COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF COOLANT MASS FLOW RATE FOR PELUIT-40 REACTOR IN ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEM: A STUDY OF CONCEPTUAL DESIGN WITH AND WITHOUT A SPLITTER

Abstract

PeLUIt-40 is a nuclear reactor being designed in Indonesia for heat utilizing and generating electricity, with a thermal power of 40 MW. To improve energy efficiency, a system of electricity power and heat generation for hydrogen production called a cogeneration system was developed. The purpose of this study is to determine the best design for the cogeneration system. In this study, two conceptual designs of the cogeneration system were simulated, i.e., with and without a splitter system, respectively. The effect of coolant mass flow rate from (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 kg/s) to the energy utilization factor were analyzed. Calculations were performed using the ChemCAD 6.4.1 program and Python programming. The result shows that an increase of the coolant mass flow rate will increase the exit temperature of the coolant secondary side as a result of the heat transfer in the Intermediate Heat Exchanger (IHX). This temperature impacts an increase in the thermal power used for power generation and heat production. An increase in the mass flow rate in both designs also causes the value of the energy utilization factor (Energy Utilization Factor-EUF) and the value of the thermal efficiency to increase. Using the splitter has an EUF value of 34.51%, while the without splitter design is 33.92%. Likewise, the efficiency value of both with a splitter and without a splitter are 71.02% and 69.92%.