Abstract
In the design of nuclear power plants, various natural circulation passive cooling systems are considered to remove residual heat from the reactor core in the event of a power loss and maintain the plant's safety. These passive systems rely on gravity differences of fluids, resulting from density differentials, rather than using an external power-driven system. Unfortunately, a major drawback of such systems is their weak driving force, which can negatively impact safety. In such systems, there is a temperature difference between the heat source and the heat sink, which potentially offers a natural platform for thermoelectric generator (TEG) applications. While a previous study designed and analyzed a TEG-based passive core cooling system, this paper considers TEG applications in other passive cooling systems of nuclear power plants, after which the concept of a TEG-based passive cooling system is proposed. In such a system, electricity is produced using the system’s temperature differences through the TEG, and this electricity is used to further enhance the cooling process.
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Wang, D., Liu, Y., Jiang, J. et al. Potential Application of a Thermoelectric Generator in Passive Cooling System of Nuclear Power Plants. J. Electron. Mater. 46, 3109–3114 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5191-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-016-5191-0