Analysis of a Helium Brayton Power Cycle for a Direct-Drive IFE Power Reactor 19 th High Average Power Laser Program Workshop, October 22 nd -23 rd, 2008, Madison, WI Motivation A direct-drive inertial fusion energy (IFE) power reactor is a promising new energy source for the future. To be economically competitive, the most efficient method of power conversion must be utilized to offset higher capital costs. Traditional power conversion cycles are limited by high IFE reactor temperatures, materials considerations, and radiological safety. A closed-cycle helium Brayton cycle is an economical solution that is very efficient at high temperatures and has advantageous properties for operation in an IFE environment. Helium has the second highest specific heat (below hydrogen) thus requiring a lower mass flow rate to transfer the same amount of heat. Also, proposed reactor designs, most notably the High Average Power Laser (HAPL) program, use a primary molten salt coolant loop for the dual purpose of breeding tritium (H 3 ) as well as heat transfer; using helium is advantageous in this situation because it is the most chemically inert of all elements and will not interact with any molten salt components in case of failure. Helium is also easily purified if any tritium were to permeate the heat exchanger. The closed-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) has been historically proven as an effective power conversion cycle. Extensive research and development has been done in both experimental and industrial settings, making the cycle economically feasible, empirically reliable, and very efficient. Conclusions A direct-drive inertial fusion energy (IFE) power reactor is a very attractive future power source. In order to keep the reactor economically feasible, an equally advanced power conversion cycle must be utilized to maximize the plant efficiency while designing for the challenges of operating in a nuclear fusion environment. The closed-cycle helium Brayton cycle offers an economically competitive cycle that is very advantageous for a direct-drive IFE design requirement. Engineering Considerations From an engineering standpoint, the helium closed-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) has many challenges to address before operation in an IFE setting. The major in-cycle components: gas turbines, compressors, recuperator, and heat exchangers all need to be adequate for the operational environment. Pressurized helium represents a unique challenge for a CCGT as well as very high inlet temperatures (~800 o C). The table below represents engineering and material considerations for all of the CCGT in-cycle components as well as proposed solutions. System Design Considerations Operation of a helium closed-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) in an IFE environment requires design considerations for safety, reliability, and operational efficiency. For efficiency, a split-shaft design (the turbine operating the compressors has a split shaft from the compressors) should be strongly considered as it offers optimization of compressor speeds, however, requires fast-acting control systems in case of rapid load fluctuations. The use of intercoolers to decrease compressor work is also an efficiency gain that could be employed. In terms of reliability, the in-reactor components will be designed to withstand at least a year of operation without maintenance inside the reactor containment building; however, the CCGT should be located outside of the containment vessel because of maintenance considerations for the turbocompressor, generators, and integrated safety valves, thus dictating the use of an intermediate heat cycle to transport the heat out of the main containment vessel. Figure 3: General Atomics Gas Turbine Modular Helium Reactor, a CCGT nuclear power plant Figure 2: Pre-conceptual design of the High Average Power Laser (HAPL) IFE power reactor 1 S. Wagner, 2 C. Priniski, 2 C. Gentile 2 R. Parsells, 2 T. Kozub, 2 T. Dodson Support is provided by the U.S. DOE Contract No. DE-AC0276CH03073 and the 2008 Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship, and the HAPL program. ParameterCurrentFuture T in 850 o C1200 o C ε rec 95%96% P out 7MPa15MPa ηTηT ηCηC ΔP/P out T in – temperature out of the IHX η C / η T – adiabatic efficiencies of compressor/turbine T min – minimum cycle temperature ΔP/P out – cycle pressure drop Πc – overall compression ratio ε rec – recuperator effectiveness r p – individual component compression ratio γ – ratio of the specific heats (C p /C v ) R. Schleicher, R. Raffray, C. Wong (2001) Figure 1: Flow Diagram of Closed-Cycle Helium Brayton Cycle Previous analysis done by Schleicher et al. (2001) concluded that a gross cycle efficiency of 51% could be attained using design specifications of closed-cycle helium turbines previously designed and operated, shown in the above table. The equations for the cycle gross efficiency, η cycle, is illustrated above and is dependent on those key parameters. It was estimated that within years, technology would develop to improve those parameters to the values listed in the third column of the table, further increasing the cycle gross efficiency to 64%. The graph above shows the sensitivity of the cycle gross efficiency to the various parameters. It is seen that increasing the inlet temperature has the greatest effect on the efficiency. This is a problem because the inlet temperature is not a specification controlled by the power conversion cycle, but by the reactor design and any intermediate heat exchangers. Thus, any major efficiency improvements are greatly determined by the reactor design, not the in-cycle technology. 1 University of Michigan – Ann Arbor 2 Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory ComponentEngineering ChallengeProposed Solution Gas TurbineLifetime of high temperature end components Use of a turbine disc cooling system and advanced materials (arc-cast Molybdenum refractories) Reliability of rotor bearings, and power loss consequences Development of high-performance magnetic bearings and a secondary "catcher" bearing system Orientation of turbocompressor shaft for maintenance access Integrated maintenance assembly and develop components for 6-7 year mean time between outages Cycle startup sequenceOperate in a synchronous motor- generator mode using sinusoid generators/frequency convertors RecuperatorMaximization of recuperator effectiveness Utilize advanced plate-fin recuperator geometries Operation at high temperatures and large pressure differentials Use of advanced ceramic materials and further development of cheaper, proven metallic recuperators Intermediate Heat Exchanger Tritium permeationUse of advanced carbon-carbon composites and a helium purification system High temperature operationCompile data on material properties of next generation alloys Figure 5: Plate-Fin Recuperator Geometry Figure 4: Silicon infused Carbon-Carbon Intermediate Heat Exchanger