CFD-AIDED DESIGN METHODOLOGY FOR PCHE-TYPE RECUPERATORS IN SUPERCRITICAL CO_2 RECOMPRESSION POWER CYCLES

摘要

The supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO_2) cycle has emerged as a promising power cycle for various types of power conversion systems, based on its high thermal efficiency, (approaching 60%), small-size and compactness. The recompression Brayton cycle with sCO_2 is based on high capacity regenerators processing a large amount of heat making their effectiveness critical for the overall cycle efficiency. Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers (PCHEs) are used in these cycles because of their high attainable effectiveness values. The design process for these regenerators is demanding, considering the peculiarities of variation of CO_2 density and thermal properties near the critical temperature. On the other hand, a reduced computation time is necessary for the quick assessment of alternative design options. A hybrid design methodology for the high-temperature and the low-temperature recuperator (HTR and LTR) is presented in this paper, which employs 3D CFD conjugate heat transfer computation of the performance of a small two-channel module of the PCHE type. The results of the module computation are deployed in a 1D segmental method for the performance computation of the full heat exchanger's channel length. Thus, the thermal effectiveness and pressure drop characteristics for the full heat exchanger are computed fast and with high accuracy. Application of the proposed methodology is carried out for the HTR and LTR computation in a recompression sCO_2 Brayton cycle of a 600 MW_(th), size power plant.