• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2008.11b
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• pp.3181-3188
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• 2008

The supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle energy conversion system is presented as a promising alternative to the present Rankine cycle. The principal advantage of the S-$CO_2$ gas is a good efficiency at a modest temperature and a compact size of its components. The S-$CO_2$ Brayton cycle coupled to a SFR also excludes the possibilities of a SWR (Sodium-Water Reaction) which is a major safety-related event, so that the safety of a SFR can be improved. KAERI is conducting a feasibility study for the supercritical carbon dioxide (S-$CO_2$) Brayton cycle power conversion system coupled to KALIMER(Korea Advanced LIquid MEtal Reactor). The purpose of this research is to develop S-$CO_2$ Brayton cycle energy conversion systems and evaluate their performance when they are coupled to advanced nuclear reactor concepts of the type under investigation in the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems. This paper contains the research overview of the S-$CO_2$ Brayton cycle coupled to KALIMER-600 as an alternative energy conversion system.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.552-556
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• 2017

Evaluation of the durability and stability of materials used in power plants is of great importance because parts or components for turbines, heat exchangers and compressors are often exposed to extreme environments such as high temperature and pressure. In this work, high-temperature corrosion behavior of 316 L stainless steel in a carbon dioxide environment was studied to examine the applicability of a material for a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle as the next generation power plant system. The specimens were exposed in a high-purity carbon dioxide environment at temperatures ranging from 500 to $800^{\circ}C$ during 1000 hours. The features of the corroded products were examined by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope, and the chemical compound was determined by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results show that while the 316 L stainless steel had good corrosion resistance in the range of $500-700^{\circ}C$ in the carbon dioxide environment, the corrosion resistance at $800^{\circ}C$ was very poor due to chipping the corroded products off, which resulted in a considerable loss in weight.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.647-661
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• 2015

The supercritical $CO_2$ (S-$CO_2$) Brayton cycle has recently been gaining a lot of attention for application to next generation nuclear reactors. The advantages of the S-$CO_2$ cycle are high efficiency in the mild turbine inlet temperature region and a small physical footprint with a simple layout, compact turbomachinery, and heat exchangers. Several heat sources including nuclear, fossil fuel, waste heat, and renewable heat sources such as solar thermal or fuel cells are potential application areas of the S-$CO_2$ cycle. In this paper, the current development progress of the S-$CO_2$ cycle is introduced. Moreover, a quick comparison of various S-$CO_2$ layouts is presented in terms of cycle performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.41 no.8
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• pp.1025-1044
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• 2009

Systematic research has been conducted by KAERI to develop a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle energy conversion system coupled with a sodium cooled fast reactor. For the development of the supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle ECS, KAERI researched four major fields, separately. For the system development, computer codes were developed to design and analyze the supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle ECS coupled with the KALIMER-600. Computer codes were developed to design and analyze the performance of the major components such as the turbomachinery and the high compactness PCHE heat exchanger. Three dimensional flow analysis was conducted to evaluate their performance. A new configuration for a PCHE heat exchanger was developed by using flow analysis, which showed a very small pressure loss compared with a previous PCHE while maintaining its heat transfer rate. Transient characteristics for the supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle coupled with KALIMER-600 were also analyzed using the developed computer codes. A Na-$CO_2$ pressure boundary failure accident was analyzed with a computer code that included a developed model for the Na-$CO_2$ chemical reaction phenomena. The MMS-LMR code was developed to analyze the system transient and control logic. On the basis of the code, the system behavior was analyzed when a turbine load was changed. This paper contains the current research overview of the supercritical $CO_2$ Brayton cycle coupled to the KALIMER-600 as an alternative energy conversion system.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.403-410
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• 2020

This paper focuses on the design of a 12-kW small-scale supercritical CO₂ test loop. A theoretical study, stabilization, and optimization of carbon dioxide were carried out with the application of a solar heat source based on solar thermal data in Pohang. The thermodynamic cycle of the test facility is a Rankine cycle (transcritical cycle), which contains liquid, gas, and supercritical CO₂. The system is designed to achieve 6.98% efficiency at a maximum pressure of 12 MPa and a maximum temperature of 70℃. In addition, the optimum turbine inlet temperature and pressure were calculated to increase the cycle efficiency, and the application of an internal heat exchanger (IHX) was simulated. It was found that the maximum efficiency increases to 18.75%. The simulation confirmed that the efficiency of the cycle is 6.7% in May and 6.26% in June.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.8
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• pp.408-418
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• 2017

