Search for the Optimal Design of a Supercritical-CO 2 Brayton Power Cycle from a Superstructure-Based Approach Implemented in a Commercial Simulation Software

Qiao Zhao, Mounir Mecheri, Thibaut Neveux, Romain Privat, Jean-Noël Jaubert () and Yann Le Moullec
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Qiao Zhao: École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (UMR CNRS 7274), Université de Lorraine, 1 Rue Grandville, 54000 Nancy, France
Mounir Mecheri: EDF R&D Chatou, 6 Quai Watier, 78400 Chatou, France
Thibaut Neveux: EDF R&D Chatou, 6 Quai Watier, 78400 Chatou, France
Romain Privat: École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (UMR CNRS 7274), Université de Lorraine, 1 Rue Grandville, 54000 Nancy, France
Jean-Noël Jaubert: École Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques, Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés (UMR CNRS 7274), Université de Lorraine, 1 Rue Grandville, 54000 Nancy, France
Yann Le Moullec: EDF R&D Chatou, 6 Quai Watier, 78400 Chatou, France

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 14, 1-31

Abstract: Improving the efficiency and flexibility of fossil-fired power plants remains a current and challenging issue. In that regard, supercritical CO 2 Brayton cycles offer promising potential. This paper aims to apply a process synthesis approach to the design of a closed Brayton cycle using supercritical CO 2 as a working fluid with a coal furnace as a heat source. The general methodology presented here for designing closed power cycles includes the construction of a superstructure containing all relevant possible cycle layouts, the formulation of the cycle-synthesis problem as a mathematical optimization problem, and its solution using an appropriate algorithm. This study was conducted with the help of a process simulation commercial software (PROSIM) and using the Mixed-Integer Distributed Ant Colony Optimization (MIDACO) as a commercial optimization algorithm. This work highlights the limits of a purely technical optimization approach that would ignore the economical layer. The optimal structure obtained regarding Levelized Cost Of Electricity (LCOE) minimization is a configuration with one reheat of the supercritical CO 2 in the boiler, two recuperators, and one recompression loop around the low-temperature recuperator; it is associated with a cycle efficiency of 49.35 % and a 10% reduction in the LCOE in comparison to the optimal case found through energy optimization under typical design heuristics constraints.

Keywords: design optimization; S-CO 2 cycle; superstructure (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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