US 4,052,260 AGranted

Method of operating a nuclear-power-generating installation with closed gas cycle and plant operated by this method

AssigneeKernforschungsanlage Julich Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung

InventorsSiegfried Forster, Gunter Dibelius, Gunter Hewing, Jasbir Singh

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Abstract

A nuclear power-generating installation comprises three power-generating bines which are operated by three partial gas streams heated in separate passages of a nuclear reactor. After traversing the power-generating turbines the partial gas streams are cooled in respective recuperative heat exchangers to recover residual useful heat therefrom and are combined into a lesser number of gas streams each of which is subjected to at least two compression stages with at least one intervening cooling stage in which all of the gas is combined to flow as a total gas stream through at least one such cooler. Following the last compression stage the gas is again subdivided into three partial streams for preheating in the aforementioned recuperative heat exchangers before traversing the nuclear reactor for the main heating.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A method of operating a nuclear power plant with a closed-gas cycle which comprises the steps of:

a. heating a working gas in a total stream in a nuclear reactor and subdividing the total stream after heating into three parallel partial streams;
b. extending each of said gas streams in a respective turbine of a respective turbine set to drive a respective compressor thereof;
c. abstracting useful heat from each of the partial gas streams expanded in the respective turbines in a respective recuperative heat exchanger;
d. precooling the gas of said partial gas streams;
e. combining the gas of said partial gas streams into a lesser number of gas streams and compressing same in at least two successive stages in said compressors with at least the compressor of the last of said stages compressing all of the combined gas of said streams;
f. cooling the gas between said stages in at least one intervening cooler traversed by the combined gas of said partial gas streams;
g. subdividing the combined gas from the last of said stages into three partial streams;
h. preheating said partial streams upon subdivision in step (g) in said recuperative heat exchangers;
and
i. feeding the preheated partial gas streams to said nuclear reactor for heating therein in step (a);
and
j. driving electrical generators with the turbines of at least two of said sets.

9 more elements

A nuclear power plant comprising:

a nuclear reactor provided with a reinforced concrete housing;
three turbine sets angularly equispaced around the axis of said reactor and each provided with a turbine and a compressor coupled with said turbine;
at least two electrical generators respectively connected to at least two of said sets and driven by the expansion of hot gas in the respective turbines;
respective recuperative heat exchanger units distributed around the axis of said reactor and traversed by said partial streams for preheating same prior to passage through said reactor;
duct means connecting each of said turbines with a respective one of said recuperative heat exchangers for abstracting residual heat from expanded gas discharged from the respective turbine;
at least two coolers distributed around the axis of said reactor;
second duct means for passing gas from said recuperative heat exchangers through at least two of said compressors in succession and through at least one of said coolers serving as an intervening cooler between the successive compressors;
means for combining said partial gas streams so that the total circulated gas traverse said intervening cooler and the last compressor of said succession;
and
means for subdividing the total gas traversing said last compressor into the three partial streams fed to said recuperative heat exchanger for preheating therein.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.