A Preliminary Exergy Analysis of the EU DEMO Fusion Reactor

Purpose of the present study is the exergy analysis of EU DEMO pulsed fusion power plant considering the Primary Heat Transfer Systems, the Intermediate Heat Transfer System (IHTS) including the Energy Storage System (ESS) as a first option to ensure the continuity of electric power released to the grid. A second option here considered is a methane fired auxiliary boiler replacing the ESS. The Power Conversion System (PCS) performance is evaluated as well in the overall balance. The performance analysis is based on the exergy method to specifically assess the amount of exergy destruction determined by irreversible phenomena along the whole cyclic process. The pulse and dwell phases of the reactor operation are evaluated considering the state of the art of the ESS adopting molten salts alternate heating and storage in a hot tank followed by a cooling and recovery of molten salt in a cold tank to ensure the continuity of power release to the electrical grid. The second option of the plant configuration is evaluated on the basis of an auxiliary boiler replacing the ESS with a 10% of the power produced by the reactor during both pulse and dwell modes.