Improving the Efficiency of a Nuclear Power Plant Using a Thermoelectric Cogeneration System

*Rauf Terzi -  Turkish Atomic Energy Authority, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey
Erol Kurt -  Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Technology, University of Gazi, Teknikokullar, Ankara, Turkey
Published: 18 Feb 2018.
Open Access Copyright (c) 2018 International Journal of Renewable Energy Development
Citation Format:
Article Info
Section: Original Research Article
Full Text:
In Vol 7, No 1 (2018): February 2018
Statistics: 929 588
Abstract

The efficiencies of nuclear power plants are rather poor having the ratio %30 by using the conventional energy/exergy tools. According to that information, large amount of energy is wasted during condensation and thrown out to the environment. Thermoelectric generator (TEG) system has a potential to be used as a heat exchanging technology to produce power with a relatively low efficiency (about 5%) and it can transform the temperature difference into electricity and generate clean electrical energy. In the present study, we offer a novel system to recover the waste heat from a VVER-1000 nuclear power plant. The heat transfer of the TEG is analyzed numerically with respect to the various temperature ranges and constant mass flow rate of the exhaust steam entering the system. In the analyses, different hot temperature ranges (35ºC, 45ºC and 55ºC) and a constant cold temperature (i.e. 18ºC) are used for a HZ-20 thermoelectric module and it has been proven that the designed TEG can produce the maximum output power of 76,956 MW for a temperature difference ∆T=37 and the conversion efficiency of 3.854% sits. The TEG is designed for the condenser of a 1000 MW nuclear power plant. It's shown that about 2.0% increasing in the power plant efficiency is expected by using the selected thermoelectric generator in the condensation cycle.

Article History: Received: July 15th 2017; Received:  October 17th 2017; Accepted: February 13rd 2018; Available online

How to Cite This Article: Terzi, R. and Kurt, E. (2018), Improving the efficiency of a nuclear power plant using a thermoelectric cogeneration system, Int. Journal of Renewable Energy Development, 7(1), 77-84.

https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.7.1.77-84

Keywords
Thermoelectric; cogeneration; nuclear power plant; efficiency

Article Metrics:

  1. Bianchini, A., Pellegrini, M. and Saccani, C. (2014). Thermoelectric Cells Cogeneration from Biomass Power Plant. Energy Procedia 45, 268 – 277.
  2. Gabbar, H.A., Stoute, C.A.B., Steele, D., Simkin, C., Sleeman, T., Newell, D., Paterson, D., Boafo, E. (2017).Evaluation and optimization of thermoelectric generator network for waste heat utilization in nuclear power plants and non-nuclear energy applications. Annals of Nuclear Energy, 101, 454–464.
  3. Gou, X., Xiau, H. and Yang, S. (2010). Modeling, Experimental Study and Optimization on Low temperature Waste Heat Thermoelectric Generator System. Applied Energy, 87(10), 3131-3136.
  4. Hendricks, T. and Choate, W.,T. (2006). Engineering Scoping Study of Thermoelectric Generator Systems for Industrial Waste Heat Recovery, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, BCS, Incorporated, November 2006.
  5. http://hi-z.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Data-Sheet-HZ-20.pdf
  6. http://www.thermoelectrics.caltech.edu/thermoelectrics/index.html
  7. Ismail, B.I. and Ahmed, W.H. (2009). Thermoelectric Power Generation using Waste-Heat Energy as an Alternative Green Technology. Recent Patents on Electrical Engineering, 2, 27– 39.
  8. Khamis, I., Koshy, T. and Kavvadias, K.C. (2013). Opportunity for Cogeneration in Nuclear Power Plants” Advances in Nano, Biomechanics, Robotics and Energy Research (ANBRE13), Seoul, Korea, August 25-28, 2013.
  9. Kyono, T., Suzuki, R.,O. and Ono, K. (2003). Conversion of Unused Heat Energy to Electricity by Means of Thermoelectric Generation in Condenser. IEEE Transactions On Energy Conversion, 18(2), 330-334.
  10. Riffat, S.B. and Ma, X. (2003). Thermoelectrics: a Review of Present and Potential Applications. Applied Thermal Engineering, 23(8), 913–935.
  11. Rowe D. M, Min, G. (1996). Evaluation of Thermoelectric Modules for Power Generation. J Power Sources, 73,193-8.
  12. Rowe, D.M., (2006). Thermoelectric Waste Heat Recovery as a Renewable Energy Source. International Journal of Innovations in Energy Systems and Power, 1(1), 13-23.
  13. Terzi, R., Tükenmez, I. and Kurt, E. (2016). Energy and Exergy Analyses of a VVER Nuclear Power Plant. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 41, 1-12, 2016.
  14. Tsai, H.L. and Lin, J.M. (2009). Model Building and Simulation of Thermoelectric Module Using Matlab/Simulink”. Journal of Electronic Materials, 39(9), 2105–2111.
  15. Xi, H., Luo, L. and Fraisse, G. (2007). Development and Applications of Solar-based Thermoelectric Technologies”. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 11(5), 923–936.

The Authors submitting a manuscript do so on the understanding that if accepted for publication, copyright of the article shall be assigned to International Journal of Renewable Energy Development and Center of Biomass and Renewable Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering Diponegoro University as publisher of the journal.

Copyright encompasses exclusive rights to reproduce and deliver the article in all form and media, including reprints, photographs, microfilms and any other similar reproductions, as well as translations. The reproduction of any part of this journal, its storage in databases and its transmission by any form or media, such as electronic, electrostatic and mechanical copies, photocopies, recordings, magnetic media, etc. , will be allowed only with a written permission from International Journal of Renewable Energy Development and Center of Biomass and Renewable Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering Diponegoro University.

International Journal of Renewable Energy Development and Center of Biomass and Renewable Energy, Department of Chemical Engineering Diponegoro University, the Editors and the Advisory International Editorial Board make every effort to ensure that no wrong or misleading data, opinions or statements be published in the journal. In any way, the contents of the articles and advertisements published in the International Journal of Renewable Energy Development are sole and exclusive responsibility of their respective authors and advertisers.