy optimization of nuclear-solar dual proposed power plant based on GWO algorithm

Abstract

In this work, an innovative design of an optimized Nuclear-Solar hybrid power plant with a desalination system has been performed. The NuScale small modular reactor and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) have been used for cogeneration of electricity and fresh water. Solar heat is used to increase the temperature of the steam and to utilize for multi-effect distillation desalination system with thermo vapour compressor (MED-PVC). Continuous solar superheating is provided by molten salt-based thermal energy storage (TES). In this analysis, the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), after comparison with other algorithms, has been applied to obtain optimal exergy destruction for a hybrid plant. During optimization, all effective parameters, such as turbine inlet temperature, net electric power, and total heat input, are calculated with Thermoflex. Using this optimized hybrid method, electrical efficiency has been increased from 27.03 % to 30.18 %, and fresh water is provided for the Makran population. The results prove that using solar energy to produce freshwater (82.11 kg/s) can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 779.1 tons/year. In addition to carbon dioxide, large amount of other pollutants such as SO2, NOx, and non-volatile organic compounds emitted by fossil fuels are removed.