Waste Heat Recovery From Closed Brayton Cycle Using Organic Rankine Cycle: Thermodynamic Analysis Available to Purchase

This study examines the performance of a gas-cooled nuclear power plant with closed Brayton cycle (CBC) combined with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) plant, as well as the irreversibility within the system. Individual models have been developed for each component, through applications of the first and second laws of thermodynamics. The overall system performance is then analyzed by employing individual models and further application of thermodynamic laws for the entire cycle, to evaluate the thermal efficiency and entropy production of the plant. The effects of the turbine inlet temperature, compressor pressure ratio, evaporator temperature, and temperature difference in the evaporator on the combined cycle first-law, second-law efficiency and exergy destruction rate are studied. Finally optimization of the combined cycle in a systematic way has been developed and discussed. It was found that the combined cycle first-law efficiency is about 9.5–10.1% higher than the simple CBC cycle. Also, the exergy destruction rate for the GT-MHR/ORC combined cycle, is about 6.5–8.3% lower than that of the GT-MHR cycle.