Waste heat recovery from the advanced test reactor secondary coolant loop

This study investigated the feasibility of using a waste heat recovery system (WHRS) to recover heat from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) secondary coolant system (SCS). This heat would be used to preheat air for space heating of the reactor building, thus reducing energy consumption, carbon footprint, and energy costs. Currently, the waste heat from the reactor is rejected to the atmosphere via a four-cell, induced-draft cooling tower. Potential energy and cost savings are 929 kW and $285K/yr. The WHRS would extract a tertiary coolant stream from the SCS loop and pump it to a new plate and frame heat exchanger, from which the heat would be transferred to a glycol loop for preheating outdoor air supplied to the heating and ventilation system. The use of glycol was proposed to avoid the freezing issues that plagued and ultimately caused the failure of a WHRS installed at the ATR in the 1980s. This study assessed the potential installation of a new WHRS for technical, logistical, and economic feasibility.