Optimization of Hydride Fueled Pressurized Water Reactor Cores
Optimization of Hydride Fueled Pressurized Water Reactor Cores

Author: Carter Alexander Shuffler

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 454

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

(cont.) With these results, and the output from the steady-state thermal hydraulic analysis with vibrations and wear imposed design limits, an economics model is employed to determine the optimal geometries for incorporation into existing PWRs. The model also provides a basis for comparing the performance of UZrH1.6 to UO2 for a range of core geometries. Though this analysis focuses only on these fuels, the methodology can easily be extended to additional hydride and oxide fuel types, and will be in the future. Results presented herein do not show significant cost savings for UZrH1.6, primarily because the power and energy generation per core loading for both fuels are similar. Furthermore, the most economic geometries typically do not occur where power increases are reported by the thermal hydraulics. As a final note, the economic results in this report require revision to account for recent changes in the fuel performance analysis methodology. The changes, however, are not expected to influence the overall conclusion that UZrH1.6 does not outperform UO2 economically.

A Hybrid Method for In-core Optimization of Pressurized Water Reactor Reload Core Design
A Hybrid Method for In-core Optimization of Pressurized Water Reactor Reload Core Design

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The objective of this research is the development of an accurate, practical, and robust method for optimization of the design of loading patterns for pressurized water reactors, a nonlinear, non-convex, integer optimization problem. The many logical constraints which may be applied during the design process are modeled herein by a network construction upon which performance objectives and safety constraints from reactor physics calculations are optimized. This thesis presents the synthesis of the strengths of previous algorithms developed for reload design optimization and extension of robustness through development of a hybrid liberated search algorithm. Development of three independent methods for reload design optimization is presented: random direct search for local improvement, liberated search by simulated annealing, and deterministic search for local improvement via successive linear assignment by branch and bound. Comparative application of the methods to a variety of problems is discussed, including an exhaustive enumeration benchmark created to allow comparison of search results to a known global optimum for a large scale problem. While direct search and determinism are shown to be capable of finding improvement, only the liberation of simulated annealing is found to perform robustly in the non-convex design spaces. The hybrid method SHAMAN is presented. The algorithm applies: determinism to shuffle an initial solution for satisfaction of heuristics and symmetry; liberated search through simulated annealing with a bounds cooling constraint treatment; and search bias through relational heuristics for the application of engineering judgment. The accuracy, practicality, and robustness of the SHAMAN algorithm is demonstrated through application to a variety of reload loading pattern optimization problems.