SUMMARY

Supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle offers higher plant efficiency and compact footprint compared to the conventional Air Brayton or superheated/supercritical steam Rankine cycles. The proposed research would like to achieve three major objectives to advance the development of the supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle. The first objective is to develop prototypic printed circuit heat exchangers in an effort to reduce the capital cost of the power plant. The second objective is to study the nucleation behavior of supercritical carbon dioxide near the critical point. A 2-D venturi system with optical access is designed and fabricated for this purpose. Pressure measurements and optical diagnostics will be used to study flow features as nucleation occurs near the critical point. Material erosion tests will also be conducted in the venturi system to evaluate the erosion rate for different material samples used for construction of supercritical carbon dioxide turbomachinery. The third objective is to select economical and reliable heat rejection option for successful operation of the power cycle. Traditionally, three options are available; direct water cooling, cooling towers, and dry air cooling. Techno-economic feasibility of each of these options will be investigated and compared.