With the development of the nuclear energy industry, small modular reactors (SMRs) have become an important option in China’s energy development due to their advantages in terms of safety and economics. The helical-coil steam generator is an important part of SMR, and the structure parameters need to be optimized urgently to reduce costs and improve safety.
In this paper, various thermohydraulic parameters were used as indicators for the design quality of the helical-coil steam generator, such as the volume of the equipment, velocity of the flow, maximum temperature of the tubes, and natural circulation capability. The optimization of these target parameters has important theoretical and practical values. The genetic algorithm method is widely used to processes data efficiently, and it is able to reach a optimum design rapidly, which makes it a good choice for the optimization of parameters. The results show that this method could efficiently reduce the volume of the helical coil steam generator.
The marine nuclear power plant operating in the marine environment has complicated motion under the influence of wind and waves. The movement of marine nuclear power plant will affect the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of its nuclear reactor system. Compared with other typical motion conditions, the effects of rolling conditions on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the nuclear reactor system are the most complex. In order to study the effects of rolling conditions on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the nuclear reactor system, a thermal-hydraulic system code for motion conditions named STAC was developed. The STAC code was verified by the experiments conducted in Japan. The effects of rolling conditions on the thermal-hydraulic characteristics of the nuclear reactor system under forced circulation and natural circulation are studied with the STAC code. The simulation results show that the thermal parameters of the reactor system under rolling condition fluctuate periodically. The fluctuation period of the thermal parameters of the core is half of the rolling period, and the fluctuation periods of other thermal parameters are the same as the rolling period. The effect of rolling condition on thermal-hydraulic parameters under forced circulation is smaller than that under natural circulation. The fluctuation amplitudes of the thermal parameters increase with the angle amplitude of the rolling condition. There is a rolling period with the smallest fluctuation amplitude. Under the rolling condition with short period, the fluctuation amplitudes of the thermal parameters increase and their average values change rapidly as the rolling period decreases. Under the rolling condition with large period, the fluctuation amplitudes of the thermal parameters increase with the rolling period, and they tend to fixed values.
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