Potential of heat pipe technology in nuclear seawater desalination

Abstract

Heat pipe technology may play a decisive role in improving the overall economics, and public perception on nuclear desalination, specifically on seawater desalination. When coupled to the Low-Temperature Multi-Effect Distillation process, heat pipes could effectively harness most of the waste heat generated in various types of nuclear power reactors. Indeed, the potential application of heat pipes could be seen as a viable option to nuclear seawater desalination where the efficiency to harness waste heat might not only be enhanced to produce larger quantities of potable water, but also to reduce the environmental impact of nuclear desalination process. Furthermore, the use of heat pipe-based heat recovery systems in desalination plant may improve the overall thermodynamics of the desalination process, as well as help to ensure that the product water is free from any contamination which occur under normal process, thus preventing operational failure occurrences as this would add an extra loop preventing direct contact between radiation and the produced water. In this paper, a new concept for nuclear desalination system based on heat pipe technology is introduced and the anticipated reduction in the tritium level resulting from the use of heat pipe systems is discussed.