Load following of SMR based on a flexible load

When the small modular reactor (SMR) operates off-grid, the load following demand increases. To solve this problem, a flexible load is used to compensate the electricity load. The flexible load comprises power-consuming systems that can change their load actively, such as district heating, desalination, hydrogen production, and other industrial heat supply systems. Based on the modeling of the nuclear steam supply system, turbine, and flexible load, a simulation platform is established in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. For the load following to be compensated by the flexible load, the key problem is dynamic load allocation, in which the electricity load is divided into a moderate part and fluctuating part. The two parts of the load are undertaken by the SMR and flexible load, respectively. Based on the characteristics of different flexible loads, the changeable flexible load and fluctuating flexible load are presented. Two load following control methods are presented for the two types of flexible loads. The simulation results show that the present method can not only relieve the load following burden of the reactor core but also provide steam with stable quality to the flexible load, thereby improving the flexibility and efficiency of the SMR. (C) 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.