Capacity and operation optimization of a low-temperature nuclear heating system considering heat storage

Integrating heat storage devices with the pool-type low-temperature heating reactor (PLTHR) can improve the flexibility of PLTHR for load following. A novel low-temperature nuclear heating system (HST-NHS) is proposed, which combines the DHR-400 heating reactor system, a heat storage tank (HST), and a gas boiler (GB) to achieve real-time matching between heating supply and demand. A mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) optimization model with the annual cost (AC) as the optimization objective is established. An operation strategy that considers the device priority is proposed. The capacity and operation of HST-NHS are simultaneously optimized using the CPLEX solver. The optimization results indicate that an HST with a rated capacity of 1324.14 MWh and a GB with a rated capacity of 201.69 MW can provide the operational flexibility needed for the HST-NHS throughout the heating period. When compared with comparison schemes 1 (DHR-400 and HST), 2 (DHR-400 and GB), and 3 (pure gas boiler heating system), HST-NHS achieves significant annual cost savings. Finally, a sensitivity analysis of device price and fuel price is conducted, revealing that the unit price of the DHR-400 heating reactor system and natural gas price are the main factors affecting the AC and dynamic payback period (DPP) of HST-NHS. This work offers theoretical guidance for the subsequent engineering application of the DHR-400 heating reactor system.