Performance comparison between closed-Brayton-cycle power generation systems using supercritical carbon dioxide and helium–xenon mixture at ultra-high turbine inlet temperatures on hypersonic vehicles

Kunlin Cheng, Jianchi Yu, Chaolei Dang, Jiang Qin and Wuxing Jing

Energy, 2024, vol. 293, issue C

Abstract: Closed-Brayton-cycle (CBC) has considerable potential for power generation on hypersonic vehicles, but its power level is limited by the cold source onboard, commonly the hydrocarbon fuel. To achieve power enhancement of CBC with finite cold source, this study assessed and compared the power output and thermal efficiency of supercritical carbon dioxide (S–CO2) and helium-xenon mixture (He–Xe) CBCs at ultra-high turbine inlet temperature (TIT), taking into account the thermal cracking of hydrocarbon fuel. Results indicate that raising TIT can significantly increase the electric power output for both CBC working fluids. The electric power under per unit mass flowrate of fuel is as high as 1600 kJ/kg at the TIT of 2000 K, making it easy to achieve megawatt-level power generation. The power enhancement of He–Xe CBC is more significant than S–CO2 CBC when the TIT exceeds 2000 K. Moreover, the compressor inlet temperatures and cycle pressure of S–CO2 CBCs are much higher than those of He–Xe CBC, causing additional challenges in the aerodynamic design and component manufacture. Therefore, He–Xe CBC operating at ultra-high TITs may be more suitable than S–CO2 CBCs for high-power electricity generation mission on hypersonic vehicles.

Keywords: Closed-Brayton-cycle; Supercritical carbon dioxide; Helium-xenon mixture; Finite cold source; Hypersonic vehicle (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224004250
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:293:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224004250

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.130653

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().