IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v13y2020i22p5881-d443225.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Numerical Study on the Effects of Relative Diameters on the Performance of Small Modular Reactors Driven by Natural Circulation

Author

Listed:
  • Young Jin Kim

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hannam University, 70 Hannam-ro, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon 34430, Korea)

  • Byung Jin Lee

    (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Inc. (KEPCO E&C), 111 Daedeok-daero, 989 Beon-Gil, Yusung-Gu, Daejeon 34057, Korea)

  • Kunwoo Yi

    (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Inc. (KEPCO E&C), 111 Daedeok-daero, 989 Beon-Gil, Yusung-Gu, Daejeon 34057, Korea)

  • Yoon Jae Choe

    (KEPCO Engineering and Construction Company, Inc. (KEPCO E&C), 111 Daedeok-daero, 989 Beon-Gil, Yusung-Gu, Daejeon 34057, Korea)

  • Min Chul Lee

    (Department of Safety Engineering, Incheon National University, 119 Academy-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon 22012, Korea)

Abstract

Most of the small modular reactors (SMRs) under development worldwide present the same components: an integral reactor vessel with a low-positioned core as the heat source and a high-positioned steam generator as the heat sink. Moreover, some SMRs are being designed to be driven by natural circulation during normal power generation. This work focused on such designs and on their performance, considering the changes generated by the geometric and hydraulic parameters of the system. Numerical simulations using mass, momentum, and energy equations that considered buoyancy forces were performed to determine the effects of various geometric and hydraulic parameters, such as diameters and flow resistances, on the reactor’s performance. It was found that nonuniform diameters promote velocity changes that affect the natural circulation flow rate. Moreover, the reactor’s temperature distribution depends on the steam generator tube pitch. Therefore, the hydraulic diameters of the reactor’s coolant passages should be maintained as uniform as possible to obtain a more uniform temperature distribution and a larger mass flow rate in SMRs.

