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This book explores combined cycle driven efficiency of new nuclear power plants and describes how to model and analyze a nuclear heated multi-turbine power conversion system operating with atmospheric air as the working fluid. Provides examples of small projects to facilitate nuanced understanding of the theories and implementation of combined-cycle nuclear plants. Examines all power conversion aspects, from the fluid exiting the reactor to energy releases into the environment, with special focus on heat exchangers and turbo-machinery. Promulgates modelling and analysis techniques to identify opportunities for increased thermodynamic efficiency and decreased water usage over current Light Water Reactor (LWR) systems. Introduces the concept of combined cycles for next generation nuclear power plants, explaining how recent advances in gas turbines have made these systems increasingly desirable for efficiency gains and cost-of-ownership reduction. Detailed appendices cover metric and English system units and conversions, detailed steam and gas tables, heat transfer properties, and nuclear reactor system descriptions. Specific applications of the fundamentals to Brayton and Rankine cycles for power generation are considered in-depth, in support of the book’s core goal- providing an examination of how the thermodynamic principles are applied to the design, operation and safety analysis of current and projected reactor systems. Beginning with definitions of thermodynamic variables such as temperature, pressure and specific volume, the book then explains the laws in detail, focusing on pivotal concepts such as enthalpy and entropy, irreversibility, availability, and Maxwell relations. It includes all the necessary information regarding the fundamental laws to gain a complete understanding and apply them specifically to the challenges of operating nuclear plants. This book covers the fundamentals of thermodynamics required to understand electrical power generation systems, honing in on the application of these principles to nuclear reactor power systems. With ever-higher temperatures predicted in new generations of power plants, this book’s investigation of potential avenues for thermodynamic efficiency gains will be of great interest to nuclear engineers and researchers, as well as power plant operators and students. The author describes overall system architecture, components, and detailed modeling results of Brayton-Rankine Combined Cycle power conversion systems and Recuperated Brayton Cycle systems, since they offer the highest overall energy conversion and output efficiency. These reactors provide the option of operating base-load nuclear plants with variable electricity output to the grid using natural gas or stored heat to produce peak power. The included studies are intended to identify paths for future work on next generation nuclear power plants (GEN-IV and beyond), leveraging advances in natural-gas-fired turbines that enable coupling salt-cooled, helium-cooled, and sodium-cooled reactors to a Nuclear Air-Brayton Combined Cycle (NACC). This book explores combined cycle driven efficiency of next generation nuclear power plants, and describes how to model and analyze a thermally heated multi-turbine power conversion system operating with atmospheric open air as the working fluid.
