Numerical investigation of advanced gas turbine combined cycle coupled with high-temperature nuclear reactor and cogeneration unit

AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Energy and Fuels, Department of Fundamental Research in Energy Engineering, Mickiewicza 30, 30-059, Kraków, Poland

^* Corresponding author: jaszczur@agh.edu.pl

Abstract

In the European Union by 2050, more than 80% of electricity should be generated using nongreenhousegases energy technology. Nuclear power systems share at present about 15% of the power market and thistechnology can be the backbone of a carbon-free European power system. Energy market transitions are similar to global pathways were analysed in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report. From a practical point of view currently, the most advanced and most effective technology for electricity generation is based on a gas turbine combined cycle. This technology in a normal way uses natural gas, synthesis gas from the coal gasification or crude oil processing products as the energy carriers but at the same time, such system emits sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and CO₂ to the environment. In thepresent paper, a thermodynamic analysis of environmentally friendly power plant with a high–temperature gas nuclear reactor and advanced configuration of gas turbine combined cycle technology is investigated. The presented analysis shows that it is possible to obtain for proposed thermalcycles an efficiency higher than 50% which is not only more than could be offered by traditional coal power plant but much more than can be proposed by any other nuclear technology.