Suggested Citation

  • Young Jin Kim & Byung Jin Lee & Kunwoo Yi & Yoon Jae Choe & Min Chul Lee, 2020. "Numerical Study on the Effects of Relative Diameters on the Performance of Small Modular Reactors Driven by Natural Circulation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-17, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:22:p:5881-:d:443225
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/22/5881/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/22/5881/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Konsta Värri & Sanna Syri, 2019. "The Possible Role of Modular Nuclear Reactors in District Heating: Case Helsinki Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Ioannis N. Kessides & Vladimir Kuznetsov, 2012. "Small Modular Reactors for Enhancing Energy Security in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(8), pages 1-27, August.
    3. Ye Yan & Fanghua Lu, 2018. "A Survey and Analysis on the Sense of Nuclear Safety & Security for the Public: A Chinese Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-11, July.
    4. Naoyuki Takaki & Deby Mardiansah, 2012. "Core Design and Deployment Strategy of Heavy Water Cooled Sustainable Thorium Reactor," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(8), pages 1-13, August.
    5. Iyer, Gokul & Hultman, Nathan & Fetter, Steve & Kim, Son H., 2014. "Implications of small modular reactors for climate change mitigation," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 144-154.
    6. Sanghyun Hong & Barry W. Brook, 2018. "Economic Feasibility of Energy Supply by Small Modular Nuclear Reactors on Small Islands: Case Studies of Jeju, Tasmania and Tenerife," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-11, September.
    7. Zhe Dong, 2014. "An Artificial Neural Network Compensated Output Feedback Power-Level Control for Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-22, February.
    8. Budnitz, Robert J. & Rogner, H-Holger & Shihab-Eldin, Adnan, 2018. "Expansion of nuclear power technology to new countries – SMRs, safety culture issues, and the need for an improved international safety regime," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 535-544.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Elaheh Shobeiri & Filippo Genco & Daniel Hoornweg & Akira Tokuhiro, 2023. "Small Modular Reactor Deployment and Obstacles to Be Overcome," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-19, April.
    2. Pablo Fernández-Arias & Diego Vergara & Álvaro Antón-Sancho, 2023. "Bibliometric Review and Technical Summary of PWR Small Modular Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-15, July.
    3. Carlo L. Vinoya & Aristotle T. Ubando & Alvin B. Culaba & Wei-Hsin Chen, 2023. "State-of-the-Art Review of Small Modular Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-30, April.
    4. Evgeny Lisin & Wadim Strielkowski & Veronika Chernova & Alena Fomina, 2018. "Assessment of the Territorial Energy Security in the Context of Energy Systems Integration," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-14, November.
    5. Vegel, Benjamin & Quinn, Jason C., 2017. "Economic evaluation of small modular nuclear reactors and the complications of regulatory fee structures," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 395-403.
    6. Liben Gao & Yujie Dong & Huiping Guo, 2022. "Selection of Planning Options of Electricity and Freshwater Cogeneration Method Based on High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, June.
    7. Rothwell, Geoffrey, 2022. "Projected electricity costs in international nuclear power markets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    8. Zhe Dong, 2014. "Saturated Adaptive Output-Feedback Power-Level Control for Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(11), pages 1-20, November.
    9. Erwan Hermawan & Usman Sudjadi, 2022. "Integrated Nuclear-Renewable Energy System for Industrialization in West Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia: Economic, Potential Site, and Policy Recommendation," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(4), pages 146-159, July.
    10. Ruyi Shi & Qiqi Liu & Guangzhu Wu, 2023. "Risk Perception and Sense of Public Health Safety: The Mediating Role of Emotional Perception," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-17, November.
    11. Black, Geoffrey A. & Aydogan, Fatih & Koerner, Cassandra L., 2019. "Economic viability of light water small modular nuclear reactors: General methodology and vendor data," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 248-258.
    12. Carrara, Samuel, 2020. "Reactor ageing and phase-out policies: global and regional prospects for nuclear power generation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Haneklaus, Nils & Schröders, Sarah & Zheng, Yanhua & Allelein, Hans-Josef, 2017. "Economic evaluation of flameless phosphate rock calcination with concentrated solar power and high temperature reactors," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 140(P1), pages 1148-1157.
    14. Niwagira Daniel & Juyoul Kim, 2022. "A Study on Integrating SMRs into Uganda’s Future Energy System," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-21, August.
    15. Janne Hirvonen & Juha Jokisalo & Juhani Heljo & Risto Kosonen, 2019. "Towards the EU Emission Targets of 2050: Cost-Effective Emission Reduction in Finnish Detached Houses," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-29, November.
    16. Dong, Zhe & Liu, Miao & Zhang, Zuoyi & Dong, Yujie & Huang, Xiaojin, 2019. "Automatic generation control for the flexible operation of multimodular high temperature gas-cooled reactor plants," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 11-31.
    17. Jonas Siegel & Elisabeth A. Gilmore & Nancy Gallagher & Steve Fetter, 2018. "An Expert Elicitation of the Proliferation Resistance of Using Small Modular Reactors (SMR) for the Expansion of Civilian Nuclear Systems," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 242-254, February.
    18. Anna Grzegórska & Piotr Rybarczyk & Valdas Lukoševičius & Joanna Sobczak & Andrzej Rogala, 2021. "Smart Asset Management for District Heating Systems in the Baltic Sea Region," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-25, January.
    19. Lin, Boqiang & Bae, Nuri & Bega, François, 2020. "China's Belt & Road Initiative nuclear export: Implications for energy cooperation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    20. Frederik Reitsma & Peter Woods & Martin Fairclough & Yongjin Kim & Harikrishnan Tulsidas & Luis Lopez & Yanhua Zheng & Ahmed Hussein & Gerd Brinkmann & Nils Haneklaus & Anand Rao Kacham & Tumuluri Sre, 2018. "On the Sustainability and Progress of Energy Neutral Mineral Processing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:22:p:5881-:d:443225. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.