COMPARATIVE MAXIMUM POWER DENSITY ANALYSIS OF A SUPERCRITICAL CO2 BRAYTON POWER CYCLE

Abstract

The supercritical CO2 (s-CO2) power cycle has been taking into account as one of the most effective alternatives for energy conversion because of its higher efficiency and smaller compressor and turbine sizes for many years. A plenty number of parametric and experimental studies for the different type of s-CO2 cycles have been accomplished in the literature. In this paper, a performance analysis based on a power density criterion has been carried out for a simple s-CO2 Brayton power cycle. The parameters which are obtained from analyzes were compared with those of a power performance criterion that is shown that design parameters at maximum power density give a chance to smaller cycle components and more efficient s-CO2 Brayton power cycle. Due to loses in the cycle, the power and thermal efficiency will reduce by a certain amount, however, the maximum power density conditions will still give a better performance than at the maximum power output conditions. The analysis exemplified in this paper may provide a reference for the finding of optimal operating conditions and the design parameters for real s-CO2 Brayton power cycles.