DESIGN AND OPERATION OF AN ELECTRIC PEAKING/INDUSTRIAL STEAM PRODUTION UNIT FOR SMRS

摘要

Various methods of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) can be coupled to nuclear (or renewable) power sources to help absorb grid variability caused by daily load demand changes and renewable intermittency. Our previous research has shown that coupling a sensible heat TES system to a Small Modular Reactor (SMR) allows the reactor to run at effectively nominal full power during periods of variable electric demand by bypassing steam to the TES system during periods of excess capacity. In this paper we demonstrate that this stored thermal energy can be recovered; allowing the TES system to act as a peaking unit during periods of high electric demand, or used to produce steam for ancillary applications such as desalination. For both applications the reactor can operate continuously at approximately 100% power.