Westmead International School

College of Engineering


Nuclear Power Plant Design Project
COMPUTATION FOR THERMAL EFFICIENCY


~
TURBINE COMPRESSOR
R
E
A
C
T
O
R

2
1
RECUPERATOR
P
R
E
C
O
O
L
E
R

3
4
5
6
Westmead International School
College of Engineering


Nuclear Power Plant Design Project

3
1
2
4
5
6
T
S
T-S DIAGRAM FOR HELIUM MODULAR HIGH TEMPERATURE GAS COOLED REACTOR
Westmead International School
College of Engineering


Nuclear Power Plant Design Project
MHTGR @ Direct Cycle Nuclear Power Plant
Reactor Power 250MW
e

Fuel Type Peeble Bed
Core Temperature (In/Out) 576/850
0
C or 849/1123K
Core Coolant Flow rate 245.6kg/s
Core Coolant Pressure 8Mpa
Turbine Inlet Pressure 7.80Mpa
Turbine Efficiency (n
t
) 93%
Turbine Cycle Pressure Ratio 2.2
Turbine Inlet Temperature 850
0
C
Turbine Flow rate 245.6kg/s
Compressor Efficiency (n
c
) 89%
Helium Specific Heat Ratio 1.66
Cycle Pressure Drop 0.07
Compression Ratio 1.85
Ratio of Specific Heat for He 1.66
Recuperator effectiveness 95%
Westmead International School
College of Engineering


Nuclear Power Plant Design Project
Thermal Efficiency Formula Analysis of a Helium Brayton Power Cycle for Direct Drive IFE Power Reactor (From
R.Schleicher, R.Raffray, C. Wong 2001)

[ (

[(

]]

]

Where:
T
in
- temperature out
T
out
minimum cycle temperature

c
overall compression ratio

r
p
individual component compressor ratio
n
c
/n
t
adiabatic efficiencies of compressor/turbine
P/P
out
cycle pressure drop

recu
- recuperator effectiveness
Ratio of specific heats (C
p
/C
v
)
Westmead International School
College of Engineering


Nuclear Power Plant Design Project
Solving for Overall Compression Ratio

Solving for the Thermal Efficiency

[ (

[(

]]

[ (

[ [(

]] [

]


Westmead International School
College of Engineering


Nuclear Power Plant Design Project

Therefore, Thermal Efficiency of the Cycle is:

Note:
Thermal Efficiency computation of the Helium Brayton Power Cycle for a Direct Drive can only be calculated by
using the above equation by R. Schleicher, R. Raffray, C. Wong (2001).
CATT2 Software is not applicable for the design of nuclear power plant since thermodynamic properties for Helium
is not available.