A Case Study of the Supercritical CO 2 -Brayton Cycle at a Natural Gas Compression Station

Rafał Kowalski, Szymon Kuczyński, Mariusz Łaciak, Adam Szurlej and Tomasz Włodek
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Rafał Kowalski: Gas Engineering Department, Drilling, Oil and Gas Faculty, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Szymon Kuczyński: Gas Engineering Department, Drilling, Oil and Gas Faculty, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Mariusz Łaciak: Gas Engineering Department, Drilling, Oil and Gas Faculty, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Adam Szurlej: Gas Engineering Department, Drilling, Oil and Gas Faculty, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland
Tomasz Włodek: Gas Engineering Department, Drilling, Oil and Gas Faculty, AGH University of Science and Technology, Mickiewicza 30 Av., 30-059 Kraków, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 10, 1-18

Abstract: Heat losses caused by the operation of compressor units are a key problem in the energy efficiency improvement of the natural gas compression station operation. Currently, waste heat recovery technologies are expensive and have low efficiency. One of these technologies is organic Rankine cycle (ORC) which is often analyzed in scientific works. In this paper, the authors decided to investigate another technology that allows for the usage of the exhaust waste energy—the supercritical Brayton cycle with CO 2 (S-CO 2 ). With a thermodynamic model development of S-CO 2 , the authors preformed a case study of the potential S-CO 2 system at the gas compressor station with the reciprocating engines. By comparing the values of selected S-CO 2 efficiency indicators with ORC efficiency indicators at the same natural gas compression station, the authors tried to determine which technology would be better to use at the considered installation. Investigations on parameter change impacts on the system operation (e.g., turbine inlet pressure or exhaust gas cooling temperatures) allowed to determine the direction for further analysis of the S-CO 2 usage at the gas compressor station. When waste heat management is considered, priority should be given to its maximum recovery and cost-effectiveness.

Keywords: supercritical CO 2 -Brayton cycle; natural gas; compressor station; waste heat recovery; energy efficiency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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