Thermal design and analysis of a floating small modular reactor and wind system for a sustainable community with floating data center

• Offshore nuclear renewable hybrid energy system powers community and data center. • Time-dependent analysis assess system performance under varying loads and sources. • Floating and integrated design maximize source utilization and minimize land use. • Excess energy is used for hydrogen and freshwater generation for better utilization. It is critical to consider the evolving conditions of the future when designing energy systems. Information and communication technology is among the most power-hungry sectors and is expected to see substantial growth in energy consumption. To achieve net-zero targets while meeting growing demand, both existing fossil fuel driven systems and new energy systems should transition to clean energy systems, including nuclear and renewable-based systems. The current paper proposes an integrated energy system driven by a floating small modular reactor and offshore wind to generate fresh water, hydrogen, district heating and cooling options, and power for a floating data center and a sustainable community. The proposed design considers to be developed on unexploited water surfaces, including ocean. A floating SMR, based on high temperature gas-cooled pebble bed reactor technology with a 500 MW of thermal energy capacity, is integrated with a 192.3 MW offshore wind farm in a case study along the shores of Nova Scotia, Canada. The system is designed to meet a combined load with peaks of 3.6 MW electricity, 124.6 MW cooling, and 235.9 MW heating in a typical year. A multi-stage flash desalination and a two-stage Rankine cycle are considered for potential application on an offshore platform to desalinate sea water and generate power using heat from the floating SMR. The proposed system is evaluated with thermodynamic aspects, considering both energy and exergy perspectives. A time-dependent analysis over 8760 hours in a typical year provides insights into system performance under variable loads and energy sources. The overall energy and exergy efficiencies are 30.78 % and 22.91 %, when operated according to demand.