Modeling the Nuclear Air-Brayton Combined Cycle

Abstract

Given that the combined cycle (CC) code does a good job of modeling current-generation gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) plants, it is useful to extrapolate its capabilities to Nuclear Air-Brayton Combined Cycle (NACC) power plants and Nuclear Air-Brayton Recuperated Cycle (NARC) power plants. The combined cycle plants will be dealt with in this chapter and the recuperated plants in the next chapter. In the Nuclear Air-Brayton power plants, the combustion chamber of the gas turbine system is replaced by the nuclear reactor and a heat exchanger. The nuclear reactor will heat a working fluid, and that working fluid will in turn pass through a heat exchanger to heat the air for the turbine. Because the heat transfers process for a nuclear system is in the opposite direction (solid to gas) from that in the gas turbine (gas to solid), the peak temperatures achievable in a Nuclear Air Brayton system will never be as high as those in a gas turbine system. However, the nuclear system can reheat the air multiple times and expand it across multiple turbines to increase the available power.