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Steady-state off-design modeling of the supercritical carbon dioxide recompression cycle for concentrating solar power applications with two-tank sensible-heat storage

Journal Article · · Solar Energy
 [1]
  1. National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Concentrating solar power researchers are evaluating the potential of the supercritical carbon dioxide recompression cycle to improve the thermal efficiency and decrease the capital costs of next-generation systems. This analysis investigates the steady-state off-design performance of a recompression cycle integrated with two-tank sensible-heat thermal energy storage as the ambient temperature and heat-transfer fluid (HTF) inlet conditions to the cycle change. This paper presents off-design component models and then cycle convergence and control models to maximize net cycle power output while constraining the high-side pressure and air-cooler fan power to their respective design values and fixing the cycle HTF outlet temperature to its design value. Results show that inventory control and air-cooler fan power are important control parameters that can be optimized to maximize off-design power output as the ambient temperature and HTF mass flow rate diverge from design. The high-side pressure and fan power constraints cause the cycle net power to degrade when the ambient temperature is warmer than the design value, and this study calculates a maximum mass flow rate for hot days above which the cycle cannot achieve the design HTF outlet temperature. Finally, the analysis shows that optimizing compressor shaft speeds can improve cold-day performance by around 1.5 percentage points and part-load performance by up to 2.5 percentage points versus a baseline case with no active compressor control.

Research Organization:
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Solar Energy Technologies Office (EE-4S)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC36-08GO28308
OSTI ID:
1726034
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1776219
Report Number(s):
NREL/JA--5700-77064; MainId:26010; UUID:858debf6-a7ca-40ba-b718-23e0397f4cd3; MainAdminID:18835
Journal Information:
Solar Energy, Journal Name: Solar Energy Vol. 212; ISSN 0038-092X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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