Preliminary Analysis and Design of the Energy Conversion System for the Molten Salt Fast Reactor

Andrea Di Ronco, Francesca Giacobbo, Guglielmo Lomonaco, Stefano Lorenzi, Xiang Wang and Antonio Cammi
Additional contact information
Andrea Di Ronco: Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, 20156 Milano, Italy
Francesca Giacobbo: Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, 20156 Milano, Italy
Guglielmo Lomonaco: TEC Division, DIME-Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica, Energetica, Gestionale e dei Trasporti, Università degli Studi di Genova, 16145 Genova, Italy
Stefano Lorenzi: Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, 20156 Milano, Italy
Xiang Wang: College of Nuclear Science and Technology, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin 150001, China
Antonio Cammi: Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, 20156 Milano, Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-17

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.

Keywords: molten salt reactor; MSFR; supercritical steam cycle; helium Brayton cycle; combined cycle; gen-IV reactors; advanced energy conversion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10497/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10497/ (text/html)

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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10497-:d:462490

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().