Part load operation with additional heat exchanger in a VVER-1000 nuclear power plant

Abstract

The goal of this Master’s thesis is to explore the power conversion process in a VVER-1000 nuclear power plant during part load operation in sliding pressure mode. This work contains comparison of standard layout schematic diagram of secondary circuit and enhanced experimental one with additional heat exchanger after steam generator. The main principle lies in redirecting hot leg water from primary circuit for purpose of superheating the steam in secondary circuit during lower power modes. The calculation technique used in this work was steam turbine expansion analysis and main focus was on obtaining energy and thermal efficiency parameters. Although it is not discussed how heat exchanger setup will be implemented in real power plant, based on calculation results, experimental setup showed better performance in total electrical power and electrical efficiency as well as possible redundancy of separator stage due to increase in steam vapor fraction throughout the turbine.