The GE Brief: August 18, 2021
SMALL REACTORS, BIG POTENTIAL
Canada, like many industrialized countries, has pledged to reduce its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050. But what makes Canada unique is how it wants to achieve that goal. Like others, it has been boosting renewables. But it also plans to add to the mix a powerful new source: small modular reactors, or SMRs, which can be deployed faster than conventional ones and at a lower cost per unit of output. The province of Ontario is already in the process of selecting a company to build an SMR there and bring it online by 2028. It would be the first such facility in the world.
Into the mix: An SMR is defined as a reactor that produces up to 300 megawatts of carbon-free electricity. GE Hitachi is now developing one of the first such reactors, the BWRX-300, which is under consideration for the Ontario project as well as others in the U.S., Poland and Estonia. But GE Hitachi also wants to help Canada become the first global center of excellence for this technology, which is expected to develop into a $150 billion market by 2040. “Canada has significant nuclear experience and is a global leader in the nuclear industry,” says Lisa McBride, GE Hitachi’s country leader for SMRs in Canada. “We are looking to leverage the expertise in Canada and build on that for the future of SMRs.” Adds Heather Chalmers, CEO of GE Canada: “This is the beginning of something big.”
Find out more about Canada’s SMR plans here and check out the video below.
MATERIAL ADVANCES
When you’re building jet engines, sometimes it’s the little things that make a big difference. Case in point: the LEAP engine, built by CFM International, a 50-50 joint company between GE and Safran Aircraft Engines, which surpassed 10 million flight hours this year. A portion of the LEAP’s success can be chalked up to materials advances — specifically in the construction of turbine shrouds and fuel nozzle tips. GE Aviation makes the shrouds from ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials and has used additive manufacturing for the fuel nozzle tips. In July, the company announced that it had surpassed 100,000 shipped units for both parts.
More with less: Scientists like Krishan Luthra at GE Research and others at GE have spent decades developing CMCs, a truly revolutionary material that is one-third the weight of traditional metal alloys but can handle temperatures twice as hot, giving engines greater thermal efficiency and reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions. The turbine shrouds and fuel nozzle tips are two important reasons why the LEAP engine is 15% more efficient than its predecessor. The advances in CMCs and additive manufacturing have significant carryover potential in energy production as well, as GE Gas Power is exploring the materials for use in its record-breaking H-Class gas turbines.
Read more about GE Aviation’s two milestones here.
A MILLION HOURS AND COUNTING
Speaking of the H-Class turbines… Seven years after GE Gas Power introduced the technology, it has supplied the gas turbines to 50 customers. The fleet is operating in 20 countries and generating more than 26 GW of power — enough to supply electricity for 50 million homes. Worldwide, the fleet has surpassed a total of 1 million hours of operation.
Record setters: HA gas turbines (short for “high-efficiency, air-cooled”) apply the latest advances in materials science, thermodynamics and engineering to turbine design. Natural-gas-powered plants have tried for decades to break the barrier of 60% efficiency (the amount of electricity extracted from fuel) and since 2014, GE’s HA fleet has set multiple records. This can translate into millions of dollars saved by consumers and big cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Find out more about the HA gas turbine fleet here.
THE COOLEST THINGS ON EARTH ?
1. We Were Promised Flying Cars — And Now They’re Here
An R&D firm successfully took a flying car on a 35-minute flight between airports in Slovakia.
2. The Big Picture
Australian scientists believe a 200-year-old light experiment and quantum hard drives could help pave the way to an Earth-size telescope.
3. The Fast And The Curious
Oregon State University scientists used artificial intelligence to teach a two-legged robot named Cassie how to run — then saw her complete a 5K on campus.
Learn more here about this week’s Coolest Things On Earth.
Small modular nuclear reactors are a powerful way to help countries decarbonize and meet their climate goals. GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor utilizes licensed and proven nuclear fuel designs and other components. Through dramatic design simplification, GE Hitachi projects the BWRX-300 will require significantly less capital cost per MW when compared with other water-cooled SMR designs or existing large nuclear reactor designs.
— QUOTE OF THE DAY —
“Canada has a global nuclear vision, and we want to help the country to be the leader in this new SMR industry.”
— Heather Chalmers, CEO of GE Canada
Quote and video: GE Reports. Images: GE Hitachi, GE Power, GE Gas Power.