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Abstract
The unique design features of the molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) should enable higher coolant temperatures than in conventional water reactors, with a significant improvement in the achievable thermodynamic performance. The use of a molten salt as both fuel and coolant, however, poses several advanced heat transfer challenges, such as the design of innovative heat exchangers and energy conversion systems. In this work, we address a preliminary but quantitative analysis of the energy conversion system for the MSFR, based on reference design data from the SAMOFAR H2020-EURATOM project. We consider three main technologies, i.e., the supercritical steam cycle, the closed helium cycle and the helium/steam combined cycle. Preliminary design results are presented for each technology, based on a simplified modelling approach. The considered cycles show promising efficiency improvements, with the best performance being proven by the supercritical steam cycle. The analysis also highlights the critical issue related to the risk of freezing of the molten salts within the secondary heat exchangers, due to the low inlet temperatures of the working fluids. Results show potential incompatibility between the freezing point of molten salts and the temperatures typical of steam cycles, while helium cycles offer the best chances of freezing avoidance. The combined cycle promises intermediate performance in terms of thermodynamic efficiency and thermal compatibility with molten salts comparable with closed helium cycles.
Highlights
The molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) is one of the reactor concepts within the framework of the Generation IV International Forum [1]
The analysis we performed provided a preliminary design of the energy conversion system
The helium cycle suffers from relatively low cycle temperatures, showing worse efficiencies
Summary
The molten salt fast reactor (MSFR) is one of the reactor concepts within the framework of the Generation IV International Forum [1]. The molten salt, serves both as fuel and coolant, with enhanced safety and thermodynamic performance thanks to the absence of solid fuel elements within the core and to the low operating pressures This comes at the cost of new challenges to be addressed, e.g., due to the adoption of non-conventional fluids, the presence of distributed internal heat generation [2] and substantially new dynamics and control features. Many of such technical issues involve the design of plant components, such as heat exchangers and power conversion systems. Passive safety and natural circulation features impose even more severe requirements [4]
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