• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.11
• /
• pp.3685-3693
• /
• 2021

This paper presents a disturbance observer-based robust backstepping load-following control (DO-RBLFC) scheme for modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (MHTGRs) in the presence of actuator saturation and disturbances. Based on reactor kinetics and temperature reactivity feedback, the mathematical model of the MHTGR is first established. After that, a DO is constructed to estimate the unknown compound disturbances including model uncertainties, external disturbances, and unmeasured states. Besides, the actuator saturation is compensated by employing an auxiliary function in this paper. With the help of the DO, a robust load-following controller is developed via the backstepping technique to improve the load-following performance of the MHTGR subject to disturbances. At last, simulation and comparison results verify that the proposed DO-RBLFC scheme offers higher load-following accuracy, better disturbances rejection capability, and lower control rod speed than a PID controller, a conventional backstepping controller, and a disturbance observer-based adaptive sliding mode controller.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.1
• /
• pp.1-8
• /
• 2007

Hydrogen and electricity are expected to dominate the world energy system in the long term. The world currently consumes about 50 million metric tons of hydrogen per year, with the bulk of it being consumed by the chemical and refining industries. The demand for hydrogen is expected to increase, especially if the U.S. and other countries shift their energy usage towards a hydrogen economy, with hydrogen consumed as an energy commodity by the transportation, residential and commercial sectors. However, there is strong motivation to not use fossil fuels in the future as a feedstock for hydrogen production, because the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide is a byproduct and fossil fuel prices are expected to increase significantly. An advanced reactor technology receiving considerable international interest for both electricity and hydrogen production, is the modular helium reactor (MHR), which is a passively safe concept that has evolved from earlier high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) designs. For hydrogen production, this concept is referred to as the H2-MHR. Two different hydrogen production technologies are being investigated for the H2-MHR; an advanced sulfur-iodine (SI) thermochemical water splitting process and high-temperature electrolysis (HTE). This paper describes pre-conceptual design descriptions and economic evaluations of full-scale, nth-of-a-kind SI-Based and HTE-Based H2-MHR plants. Hydrogen production costs for both types of plants are estimated to be approximately $2 per kilogram.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.103-110
• /
• 2007

The High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) possesses inherent safety features and is recognized as a representative advanced nuclear system for the future. Based on the success of the HTR-10, the long-time operation test and safety demonstration tests were carried out. The long-time operation test verifies that the operation procedure and control method are appropriate for the HTR-10 and the safety demonstration test shows that the HTR-10 possesses inherent safety features with a great margin. Meanwhile, two new projects have been recently launched to further develop HTGR technology. One is a prototype modular plant, denoted as HTR-PM, to demonstrate the commercial capability of the HTGR power plant. The HTR-PM is designed as $2{\times}250$ MWt, pebble bed core with a steam turbine generator that serves as an energy conversion system. The other is a gas turbine generator system coupled with the HTR-10, denoted as HTR-10GT, built to demonstrate the feasibility of the HTGR gas turbine technology. The gas turbine generator system is designed in a single shaft configuration supported by active magnetic bearings (AMB). The HTR-10GT project is now in the stage of engineering design and component fabrication. R&D on the helium turbocompressor, a key component, and the key technology of AMB are in progress.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.10
• /
• pp.3874-3897
• /
• 2023

A high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis was performed using the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model for the lower plenum of the High-Temperature Test Facility (HTTF), a ¼ scale test facility of the modular high temperature gas-cooled reactor (MHTGR) managed by Oregon State University. In most next-generation nuclear reactors, thermal stress due to thermal striping is one of the risks to be curiously considered. This is also true for HTGRs, especially since the exhaust helium gas temperature is high. In order to evaluate these risks and performance, organizations in the United States led by the OECD NEA are conducting a thermal hydraulic code benchmark for HTGR, and the test facility used for this benchmark is HTTF. HTTF can perform experiments in both normal and accident situations and provide high-quality experimental data. However, it is difficult to provide sufficient data for benchmarking through experiments, and there is a problem with the reliability of CFD analysis results based on Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes to analyze thermal hydraulic behavior without verification. To solve this problem, high-fidelity 3-D CFD analysis was performed using the LES model for HTTF. It was also verified that the LES model can properly simulate this jet mixing phenomenon via a unit cell test that provides experimental information. As a result of CFD analysis, the lower the dependency of the sub-grid scale model, the closer to the actual analysis result. In the case of unit cell test CFD analysis and HTTF CFD analysis, the volume-averaged sub-grid scale model dependency was calculated to be 13.0% and 9.16%, respectively. As a result of HTTF analysis, quantitative data of the fluid inside the HTTF lower plenum was provided in this paper. As a result of qualitative analysis, the temperature was highest at the center of the lower plenum, while the temperature fluctuation was highest near the edge of the lower plenum wall. The power spectral density of temperature was analyzed via fast Fourier transform (FFT) for specific points on the center and side of the lower plenum. FFT results did not reveal specific frequency-dominant temperature fluctuations in the center part. It was confirmed that the temperature power spectral density (PSD) at the top increased from the center to the wake. The vortex was visualized using the well-known scalar Q-criterion, and as a result, the closer to the outlet duct, the greater the influence of the mainstream, so that the inflow jet vortex was dissipated and mixed at the top of the lower plenum. Additionally, FFT analysis was performed on the support structure near the corner of the lower plenum with large temperature fluctuations, and as a result, it was confirmed that the temperature fluctuation of the flow did not have a significant effect near the corner wall. In addition, the vortices generated from the lower plenum to the outlet duct were identified in this paper. It is considered that the quantitative and qualitative results presented in this paper will serve as reference data for the benchmark.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.893-905
• /
• 2016

Numerous advanced reactor concepts have been proposed to replace light water reactors ever since their establishment as the dominant technology for nuclear energy production. While most designs seek to improve cost competitiveness and safety, the implausibility of doing so with affordable materials or existing nuclear fuel infrastructure reduces the possibility of near-term deployment, especially in developing countries. The organic nuclear concept, first explored in the 1950s, offers an attractive alternative to advanced reactor designs being considered. The advent of high temperature fluids, along with advances in hydrocracking and reforming technologies driven by the oil and gas industries, make the organic concept even more viable today. We present a simple, cost-effective, and safe small modular nuclear reactor for offshore underwater deployment. The core is moderated by graphite, zirconium hydride, and organic fluid while cooled by the organic fluid. The organic coolant enables operation near atmospheric pressure and use of plain carbon steel for the reactor tank and primary coolant piping system. The core is designed to mitigate the coolant degradation seen in early organic reactors. Overall, the design provides a power density of 40 kW/L, while reducing the reactor hull size by 40% compared with a pressurized water reactor while significantly reducing capital plant costs.