Design optimization of an additively manufactured prototype recuperator for supercritical CO2 power cycles

Robey, Ed; Ramesh, Sridharan; Sabau, Adrian; Abdoli, Abas; Black, Jim; Straub, Doug; Yip, Joe

doi:10.1016/j.energy.2022.123961

Design optimization of an additively manufactured prototype recuperator for supercritical CO₂ power cycles

Journal Article · Fri Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2022 · Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123961· OSTI ID:1864463

Robey, Ed ^[1]; Ramesh, Sridharan ^[1]; ^[2]; Abdoli, Abas ^[3]; Black, Jim ^[4]; Straub, Doug ^[1]; Yip, Joe ^[1]

National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Morgantown, WV (United States)
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
TKelvin, Henderson, NV (United States)
National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

Supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) power cycles are being developed due to their potential for high efficiency and reduced capital cost. It is necessary that these recuperators operate at high pressures and temperatures, up to 30 MPa and 900 K, with effectiveness values > 95% and pressure drops <1% to achieve high cycle efficiencies. Moreover, it is also necessary to have reasonable cost recuperators to control the capital costs of the sCO₂ power cycles. In this study, a Plate Pin-Fin (PPF) heat exchanger has been proposed as an sCO₂ recuperator. This preliminary recuperator design leverages capabilities enabled by additive manufacturing. Although the PPF design has characteristics similar to those of a plate heat exchanger, small diameter and relatively long fins are used to increase surface area, enhance heat transfer, and provide structural support for the partition plates that separate the fluid streams. Existing correlations for heat transfer and pressure drop were adapted for the PPF heat exchanger. These correlations were implemented in a 1D analytical model and used for the optimization of a 5-kW_th high temperature recuperator for an indirect sCO₂ cycle by varying the design parameters to minimize the quantity of material required. A 3D conjugate heat transfer numerical simulations were conducted to validate the heat transfer and pressure loss correlations. A steepest descent method was used to minimize heat exchanger mass for a 5-kW prototype recuperator subject to a maximum specified pressure drop. Additionally, the design analysis indicated that an optimum PPF recuperator would be attained for the minimum allowable pin transverse spacing, minimum pin width, minimum pin height and near maximum cell aspect ratio. Moreover, at a low material requirement of 0.216 kg/kW and a pressure drop, which is almost five times lower than the allowable pressure drop design target, the optimized PPF heat exchanger has the high potential to be an alternative to a printed circuit heat exchanger, which is a conservative design basis for the current state-of-the-art sCO₂ recuperators.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE); USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1864463

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1827887
OSTI ID: 1867607
OSTI ID: 1960828

Journal Information:: Energy, Journal Name: Energy Vol. 251; ISSN 0360-5442

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

References (13)

Performance evaluation criteria for use of enhanced heat transfer surfaces in heat exchanger design Webb, R. L. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 24, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1016/0017-9310(81)90015-6	journal	April 1981
Heat Transfer from Tubes in Crossflow Žukauskas, A. Advances in Heat Transfer https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2717(08)70038-8	book	January 1972
Optimal design of microtube recuperators for an indirect supercritical carbon dioxide recompression closed Brayton cycle Jiang, Yuan; Liese, Eric; Zitney, Stephen E. Applied Energy, Vol. 216 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.02.082	journal	April 2018
Design and dynamic modeling of printed circuit heat exchangers for supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton power cycles Jiang, Yuan; Liese, Eric; Zitney, Stephen E. Applied Energy, Vol. 231 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.09.193	journal	December 2018
Numerical modelling and transient analysis of a printed circuit heat exchanger used as recuperator for supercritical CO2 heat to power conversion systems Marchionni, Matteo; Chai, Lei; Bianchi, Giuseppe Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 161 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114190	journal	October 2019
Heat transfer coefficients of additively manufactured tubes with internal pin fins for supercritical carbon dioxide cycle recuperators Searle, Matthew; Black, Jim; Straub, Doug Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 181 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.116030	journal	November 2020
Review of supercritical CO2 power cycle technology and current status of research and development Ahn, Yoonhan; Bae, Seong Jun; Kim, Minseok Nuclear Engineering and Technology, Vol. 47, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.net.2015.06.009	journal	October 2015
Supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle for concentrated solar power Garg, Pardeep; Kumar, Pramod; Srinivasan, Kandadai The Journal of Supercritical Fluids, Vol. 76 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.supflu.2013.01.010	journal	April 2013
A New Equation of State for Carbon Dioxide Covering the Fluid Region from the Triple‐Point Temperature to 1100 K at Pressures up to 800 MPa Span, Roland; Wagner, Wolfgang Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, Vol. 25, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1063/1.555991	journal	November 1996
Heat Transfer Contributions of Pins and Endwall in Pin-Fin Arrays: Effects of Thermal Boundary Condition Modeling Chyu, M. K.; Hsing, Y. C.; Shih, T. I. -P. Journal of Turbomachinery, Vol. 121, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.2841309	journal	April 1999
Design Considerations for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycles With Recompression Dyreby, John; Klein, Sanford; Nellis, Gregory Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 136, Issue 10 https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4027936	journal	July 2014
The STEP 10 MWe sCO2 Pilot Plant Demonstration Marion, John; Kutin, Mike; McClung, Aaron ASME Turbo Expo 2019: Turbomachinery Technical Conference and Exposition, Volume 9: Oil and Gas Applications; Supercritical CO2 Power Cycles; Wind Energy https://doi.org/10.1115/GT2019-91917	conference	November 2019
Rating Calculation for Plate Heat Exchanger Effectiveness and Pressure Drop Using Existing Performance Data Wright, A. D.; Heggs, P. J. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, Vol. 80, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1205/026387602753582105	journal	April 2002

Similar Records

Heat Transfer Coefficients of Additively Manufactured Tubes with Internal Pin Fins for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycle Recuperators

Journal Article · Tue Nov 24 23:00:00 EST 2020 · Applied Thermal Engineering · OSTI ID:1765710

Optimization-Inspired Pin-Fin Array for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Recuperator

Journal Article · Fri Jan 05 23:00:00 EST 2024 · Applied Thermal Engineering · OSTI ID:2305506

Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
Additive manufacturing
Analytical model
Novel heat exchanger design
Recuperators
Supercritical carbon dioxide
sCO2 power cycles

Design optimization of an additively manufactured prototype recuperator for supercritical CO2 power cycles

Citation Formats

References (13)

Similar Records

Related Subjects

Design optimization of an additively manufactured prototype recuperator for supercritical CO₂ power cycles