Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

Feasibility Study on MHD Energy Conversion for Applications in Liquid Metal Cooled Nuclear Reactors

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/fj236902m

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  • The application of two-phase magnetohydrodynamic(MHD) in liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors presents opportunities to simplify the power generation system by eliminating moving components like a turbine for enhanced safety. The proposed system in this thesis consists of two loops with immiscible working fluids. The compressed gas expands in the two-phase mixture tank and the kinetic energy of the gas is converted from liquid metal to kinetic energy to generate electricity from MHD. Supercritical carbon dioxide is proposed as the working fluid in the gas cycle with ideal components and regeneration. The optimized cycle efficiency is obtained; the cycle efficiency under the supersonic (M=1.1) condition is 3% higher than the sonic condition. By concentrating on the control volume analysis and the two-phase homogeneous flow model, the system operating conditions were determined. A helical screw mixer is placed in the mixing tank to promote mixing; this allows liquid and gas to reach a homogeneous stage within a short distance. The results show that MHD power increases with the increase of void fraction, yet efficiency decreases. Without gravity effect, the results suggest that the exit void fraction should be set as 0.3 to obtain the maximum efficiency. An optimized theoretical injection nozzle and mixture were designed to accommo-date for various receiver pressures, temperatures, and velocity. The strength of the magnet can be affected by high temperatures, so the material of the magnet also requires further analysis. Although a final optimized design was not determined, useful insight was gained to apply to future work. The efficiency of an ideal MHD generation in the proper configuration can reach over 90%. For a supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle with MHD power generation option, the maximum cycle thermal efficiency is about 51%
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