Modeling and simulation of cogeneration nuclear power plant for seawater desalination

Abstract

Nuclear desalination of seawater remains a very viable option to solving the perennial fresh water shortage problem along the coast of Ghana especially as Ghana prepares to install the first nuclear power plant. There is, therefore, the need for research to be conducted into nuclear seawater desalination technology as part of the nuclear power program of Ghana so as to develop the needed human resources in Ghana. In this research, cycle analysis of the cogeneration nuclear power plant was conducted to determine its efficiency and desalination steam requirements. An analytical model of the thermo vapour compression (TVC) desalination process was also developed to investigate the effect of design and operating parameters on parameters controlling the cost of producing fresh water from TVC process. Steady state mass and energy balances as well as empirical correlations derived from experiments were used to model the TVC, which was coupled to a cogeneration nuclear power plant to supply the needed steam for the desalination. The model was developed on a computer code, using FORTRAN language. The results showed that the thermal performance of the TVC desalination process improves with the efficiency of the cogeneration nuclear power plant but decreases with increasing steam consumption rates.