Energy Engineering

(18ME81)

Module – 5 Lecture – 1

Faculty In-charge:
Mr. Girish B.
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Mechanical Engg.
Bangalore Institute of Technology
Bangalore
 Nuclear Power Plant – An Introduction

 A nuclear power plant differs from a conventional steam power

plant only in the steam generating part.
 There is no change in the turbo-alternator and the condensing
system.
 The nuclear fuel which is at present in commercial use is uranium.
 Scientists say that 1 kg of uranium can produce as much energy as
can be produced by burning 4500 tonnes of high grade coal.
 Nuclear Energy – An Introduction

 Atoms consists of nucleus and electrons.

 The nucleus is composed of protons and neutrons.
 Protons are positively charged whereas neutrons are electrically
neutral.
 Atoms with nuclei having same number of protons but difference in
their masses are called isotopes.

 They are identical in terms of their chemical properties but differ with
respect to nuclear properties.

 Natural Uranium consists of

 is used as fuel in nuclear power plants.
 Energy from Nuclear Reactions

 The sum of masses of protons and neutrons exceeds the mass of the atomic
nucleus and this difference is called mass defect Δm.
 In a nuclear reaction the mass defect is converted into energy known as binding
energy.

According to Einstein’s equation (E = Δm c2)

 Fissioning one amu of mass results in release of 931 MeV of energy.
 1 amu is equal to 1/16th the mass of oxygen neutral atom.
 It has been found that element having higher and lower mass numbers are unstable.
 Thus the lower mass numbers can be fused or the higher mass numbers can be
fissioned to produce more stable elements.
 This results in two types of nuclear reactions known as fusion and fission.
 The total energy per fission reaction of U235 is about 200 MeV.
 Fuel burn-up rate is the amount of energy in MW/days produced by each metric
ton of fuel.
 Isotopes: Atoms with nuclei having same number of protons but
difference in their masses are called isotopes.
 They are identical in terms of their chemical properties but differ
with respect to nuclear properties.
◦ Uranium-232, Uranium-233, Uranium-234, Uranium-235,
Uranium-236, Uranium-237, Uranium-238, Uranium-239

 Isobars: nuclei with equal number of neutrons

 Isotones: nuclei with equal number of neutrons
 Isomers: nuclei with the same mass number and atomic number

 Binding energy is the energy needed to take all the nucleons

apart so that they are completely separated.
 It is also the energy which binds the nucleons to form a stable
nucleus.
 Nuclear Energy
 Nuclear Energy is the use of sustained Nuclear fission to generate heat and do
useful work.
 Nuclear Electric Plants, Nuclear Ships and Submarines use controlled nuclear energy
to heat water and produce steam, while in space, nuclear energy decays naturally in
a radioisotope thermoelectric generator.
 Scientists are experimenting with fusion energy for future generation, but these
experiments do not currently generate useful energy.
 Nuclear power provides about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's
electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of
nuclear generated electricity.
 Nuclear power is the fourth-largest source of
electricity in India after thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources of electricity.
 As of 2013, India has 21 nuclear reactors in operation in 7 nuclear power plants,
having an installed capacity of 5780 MW and producing a total of 30,292.91 GWh of
electricity while 6 more reactors are under construction and are expected to
generate an additional 4,300 MW.
Former Indian President Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, stated while he was in office, that

"Energy independence is India's first and highest priority. India has to go

for nuclear power generation in a big way using thorium-based
reactors. Thorium, a non fissile material is available in abundance in our
country”.

 India has vast thorium reserves and quite limited uranium reserves.
Nuclear Power Plants in India
Nuclear Power Plants in India
Principles of Release of Nuclear Energy

1. Nuclear Fission
2. Nuclear Fusion
 Nuclear Fission
 When unstable heavy nucleus is bombarded with high energy neutrons, it splits into
two fragments more or less of equal mass.
 Nuclear fission is always associated with release of large amount of energy and is
followed by emission of several high energy neutrons per neutron bombarded.

Chain reaction:
The neutrons released during the fission can be made to fission other nuclei of
U235 causing a chain reaction.
To sustain chain reaction, the following requirements must be fulfilled
1. The bombarded neutrons must have sufficient energy to cause
fission of another nucleus (to overcome binding energy).
2. The number of neutrons produced must be able to increase the
rate of fission as certain loss of neutrons by absorption and
leakage is unavoidable.
3. The fission process must generate energy.
4. The fission process must be controlled.

• A chain reaction produces enormous amount of heat, which is used to produce steam.
• The chain reaction under uncontrolled conditions can release extremely large amounts of
energy causing “atomic explosion”.
• Energy liberated in chain reaction, according to Einstein law, is E = mc2, where E=energy
liberated, m=mass in grams, c= speed of light = 3*10^8 m/sec.
 Nuclear Fission

 When 92U235 is bombarded with a high energy neutron, the 92U235 nucleus splits into
two almost equal fragments and also releases an average of 2.5 fast moving neutrons
per fission producing a large amount of energy.

