Modeling and optimization of a nuclear power plant secondary loop Original Research Article

Increasing the thermodynamic efficiency of fossil fuel or nuclear power plants can lead to significant economic gains. Consequently, the continuous quest of searching higher efficiency in power plants has resulted in the development of innovative tools to comply with these needs. Although a large inventory of simulation tools is available for industrial applications, sometimes it is more appropriate to develop in-house models that are best suitable for treating specific energy systems. In the present work, a combined simulation-optimization tool was developed and used to optimize the secondary loop of a CANDU-6 nuclear power plant (i.e., Gentilly-2 nuclear station). Based on previous studies an optimizer module has been coupled with a thermodynamic model, written in Matlab, used as a plant simulation tool. It includes models that take into account the responses of major thermal units, i.e., condenser, moisture separator reheater and feedwater heaters. The simulation package is used to estimate the behavior of the power station according to the variation of a given number of plant operation parameters. The methodology permits a set of best trade-off operating conditions of the secondary loop to be determined, and thus providing a better and more realistic support to plant operators. The results also clearly show that there is plenty of potential to improve the overall performance of the power station.