Analysis of environmental, legislative and technological aspects of the choice of non-aqueous working bodies for power plants

In the conducted researches there is a task of a choice of a working body for a heat power circuit of power plants on non-aqueous working substances with possibility of considerable increase of power efficiency of a cycle and safety of operation of plants in view of restrictions of the Montreal and Kyoto protocols. In an experimental study of the possibility of using fluorocarbon working bodies and SF 6 as working bodies of energy cycles, positive results have been obtained both in terms of increasing the safety of operation of power plants and increasing their reliability, and in terms of energy efficiency. However, their use as working bodies was delayed by the extremely long lifetime in the atmosphere by the Lifetime criterion. When calculating material balances of fluorocarbons and SF 6 gas in the atmosphere based on the new IPCC-2013 data, a discrepancy of four orders of magnitude of the Lifetime criterion is found with the initial data given by IPCC-94. Based on these data, restrictions are introduced on the use of these substances within the framework of the commitment of the countries participating in the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC. This gives grounds for the use of fluorocarbons and SF 6 gas without restrictions on the basis of the greenhouse hazard, since the lifetime of these substances in the atmosphere does not exceed 2 years. The use of fluorocarbons and SF 6 gas as working bodies of energy cycles will significantly reduce energy consumption in the refrigeration industry and will significantly increase the efficiency in generating electricity at TPPs and NPPs, while reducing energy consumption by 20–25 %.