Thermodynamic, exergoeconomic evaluation and optimization of S–N2O/t-N2O nuclear power cycle for the construction of the lunar base

Xinyu Miao, Haochun Zhang, Fangwei Ma, MingHao Deng and Ersheng You

Energy, 2024, vol. 302, issue C

Abstract: With the continuous development of deep space exploration, many planetary exploration schemes and development plans regard the construction of planetary bases as an essential goal, especially the exploration of the Moon. Supercritical and transcritical nitrous oxide (N2O) cycles are compact, low-cost, efficient, and lightweight for nuclear reactors to supply power to the bases on other planets. This paper presents the thermodynamic, exergoeconomic, and mass analyses of a combined cycle consisting of a supercritical N2O recompression Brayton cycle and a transcritical N2O cycle (S–N2O/t-N2O). It is shown that under the optimal conditions, the combined thermal efficiency and exergy efficiency are 45.52 % and 60.13 %, respectively. Based on the exergy analysis, the exergy destruction mainly occurs in the reactor and main compressor. A sensitivity study shows that the split ratio, pressure ratio in the supercritical N2O cycle, main compressor inlet pressure, turbine2 inlet temperature, and turbine2 inlet pressure have significant effects on the net output work, thermal efficiency, specific mass, and levelized cost of electricity. Furthermore, multi-objective optimizations are considered to obtain the Pareto frontier solutions for different multi-objectives, and the optimal design condition is found. These findings could improve the power cycle performance for the construction of the Lunar Base.

Keywords: Construction of the lunar base; Supercritical N2O recompression cycle; Transcritical N2O power cycle; Performance analysis; Multi-objective optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224016013
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:302:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224016013

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.131828

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().