Title:
Integrating thermal energy storage and nuclear reactors: A technical and policy study

dc.contributor.advisor Petrovic, Bojan
dc.contributor.author Abel, Cal R.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Ghiaasiaan, S. M.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Erickson, Anna S.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Brown, Marilyn A.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Thomas, Valarie M.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Loewen, Eric P.
dc.contributor.department Mechanical Engineering
dc.date.accessioned 2018-05-31T18:15:39Z
dc.date.available 2018-05-31T18:15:39Z
dc.date.created 2018-05
dc.date.issued 2018-04-05
dc.date.submitted May 2018
dc.date.updated 2018-05-31T18:15:39Z
dc.description.abstract Combining Thermal Energy Storage (TES) and sodium fast reactors has been previously considered, but only at a conceptual level. This work expands on those concepts and creates a detailed engineering and system design for an integrated nuclear Thermal Energy Storage (nTES) system. The design uses General Electric-Hitachi’s Power Reactor Innovative Small Module (PRISM) and combines it with a TES that uses a binary eutectic sodium and potassium nitrate salt commercially known as “solar salt”. Beginning with a policy and economic survey, key attributes are identified that the nTES design needs to meet so that it can be economically viable in the current United States energy market. These attributes are then included in the plant design. Care was taken to ensure that common commercially available materials were used in constructing the system. The basic design was then modeled using a state space representation used to create a modern control architecture with H∞ synthesis. The control system design achieved stable salt outlet temperatures, minimal control rod motion, and a 13.3 %/minute rate of power change under full automatic control. A detailed nodal model was created in RELAP5-3D to assess the safety implications of hybrid PRISM-nTES. The reactor performed similarly to the reference PRISM design for bounding events that did not include a Loss of Heat Sink (LOHS). In those events where a LOHS occurred, the reactor hot pool never exceeded 630 °C, ensuring that structural limits for the reactor vessel were always met.
dc.description.degree Ph.D.
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/59902
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology
dc.subject Nuclear reactor
dc.subject Thermal energy storage
dc.subject Policy
dc.subject Safety analysis
dc.subject Energy economics
dc.subject Small modular reactor
dc.title Integrating thermal energy storage and nuclear reactors: A technical and policy study
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Petrovic, Bojan
local.contributor.corporatename George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication 0f37df6e-3498-4ce4-96d4-6df34e533f87
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication c01ff908-c25f-439b-bf10-a074ed886bb7
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
thesis.degree.level Doctoral
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