The design study of Supercritical Carbon dioxide Integral Experiment Loop with Consideration of Future Application to SFR

摘要

The supercritical carbon dioxide cycle (S-CO_2 cycle) can achieve relatively high efficiency in the modest temperature (450-750°C) region because the cycle takes advantage of non-ideal properties near the critical point. The S-CO_2 cycle was originally considered as an attractive candidate for power conversion cycle of the next generation reactors. Due to many benefits of the S-CO_2 cycle including the substitution of sodium-water reaction with much milder sodium-CO_2 reaction, the application for Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) is considered seriously. The major studies settle on the S-CO_2 recompressing cycle (also known as Feher cycle) which reduces the waste heat and increases the recuperated heat by recompressing some portion of the flow without heat rejection to increase the thermodynamic efficiency of the cycle. To develop and verify the characteristics of the S-CO_2 recompressing cycle, Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) and Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) research team designed a Supercritical Carbon dioxide Integral Experiment Loop (SCIEL). 550°C turbine inlet temperature and 20 MPa compressor outlet pressure condition are expected for SCIEL operation and the layout is recompressing cycle but other layouts will be studied as well. The reference reactor is Korean Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor (KALIMER) developed by KAERI. The experiment loop facility is designed for studying unique phenomena in components under various conditions and developing the strategy to improve the component performance and overall cycle efficiency. The operating condition and thermodynamic efficiency for SCIEL are evaluated from in-house code developed by KAIST research team. The effect of the split flow, component sensitivity, and optimum cycle pressure ratio will also be analyzed for the preliminary design of SCIEL. The overall component specification and performance of SCIEL will be compared to other S-CO_2 test loop facilities and SFR projects in other research institutes.