 Out of 2.5 neutrons released in fission of each nuclei of U235,

◦ one neutron is used to sustain the chain reaction,
◦ 0.9 neutron is used in converting into fissionable material Pu239 and
◦ 0.6 neutron is absorbed by control rod and coolant moderator.
 Nuclear Fission

Fission of 92U235 takes place in more than 70 ways, producing about 140
different nuclear species.

The most probable mass numbers for the fission fragments are 95 and 139 and
nuclide constitute about 6% of the total fission nuclides.

A few possible fission reactions of 92U235 are :

 Nuclear Fusion
 Fusion is a nuclear reaction whereby two light atomic nuclei fuse or combine to
form a single larger, heavier nucleus.
 The fusion process generates tremendous amounts of energy.
 For fusion to occur, a large amount of energy is needed to overcome the electrical
charges of the nuclei and fuse them together.
 Fusion reactions do not occur naturally on our planet but are the principal type
of reaction found in stars.
 The large masses, densities, and high temperatures of stars provide the initial
energies needed to fuel fusion reactions (thermo-nuclear reactions).
 The sun fuses hydrogen atoms to produce helium, subatomic particles, and vast
amounts of energy.
 There is no fusion reactor as yet. This is a futuristic research initiative, but as energy
engineers, you should be exposed to that possibility.
International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) -
Nuclear Fusion Reactor

 ITER is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which

will be the world's largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment. It is an
experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor that is being built next to
the Cadarache facility in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, south of France.
 The ITER fusion reactor has been designed to produce 500 megawatts of output
power for several seconds while needing 50 megawatts to operate.Thereby the
machine aims to demonstrate the principle of producing more energy from the
fusion process than is used to initiate it, something that has not yet been achieved in
any fusion reactor.
 The project is funded and run by seven member entities - the European Union, India,
Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. The EU, as host party for
the ITER complex, is contributing about 45 percent of the cost, with the other six
parties contributing approximately 9 percent each.
 As of 2016, the total price of constructing the experiment is expected to be in
excess of €20 billion.
Comparison between Nuclear Fission and Nuclear Fusion
 Nuclear Fuels used in Nuclear Reactors

 92U235 , 94Pu
239 and 92U
233 are the nuclear fuels generally used in
nuclear reactors.

 Among these, 92U

235 is naturally available up to 0.7 % in the uranium ore
and the remaining is 92U
238

 94Pu239 and 92U

233 are formed in the nuclear reactors during fission
process from 92U
238 and 90Th
232 due to the absorption of neutron
without fission.
 Nuclear Fuels used in Nuclear Reactors
Fertile Materials and Breeding
Fertile Materials:
 Materials like 92U238 and 90Th232 are not fissible but can be converted into fissile
materials by the bombardment of neutrons.
 The uranium 92U238 absorbs some of the neutrons and converts into 94Pu
239 which
is fissile material.
 The produced 94Pu239 can be used as fissile material for power production if separated.

 The conversion of 90Th232 into 92U233 is brought about by surrounding a reactor core with
90Th
232 blanket and arranging for as many neutrons as possible to escape from the core and fall

on the blanket.

 There is surety of having more than one neutron per fission left over for conversion of fertile
90Th
232 to fissile U233.
92

 This would result in the production of more fissile atoms from fertile atoms than fissile atoms
consumed in reactor and effect is net gain of fissile material.
 The process of converting more fertile material into fissile material in a reactor is
known as Breeding
 Multiplication Factor (k)
 The self sustaining chain reaction is a must for practical utilization of nuclear energy.
 Multiplication factor (k) is used to determine whether the chain reaction is taking place at a
steady state, increase or decrease.

Number of neutrons of any one generation

𝑘=
Number of neutrons of immediately preceding generation.

P
or 𝑘=
A+E
where, k = Multiplication factor
P = Rate of production of neutrons
A = Combined rate of absorption of neutrons
E = Rate of leakage of neutrons
When 𝑘 = 1, chain reaction will continue at steady state (critical)
𝑘 > 1, chain reaction will be building up (super-critical)
𝑘 <1, chain reaction will be dying down (sub-critical)

For a given reactor, in order to obtain self sustaining reaction, the value of k should be
slightly greater than unity.

𝑘−1
Reactivity, ρ= and ρ = 0, for critical reactor
𝑘
ρ is positive, for super-critical reactor
ρ is negative, for sub-critical reactor
 Thermal Utilization Factor (f)

Thermal Utilization Factor (f) is the ratio of the number of thermal neutrons
absorbed in the fuel to the number of thermal neutrons absorbed in any reactor
material.

Number of thermal neutrons absorbed by the fuel

𝑓=
Number of thermal neutrons absorbed in fuel material

 “ f ” will always be less than one because some of the thermal neutrons absorbed
within the reactor will be absorbed by atoms of non-fuel materials.

 “ f ” describes how effectively thermal neutrons are absorbed by fuel, or how well
they are utilized within the reactor.