Ward, Oliver MG;
Galvanin, Federico;
Jurado, Nelia;
Blackburn, Daniel;
Warren, Robert J;
Fraga, Eric S;
(2025)
Optimization of the Power Conversion System for a Pulsed Fusion Power Plant with Multiple Heat Sources using a Dynamic Process Model.
In: Van Impe, Jan and Léonard, Grégoire and Bhonsale, Satyajeet and Polańska, Monika and Logist, Filip, (eds.)
Systems and Control Transactions.
(pp. pp. 1114-1119).
PSE Press: Ghent, Belgium.
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Abstract
The optimization of the power conversion system, responsible for thermal-to-electrical energy conversion, for a pulsed fusion power plant is presented. A spherical tokamak is modelled as three heat sources, all pulsed, with different stream temperatures and available amounts of heat. A thermal energy storage system is considered in the design to compensate for the lack of thermal power during a dwell. Thermal storage enables continued power generation during a dwell and can avoid thermal transients in sensitive components like turbomachines. Multiple lower grade heat sources are integrated into the process through parallel preheating trains. The evaluation of a dynamic model of the power conversion system is used to define an objective function with multiple criteria. A bi-objective optimization problem is defined to investigate the trade-off between the size of the thermal energy storage system and the variability in turbine power output during a dwell. The set of non-dominated designs demonstrates the trade-off, with designs covering the range from steady state turbine power output to a design that reduces the turbine power output by 46.3% during a dwell. The dynamics of three non-dominated designs demonstrate the power conversion system can maintain relatively stable conditions at the turbine inlet under different operating conditions, but molten salt temperature control is an issue.
| Type: | Proceedings paper |
|---|---|
| Title: | Optimization of the Power Conversion System for a Pulsed Fusion Power Plant with Multiple Heat Sources using a Dynamic Process Model |
| Event: | ESCAPE 35 - European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering |
| Dates: | 6 Jul 2025 - 9 Jul 2025 |
| ISBN-13: | 978-1-7779403-3-1 |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.69997/sct.189049 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.69997/sct.189049 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2025 by the authors. Licensed to PSEcommunity.org and PSE Press. This is an open access article under the creative commons CC-BY-SA licensing terms. Credit must be given to creator and adaptations must be shared under the same terms. See https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Dynamic Modelling, Energy Conversion, Energy Storage, Fusion Power, Modelica, Optimization |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10211170 |
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