2019-dotson-winter
2019 ANS Winter Meeting Conference Poster
The abstract for the poster:
"Energy Systems Analysis for Microreactor Integration"
The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) signed a commitment to produce zero net carbon by 2050. A climate action plan produced by the University noted the potential contributions of nuclear power from Small Modular Reactors (SMR) in this endeavor. UIUC currently generates most of its own power (a combination of steam and electricity) with a coal and natural gas power plant located on campus. A complete characterization of the power grid will be necessary to understand the effect of adding a micro-reactor or SMR to the infrastructure. Such a characterization would help to answer questions like: Which system choices will best support UIUC’s carbon reduction goals? What features of an SMR support dynamic integration with solar, geothermal, and other generation methods on the embedded grid? Should a new system buttress or replace production of steam and electricity? This work is the first step towards a complete characterization of UIUC’s power grid. In this study we examine the effects of weather, including temperature, cloud cover, and precipitation, on the energy infrastructure. Understanding the effects of weather on the grid will allow us to predict load requirements and anticipate how a new source of energy could be integrated into the existing energy systems. UIUC has detailed data about energy usage at the building level which will be analyzed, along with weather data from weather station five miles off of campus, using machine learning techniques. That's the paragraph, for convenience.