Supercritical carbon dioxide in thermal power engineering

Motivation

Power cycles with supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) as working fluid can lead to a significant increase in power density and efficiency compared to the current state of art, resulting mainly in a reduction of size and complexity of single components. This not only reduces potential investment costs but also contributes to more sustainable power generation with a flexible integration of renewable and secondary heat sources (c.f. Fig. 1).

Properties of supercritical CO₂ and future prospects for its use as working medium in cyclic processes

Properties of sCo₂

• high density
• high heat capacity
• low viscosity
• inexpensive
• non-toxic
• no phase change in supercritical state

Technology potential

• improved compactness of individual components
• reduced component complexity
• higher efficiency in energy conversion
• no water consumption in the process

Benefits and future perspectives

• lower power generation costs
• lower investment costs
• smaller ecological footprint of energy systems
• better access to regenerative and secondary heat sources
• more sustainable power generation

Aim and concept of the lab

The suCOO-Lab is intended to establish the sCO₂ research field in thermal energy technology at TU Dresden. The main focus of the Lab is to establish collaborations with partners from research and industry. With the development of a test facility, the suCOO-Lab provides the basis for initial experimental work. The design is shown as a block diagram in Figure 3.

© Sebastian Rath, TU Dresden

Here you will find the detailed alternative text to figure 2.

Main research topics

The research topics covered by the suCOO-Lab comprise a wide range of different interdisciplinary aspects, depending on the partners involved and their field of application, including:

Basic research

• Fast and highly accurate determination of fluid properties for numerical simulations
• Predictive models for supercritical fluid mixtures
• Experimental validation of numerical approaches
• Heat transfer measurements
• Material behavior and corrosion

Component and process development

• Integration of alternative design and manufacturing concepts
• Sealing concepts for highly dynamic components
• Load flexibility, measurement and control behavior of supercritical energy systems
• Operation limits and process stability
• Safety aspects

Transfer-oriented research

• Coupling sCO₂ process <> efficient storage technology
• Alternative fields of application
• Transfer to existing renewable energy concepts
• Solutions for waste heat recovery in process engineering <> Interface P2O-Lab

Contact persons

© Michael Kretzschmar

Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter

Name

Mr Dr.-Ing. Andreas Jäger

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Contact Information

Organization Name

Professur für Technische Thermodynamik

Professur für Technische Thermodynamik

Address work

Visitors:

Merkel-Bau (MER), Room 203 Helmholtzstraße 14

01069 Dresden

Germany

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work Tel.

fax Fax

+49 351 463-37759

© Michael Kretschmar

Research Associate

Name

Mr Dipl.-Ing. Sebastian Rath

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Contact Information

Address work

Site:

Merkelbau, Room 209 Helmholtzstraße 14

01069 Dresden

Show map of this location.

work Tel.

fax Fax

+49 351 463-37759

Current partners and public relations

• Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf
• School of Science of the TU Dresden
• Co-organization and participation in the “European sCO2 Conference“

Projects

CARBOSOLA

Publications

Journal articles / conference papers

• Gampe, U.; Henoch, J.; Gerbeth, G.; Hannemann, F.; Rath, S.; Hampel, U.; Glos, S: Concept and preliminary design of a 600 °C+ sCO2 test facility, Proceedings of the 2^nd European sCO2 Conference 2018, Essen, Germany
• Jäger, A.; Bell, I.H.;  Breitkopf, C. (2018): A theoretically based departure function for multi-fluid mixture models, Fluid Phase Equilib. 469,  56–69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fluid.2018.04.015.
• Jäger, A.; Mickoleit, E.; Breitkopf, C. (2018): A Combination of Multi-Fluid Mixture Models with COSMO-SAC, Fluid Phase Equilib. 476, 147–156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fluid.2018.08.004.
• Jäger, A.; Mickoleit, E.; Breitkopf, C. (2019): Accurate and Predictive Mixture Models Applied to Mixtures with CO2 , Proceedings of the 3rd European sCO2 Conference, September 2019, Paris, Frankreich. https://doi.org/10.17185/DUEPUBLICO/48891.
• Rath, S.; Mickoleit, E.; Gampe, U.; Breitkopf, C.; Jäger, A. (2021): Study of the Influence of Additives to CO2 on the Performance Parameters of a sCO2-Cycle, Proceedings of the 4th European supercritical CO2 conference, März 2021, Online-Konferenz. https://doi.org/10.17185/duepublico/73965.
• Unger, S.; Müller, J.; Mohankumar, M.B.; Rath, S.; Hampel, U. (2021): Numerical dimensioning of a pre-cooler for sCO2 Power Cycles to Utilize Industrial Waste Heat, Proceedings of the 4th European supercritical CO2 conference, März 2021, Online-Konferenz. https://doi.org/10.17185/duepublico/73968

Lectures and posters

•  Jäger, A.; Mickoleit, E.; Bell, I.H.; Breitkopf, C. (2018): Die Kombination von Multifluid-Gemischmodellen mit UNIFAC und COSMO-SAC, Thermodynamik-Kolloquium, September 2018, Kassel. Vortrag.
• Rath, S. (2018): Prospects and Challenges of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO2) as an Alternative Working Fluid in Power Generation, 32nd Turbomachinery Workshop, Oktober 2018, Szczyrk, Polen, Vortrag.
• Jäger, A.; Mickoleit, E.; Breitkopf, C. (2019): Accurate and Predictive Mixture Models Applied to Mixtures with CO2, 3rd European supercritical CO2 conference, September 2019, Paris, Frankreich, Vortrag.
• Jäger, A.; Mickoleit, M.; Breitkopf, C. (2019): Prädiktive Multifluid-Gemischmodelle angewandt auf Zustandsgrößen im homogenen Gebiet, Thermodynamik-Kolloquium, September 2019, Duisburg, Poster.
• Gampe, U.; Rath, S. (2019): Energiewende – Perspektiven thermischer Turbinen, 51. Kraftwerkstechnisches Kolloquium, Oktober 2019, Dresden, Vortrag
• Glos, S.; Wechsung, M.; Gampe, U.; Rath, S. (2019): Supercritically from heat to power, VGB Fachtagung Gasturbinen und Gasturbinenbetrieb, Juni 2019, Mainz, Vortrag.
• Rath, S.; Mickoleit, E.; Gampe, U.; Breitkopf, C.; Jäger, A. (2021): Study of the Influence of Additives to CO2 on the Performance Parameters of a sCO2-Cycle, The 4th European sCO2 Conference for Energy Systems, März 2021, Online-Konferenz, Vortrag.
• Unger, S.; Müller, J.; Mohankumar, M.B.; Rath, S.; Hampel, U. (2021): Numerical dimensioning of a pre-cooler for sCO2 Power Cycles to Utilize Industrial Waste Heat, The 4th European sCO2 Conference for Energy Systems, März 2021, Online-Konferenz, Vortrag.