Investigation into Off-Design Performance of a S-CO 2 Turbine Based on Concentrated Solar Power

Di Zhang, Yuqi Wang and Yonghui Xie
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Di Zhang: MOE Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yuqi Wang: MOE Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Yonghui Xie: MOE Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Research on concentrated solar power (CSP) plants has been increasing in recent years. Supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO 2 ) has been applied to solar power plants due to its promising physical properties. S-CO 2 has a relatively low critical temperature of 31.1 °C and owns high density in the supercritical region. Hence, it is a vital working fluid in the application of low temperature heat source and miniature power equipment. Due to the fact that solar power system has a constantly changing heat source according to season and weather, a satisfactory off-design performance is necessary for the turbine in a solar power system. In this work, a S-CO 2 radial-inflow turbine based on CSP is designed. A thorough numerical analysis of the turbine is then performed. To investigate the off-design performance of this turbine, three types of nozzle profiles with different leading edge diameters are adopted. Mach number, temperature and pressure distribution are covered to present the off-design effect with different nozzle profiles. Moreover, the relation of output power, mass flow rate and efficiency with different leading edge diameter (LED) are analyzed. Results show that different LED has a vital influence on the aerodynamic characteristics and off-design performance of the S-CO 2 turbine based on CSP. In addition, the designed turbine with LED = 4 mm can obtain the highest mass flow rate and output power. While the turbine with LED = 10 mm provides slightly better off-design efficiency for CSP plants.

Keywords: concentrated solar power; S-CO 2; radial-inflow turbine; off-design performance; leading edge diameter (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: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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