Operating system for small modular reactor using energy storage equipment in independent power grid

Abstract

The present invention relates to an operating system for a small modular reactor (SMR) using energy storage equipment in an independent power grid, the operating system comprising: an SMR (110); an electricity / steam regulation unit (120) that regulates and discharges electricity and steam generated from the SMR (110); a pumped-storage power plant (130) for pumped-storage power generation using the electricity from the electricity / steam regulation unit (120); a hydrogen production facility (140) that produces and stores hydrogen by using the electricity and steam from the electricity / steam regulation unit; and a phase change material energy storage unit (150) that stores energy in a phase change material by using the steam from the electricity / steam regulation unit (120).

Description

Small modular reactor operating system using energy storage facilities in an independent power grid

[0001] The present invention relates to an operating system for a small modular reactor (SMR) using energy storage facilities in an independent power grid.

[0002] Nuclear power generation is a power generation method that can produce large amounts of power stably and economically. However, output control is difficult, power plant construction costs are high, and locations are limited.

[0003] Nuclear technology is advancing in ways that enhance safety, economic feasibility, and nuclear non-proliferation, and development of small modular reactors (SMRs) as improved next-generation reactors is expanding.

[0004] Small modular reactors refer to small and medium-sized reactors with a smaller capacity (less than 300 MWe) than existing nuclear power plants, and are a general term for various small and medium-sized nuclear power plants such as light water reactors, heavy water reactors, fast reactors, and high-temperature reactors.

[0005] Small modular reactors are characterized by a simplified system and other factors, making them 10 times safer than large nuclear power plants.

[0006] [Prior Art Literature]

[0007] [Patent Document]

[0008] (Patent Document 1) Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2022-0111562 (Publication Date: August 9, 2022)

[0009] Accordingly, the present invention aims to provide a small modular reactor operating system capable of reducing mechanical fatigue of a reactor by continuously maintaining rated thermal output in conjunction with a small modular reactor and an energy storage system.

[0010] To achieve these objectives, the small modular reactor operating system according to the present invention comprises: a small modular reactor; an electricity / steam control unit that controls and discharges electricity and steam generated in the small modular reactor; a pumped storage power plant that generates pumped storage power using electricity from the electricity / steam control unit; a hydrogen production facility that produces and stores hydrogen using the electricity and steam from the electricity / steam control unit; and a phase change material energy storage unit that stores energy in a phase change material using the steam from the electricity / steam control unit.

[0011] Preferably, the electricity / steam control unit further includes a distribution evaluation unit that compares and calculates the value of electricity and steam supplied to the pumped storage power plant, the hydrogen production facility, and the phase change material energy storage unit, and controls the supply amount and distribution route.

[0012] Preferably, the hydrogen production facility further includes a hydrogen storage tank for storing the produced hydrogen, and a fuel cell for producing electricity using the hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage tank.

[0013] Preferably, the phase change material energy storage unit further includes a turbine generator that produces electricity using the stored steam.

[0014] The small modular reactor operating system of the present invention comprises: a small modular reactor; an electricity / steam control unit for controlling and discharging electricity and steam generated in the small modular reactor; a pumped storage power plant for generating electricity using the electricity of the electricity / steam control unit; a hydrogen production facility for producing and storing hydrogen using the electricity and steam of the electricity / steam control unit; and a phase change material energy storage unit for storing energy in a phase change material using the steam of the electricity / steam control unit. The system evaluates the economic value of the steam produced in the small modular reactor within an independent power grid, stores energy in the hydrogen production facility, pumped storage power generation, or phase change material, and converts it into electricity at a time when electricity demand is high, thereby enabling a flexible supply, thereby increasing the operational efficiency of the small modular reactor.

[0015] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a small modular reactor operating system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] The specific structural and functional descriptions presented in the embodiments of the present invention are merely illustrative for the purpose of explaining embodiments according to the concept of the present invention, and embodiments according to the concept of the present invention may be implemented in various forms. Furthermore, they should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described herein, but should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included within the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

[0017] Meanwhile, in the present invention, terms such as first and / or second may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited to these terms. These terms are used solely for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components. For example, within the scope of the rights according to the concept of the present invention, a first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, a second component may also be referred to as a first component.

[0018] When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it should be understood that it may be directly connected or connected to that other component, but that there may also be other components in between. Conversely, when a component is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly in contact with" another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between. Other expressions used to describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "directly between" or "adjacent to" and "directly adjacent to," should be interpreted similarly.

[0019] The terminology used herein is merely used to describe specific embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. The singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be understood that the terms "comprises" or "has" in this specification specify the presence of implemented features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

[0020] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. It should be understood that the sizes of components or the connection between components may be exaggerated or omitted to aid understanding.

[0021] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram of a small modular reactor operating system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Referring to FIG. 1, a small modular reactor operating system (100) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a small modular reactor (110); an electricity / steam control unit (120) that controls electricity and steam generated in the small modular reactor (110); a pumped storage power plant (130) that generates pumped-storage power using the electricity of the electricity / steam control unit (120); a hydrogen production facility (140) that produces and stores hydrogen using the electricity and steam of the electricity / steam control unit; and a phase change material energy storage unit (150) that stores energy in a phase change material using the steam of the electricity / steam control unit (120) and can produce electric energy using the stored energy.

