Air-Cooled Condenser Tube Bundles with Hinged Couplings
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current air-cooled condensers require significant structural support and are prone to thermal expansion issues, while nuclear fuel storage racks face seismic stability challenges, and shell and tube heat exchangers experience differential thermal expansion stresses, leading to reliability concerns and complex cooling needs for radioactive waste casks.
Innovation Solution
The air-cooled condenser design features self-supporting inclined tube bundles with a hinged coupling system for thermal expansion, a seismic-resistant nuclear fuel storage system with embedment plates for lateral restraint, and axial flow baffles and curved tube bundles to mitigate thermal stresses in heat exchangers, along with a passive cooling system using a sublimating medium for radioactive waste casks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional structural support systems are used for air-cooled condensers, then structural stability is improved, but device complexity and construction time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The condenser structure is divided into modular tube bundles that can be independently supported on the platform, eliminating the need for a complex integrated structural framework. Each tube bundle is self-contained and can be installed separately, reducing overall construction complexity while maintaining structural stability.
2Device complexity
If fixed tube bundle configurations are used, then structural simplicity is improved, but thermal expansion reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tube bundles are designed with movable mounting mechanisms that allow them to expand and contract thermally while remaining supported on the platform. This dynamic capability enables the structure to accommodate thermal expansion without requiring complex expansion joints or flexible connections, maintaining both simplicity and reliability.
3Quantity of substance
If conventional nuclear fuel storage racks are used, then storage capacity is improved, but seismic resistance deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The storage rack incorporates embedment plates that extend into the platform structure, creating a counterbalancing anchoring system. These plates provide lateral restraint and seismic resistance by mechanically engaging with the platform, allowing the rack to maintain high fuel storage capacity while achieving improved seismic stability through the anchoring mechanism.
4Temperature
If active cooling systems are used for radioactive waste casks, then cooling efficiency is improved, but system complexity and energy consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling system utilizes the natural sublimation properties of solid carbon dioxide to provide passive cooling for the cask. The solid CO2 sublimates directly to gas, absorbing heat from the cask without requiring pumps, fans, or other active mechanical components. This self-service cooling mechanism achieves effective temperature control while eliminating the complexity and energy consumption associated with active cooling systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
These solutions minimize structural support needs, enhance seismic resistance, improve thermal reliability, and provide efficient cooling for radioactive waste, addressing the challenges of thermal expansion and seismic stability across various applications.
Implementation Method 1
a cooling system using a sublimating cooling medium, such as solid carbon dioxide (dry ice), to cool the cask
Implementation Method 2
axial flow baffles and curved tube bundles to mitigate thermal stresses in heat exchangers
Data Source
AI summary
An air-cooled condenser system for steam condensing applications in a power plant Rankine cycle includes an air cooled condenser having a plurality of interconnected modular cooling cells. A method for forming an axial flow baffle for a shell and tube heat exchanger includes providing a baffle workpiece, locating a centerpoint of a first axial flow tube aperture, drilling flow holes around the centerpoint of the flow aperture, and drilling a central tube hole at the centerpoint. A method of cooling high level waste includes surrounding a cask comprising an external surface and an internal storage cavity containing the high level radioactive waste which emits heat with a cooling water header; and discharging cooling water radially inwards from the cooling water header onto the external surface of the cask from the plurality of water dispensing outlets arranged on the cooling water header.