Engineering How do I model a Thorium Reactor thermal system?

[LCOEFF14]

Homework Statement

Design Thermal Fluid System for Thorium Reactor

Relevant Equations

n/a

Hi,

I'm working on a project for a thermal fluids design class in which a theoretical Thorium reactor is to be designed and modeled, and I'm a little bit at a loss for how to start analyzing the problem. I know the system will have 4 fluid systems: an enriched FLiBe system connected via HX to a non-enriched FLiBe system connected via HX to a water system which will phase change and spin a turbine, and then a final water system will be used to cool the condenser for the steam system. The pipes and heat exchangers will be made of Hastelloy N. I know the thermal properties of the fluids and Hastelloy N, and i also know the power generation i'd like to see(1.25GW). My thought was i'd work backwards from the steam system using the power generated, but there are just so many unknowns. does anyone have any advice on how to jumpstart this project? some sort of a roadmap would be great.

 

[Chestermiller]

Start with a flow sheet.

 

[anorlunda]

Designing a power plant is a task that takes 100 experienced engineers up to 5 years to complete. 500 man-years. In that time, details like the choice of Hastelloy N for the pipes is among the least important decisions.

There must be more limiting information regarding your project. I can't believe that it is that big.

It would also be helpful for us to know what training in mechanical/thermal/nuclear/electrical engineering you are supposed to demonstrate with this project.

 

[LCOEFF14]

I have a rough flow sheet. I'm just trying to figure out which end to start on, what to assume, etc.

 

[LCOEFF14]

Designing a power plant is a task that takes 100 experienced engineers up to 5 years to complete. 500 man-years. In that time, details like the choice of Hastelloy N for the pipes is among the least important decisions.

There must be more limiting information regarding your project. I can't believe that it is that big.

It would also be helpful for us to know what training in mechanical/thermal/nuclear/electrical engineering you are supposed to demonstrate with this project.

I agree..it's a bit much. The task isn't actually designing a power plant though...although i guess it's pretty close. we're just trying to figure out HX sizes, pipe sizes, flow rates of the fluids etc for steady state operation. the issue is that we have very limited solid values and about 1000 variables. we know the salt in the first chamber should be entering the HX at about 900C, and that our power output is 1.25GW. as for training, my group is comprised of senior level mechanical engineering students.

 

[anorlunda]

I think just designing the steam generator is a suitable sized senior project. Not the whole power plant.

Can you post a copy of the actual requirements?

 

[LCOEFF14]

I think just designing the steam generator is a suitable sized senior project. Not the whole power plant.

Can you post a copy of the actual requirements?

I may ask if we can condense it down to just the steam generator. The project was designing a system involving moving fluids and heat transfer. we just sort of decided on something overly complex.

 

[anorlunda]

There's a lot more complexity in a steam generator than you may imagine. Look at all the components in this picture. Can you identify the purpose of each? It is plenty complex.