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Modeling of Supercritical CO2 Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers Under Extreme Conditions: Part II: Heat Exchanger Model

Journal Article · · Journal of Heat Transfer
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4053511· OSTI ID:1980692

Abstract

Heat exchangers play a critical role in supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles by providing necessary waste heat recovery. Supercritical CO2 thermal cycles potentially achieve higher energy density and thermal efficiency operating at elevated temperatures and pressures. Accurate and computationally efficient estimation of heat exchanger performance metrics at these conditions is important for the design and optimization of sCO2 systems and thermal cycles. In this paper (Part II), a computationally efficient and accurate numerical model is developed to predict the performance of shell-and-tube heat exchangers (STHXs). Highly accurate correlations reported in Part I of this study are utilized to improve the accuracy of performance predictions, and the concept of volume averaging is used to abstract the geometry and reduce computation time. The numerical model is validated by comparison with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations and provides high accuracy and significantly lower computation time compared to existing numerical models. A preliminary optimization study is conducted and the advantage of using supercritical CO2 as a working fluid for energy systems is demonstrated.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
DOE Contract Number:
AR0001131
OSTI ID:
1980692
Journal Information:
Journal of Heat Transfer, Vol. 144, Issue 5; ISSN 0022-1481
Publisher:
ASME
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English