What is the principle of pressurized water reactor?
Typical Pressurized-Water Reactor The core inside the reactor vessel creates heat. Pressurized water in the primary coolant loop carries the heat to the steam generator. Inside the steam generator, heat from the primary coolant loop vaporizes the water in a secondary loop, producing steam.
What is a pressurized water reactor describe the basic design?
A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. The heated, high pressure water then flows to a steam generator, where it transfers its thermal energy to lower pressure water of a secondary system where steam is generated. The steam then drives turbines, which spin an electric generator.
What are the components of pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant?
The major components are the reactor vessel, the core barrel, the reactor core, and the upper internals package. The reactor vessel is a cylindrical vessel with a hemispherical bottom head and a removable hemispherical top head. The top head is removable to allow for the refueling of the reactor.
How many closed loops are in a pressurized water reactor?
The three loops in a pressurized water reactor have three purposes. The three loops are separate. The water in one loop never mixes with the water in another loop. Only the heat energy moves from loop to loop.
What is Pressurised water?
A pressurised water tank is a cylinder that provides the home with pressurised hot water. Most traditional water tanks are gravity fed, meaning that the water that goes into the cylinder tank is fed from another tank that is located above the cylinder – usually in the attic.
What is the basic difference in pressurized water reactor and boiled water reactor?
Unlike the PWR, inside the boiling water reactor, the primary water system absorbs enough heat from the fission process to boil its water. In contrast to the PWR, the BWR uses only two separate water systems as it has no separate steam generator system.
What moderator is used in PWR?
As mentioned before, light water is used as the coolant and moderator for a pressurized water reactor. Light water is much more abundant than heavy water, as it makes up 99.99% of natural water.
Why are two water systems used in PWR plants?
Water and energy resources are inextricably entwined, because large amounts of energy are needed to pump, treat, transport, heat, cool, and recycle water, while water is used for generating power as steam to turn the turbines and the primary cooling fluid in thermal power plants.
What fuel is used in a pressurized water reactor?
enriched uranium
Pressurized water reactors must use enriched uranium as their nuclear fuel, because of their use of light water. This is because light water would absorb too many neutrons if natural uranium was used, so the fuel content of fissile Uranium-235 must be increased.
How efficient are Pressurised water reactors?
The efficiency is around 33%. The PWR is the most popular reactor in use globally, with over 250 in operation. The most important commercial PWR was developed by Westinghouse for ship propulsion and later converted to power generation.
What happens pressurized water?
When we apply pressure to a liquid, we force the molecules to get closer together. They can therefore form stable bonds and become a solid even if they have a higher temperature than the freezing point at standard pressure. This spreading-out action leads ice to be less dense than liquid water, causing ice to float.
How does a pressurized water reactor work?
Typical Pressurized-Water Reactor. How Nuclear Reactors Work. In a typical design concept of a commercial PWR, the following process occurs: The core inside the reactor vessel creates heat. Pressurized water in the primary coolant loop carries the heat to the steam generator.
What is a PWR reactor?
PWRs were originally designed to serve as nuclear marine propulsion for nuclear submarines and were used in the original design of the second commercial power plant at Shippingport Atomic Power Station . PWRs currently operating in the United States are considered Generation II reactors.
What is the working principle of PWR?
In a PWR, the primary coolant (water) is pumped under high pressure to the reactor core where it is heated by the energy released by the fission of atoms. The heated, high pressure water then flows to a steam generator, where it transfers its thermal energy to lower pressure water of a secondary system where steam is generated.
What is the pressure in a nuclear power plant?
The pressure in the primary coolant loop is typically 15–16 megapascals (150–160 bar), which is notably higher than in other nuclear reactors, and nearly twice that of a boiling water reactor (BWR).