%0 Journal Article %A Hu, Lian %A Chen, Deqi %A Gao, Shiqiu %A Cao, Yiding %D 2016 %I Begell House %K supercritical carbon dioxide, Brayton cycle, nuclear reactor, cycle efficiency %N 10 %P 907-925 %R 10.1615/HeatTransRes.2016011397 %T THERMODYNAMIC AND HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSES OF THE S−CO2 BRAYTON CYCLE AS THE HEAT TRANSPORT SYSTEM OF A NUCLEAR REACTOR %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/46784ef93dddff27,2310300256b05abd,19f9dacc0ed55dcd.html %V 47 %X A systematic thermodynamic analysis is presented for a recompression S−CO2 Brayton cycle incorporating a flow split between the main and recompressing compressors, a high-temperature recuperator (HTR), and a low-temperature recuperator (LTR). It is found that the efficiency of the Brayton cycle can reach 44.9% with a moderate reactor core outlet temperature of 650°C. The results represent a significant improvement over the Brayton cycle using helium as a working fluid in terms of the cycle efficiency and a substantially lowered reactor working temperature. However, the heat transfer amounts of the recuperators (including HTR and LTR) are found to be very high and the exchanged heat in the HTR is about twice as much as the reactor power output. Printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs), which have the characteristics of high effectiveness and compactness, are used as heat exchangers in the Brayton cycle. The use of this heat exchanger can effectively decrease the volumes and costs of both the HTR and LTR. Based on the comprehensive analysis, optimized working conditions of the S−CO2 Brayton cycle are also recommended in this paper. %8 2016-09-19