Supercritical carbon dioxide ($sCO_2$) power system is emerging technology because of its high cycle efficiency and compactness. Meanwhile, PCHE (Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger) is gaining attention in $sCO_2$ power system technology because PCHE with high pressure-resistance and larger heat transfer surface per unit volume is fundamentally needed. Thermo-fluidic characteristics of $sCO_2$ in the micro channel of PCHE should be investigated. In this study, heat transfer characteristics of $sCO_2$ of various inlet conditions and cross-sectional shapes of single micro channel were investigated experimentally. Experiment was conducted at supercritical state of higher than critical temperature and pressure. Test sections were made of copper and hydraulic diameter was 1 mm. Convective heat transfer coefficients were measured according to each interval of the channel and pressure drop was also measured. Convective heat transfer coefficients from experimental data were compared with existing correlation. In this study, using measured data, a new empirical correlation to predict near critical region heat transfer coefficient is developed and suggested. Test results of single channel will be used for design of PCHE.

• Clean Technology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.441-447
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• 2017

The economic analysis for the power plant developed in the conceptual design phase is becoming more important and, research on process optimization for process development that meets the target economic is actively carried out. In the filed of power generation systems, economic assessment methods to predict the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) has been widely applied for comparing economic effect quantitatively. In this paper, the platform that design criteria of key component required to optimize economic of power cycle can be calculated reversely was established roughly and design criteria of the key equipment (Compressor, turbine, heat exchanger) required to meet the target LCOE (the LCOE of supercritical steam Rankine cycle) was derived when the supercritical $CO_2$ power cycle is applied to the coal-fired power plant.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.6
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• pp.1786-1795
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• 2021

Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger (PCHE) is a widely used heat exchanger in the supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) Brayton cycle because it can work under high temperature and pressure, and has been a hot topic in Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) projects for use as recuperators and condensers. Most previous studies focused on channel structures or shapes. However, no clear advancement has so far been seen in the allover size of the PCHE. In this paper, we proposed an optimal size of the PCHE with a fixed volume. Two boundary conditions of PCHE were simulated, respectively. When the volume of PCHE was fixed, the heat transfer rate and pressure loss were picked as the optimization objectives. The Pareto front was obtained by the Multi-objective optimization procedure. We got the optimized number of PCHE channels under two different boundary conditions from the Pareto front. The comprehensive performance can be increased by 5.3% while holding in the same volume. The numerical results from this study can be used to improve the design of PCHE with straight channels.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.293-301
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• 2017

A Sub-kWe small-scale experimental test loop was manufactured to investigate characteristics of the supercritical carbon dioxide power cycle. A high-speed turbo-generator was also designed and manufactured. The designed rotational speed of this turbo-generator was 200,000 rpm. Because of the low expansion ratio through the turbine and low mass flowrate, the rotational speed of the turbo-generator was high. Therefore, it was difficult to select the rotating parts and design the turbine wheel, axial force balance and rotor dynamics in the lab-scale experimental test loop. Using only one channel of the nozzle, the partial admission method was adapted to reduce the rotational speed of the rotor. This was the world's first approach to the supercritical carbon dioxide turbo-generator. A cold-run test using nitrogen gas under an atmospheric condition was conducted to observe the effect of the partial admission nozzle on the rotor dynamics. The vibration level of the rotor was obtained using a gap sensor, and the results showed that the effect of the partial admission nozzle on the rotor dynamics was allowable.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.9
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• pp.2107-2118
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• 2020

The nuclear reactor coupled with supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO₂) Brayton cycle has good prospects in generation IV reactors. Turbomachineries (turbine and compressor) are important work equipment in circulatory system, whose performances are critical to the efficiency of the energy conversion system. However, the sharp variations of S-CO₂ thermophysical properties make turbomachinery performances more complex than that of traditional working fluids. Meanwhile, almost no systematic analysis has considered the effects of turbomachinery efficiency under different conditions. In this paper, an in-house code was developed to realize the geometric design and performance prediction of S-CO₂ turbomachinery, and was coupled with systematic code for Brayton cycle characteristics analysis. The models and methodology adopted in calculation code were validated by experimental data. The effects of recompressed fraction, pressure and temperature on S-CO₂ recompression Brayton cycle were studied based on detailed design of turbomachinery. The results demonstrate that the recompressed fraction affects the turbomachinery characteristic by changing the mass flow and effects the system performance eventually. By contrast, the turbomachinery efficiency is insensitive to variation in pressure and temperature due to almost constant mass flow. In addition, the S-CO₂ thermophysical properties and the position of minimum temperature difference are significant influential factors of cyclic performance.