Improving Grid Reliability Using Salt-Cooled Reactors with Air Brayton Power Cycles and Heat Storage

摘要

The electricity grid is facing two sets of challenges. First, the introduction of renewables and the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions requires new systems to provide variable electricity on demand. Historically variable electricity production has been accomplished by fossil electricity generating plants with low capital costs and high operating costs. That is not an option if the goal is low greenhouse gas releases. While there are options such as CO_2 capture and sequestration to limit CO_2 releases from fossil plants, such technologies have high capital costs making them expensive options for production of variable electricity.