[0023] The small modular reactor (110) may be a small modular reactor composed of multiple modules rather than a single module, and some of the steam generated in the small modular reactor (110) is supplied to the first turbine generator (141) and the remainder is transferred to the electric / steam control unit (120). Meanwhile, the first turbine generator (141) generates electricity based on the steam produced in the small modular reactor (110) and transfers the electricity to the electric / gas control unit (120).

[0024] The electric / gas control unit (120) distributes and supplies steam produced from a small modular reactor (110) and electricity produced from a first turbine generator (141) to various energy storage facilities, and the energy storage facilities include a pumped storage power plant (130), a hydrogen production facility (140), and a phase change material energy storage unit (150).

[0025] Preferably, the electricity / steam control unit (120) further includes a distribution evaluation unit (160) that compares and calculates the value of electricity and steam supplied to the pumped storage power plant (130), hydrogen production facility (140), and phase change material energy storage unit (150) and adjusts the supply amount and distribution path.

[0026] The distribution evaluation unit (160) supplies electricity according to real-time electricity demand and sells the remaining electricity or steam according to the payment evaluation. Specifically, the distribution evaluation unit (160) performs a price evaluation of electricity, steam, and hydrogen in real time or for a certain period of time (daily / weekly / monthly, etc.), determines an energy storage means (pumped storage power plant / hydrogen production facility / phase change material energy storage unit) through the evaluation, and distributes the supply amount accordingly to control the electricity / steam control unit (120). Meanwhile, the distribution evaluation unit (160) may also include selling hydrogen and steam directly to demanders in addition to supplying them to each energy storage facility in its economic feasibility evaluation.

[0027] A pumped storage power plant (130) receives electricity from an electric / gas control unit (120) and performs pumped storage power generation. The pumped storage power plant (130) uses surplus electricity during times of low electricity demand (late at night) to store water from a lower dam in an upper dam (reservoir), and when electricity demand increases, the water from the upper dam (reservoir) falls to the lower dam to generate electricity and supply electricity.

[0028] The hydrogen production facility (140) produces hydrogen using electricity and steam supplied from the electricity / steam control unit (120), and the hydrogen production facility (140) can be provided by a water electrolysis method that produces hydrogen by electrolyzing water. The hydrogen production facility (140) can further include a hydrogen storage tank (141) that stores the produced hydrogen, and a fuel cell (142) that produces electricity using the hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage tank (141) and supplies it to the power grid.

[0029] The phase change material energy storage unit (150) stores energy in the phase change material using steam from the electricity / steam control unit (120), and preferably, the phase change material energy storage unit (150) further includes a second turbine generator (151) that produces electricity using the stored steam. This phase change material energy storage unit (150) uses phase change materials (Phase Change Materials, PCM) that undergo a phase change at a phase transition temperature, and refers to a material that undergoes a large amount of heat energy (latent heat) input / output (heat absorption / excitation) during the phase change process. Phase change materials are substances that can store latent heat in phase changes such as solid-solid, solid-liquid, solid-gas, and liquid-gas. For example, solid-solid phase change materials store energy when changing from one crystal to another, and include organic solid solutions such as pentaerythritol (melting point 188℃, latent heat of dissolution, 323kJ / kg), pentaglycerine (melting point 81.8℃, latent heat of dissolution, 216kJ / kg), Li2SO4 (melting point 578℃, latent heat of dissolution, 214kJ / kg), and KHF2 (melting point 196℃, latent heat of dissolution, 135kJ / kg). In addition, other examples of phase change materials (PCMs) include, but are not limited to, various phase change materials such as paraffins, non-paraffins, and salt hydrates.

[0030] The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the attached drawings, and it will be apparent to a person skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains that various substitutions, modifications, and changes are possible within a scope that does not depart from the technical spirit of the present invention.

[0031] [Explanation of symbols]

[0032] 100: Small modular reactor operating system

[0033] 110: Small modular reactor 111: First turbine generator

[0034] 120: Electricity / Steam Control Unit 130: Pumped Storage Power Plant

[0035] 140: Hydrogen production facility 141: Hydrogen storage tank

[0036] 142: Fuel cell 150: Phase change material energy storage unit

[0037] 151: Second turbine generator 160: Distribution evaluation unit

Claims

1. Small modular reactor; An electricity / steam control unit for controlling and discharging electricity and steam generated in the above small modular reactor; A pumped storage power plant in which pumped storage power is generated using electricity from the above electric / steam control unit; A hydrogen production facility that produces and stores hydrogen using electricity and steam of the above electric / steam control unit; A small modular reactor operating system including a phase change material energy storage unit that stores energy in a phase change material using steam from the above electric / steam control unit.

2. A small modular reactor operating system in paragraph 1, wherein the electric / steam control unit further includes a distribution evaluation unit that compares and calculates the value of electricity and steam supplied to the pumped storage power plant, the hydrogen production facility, and the phase change material energy storage unit, and controls the supply amount and distribution path.

3. In paragraph 1, the hydrogen production facility further includes a small modular reactor operating system comprising a hydrogen storage tank for storing the produced hydrogen, and a fuel cell for producing electricity using the hydrogen stored in the hydrogen storage tank.

4. A small modular reactor operating system in accordance with claim 1, wherein the phase change material energy storage unit further includes a turbine generator that produces electricity using the stored steam.

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