SCARABEUS test rig successfully commissioned at Technische Universität Wien

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With the stamp on the nameplate, the long path of commissioning the test facility is now successfully finished.

 

 

From the start of the SCARABEUS project in 2019, the team at TUW has worked very hard to make this happen. The steps involved:

  • A HAZOP study,
  • A design review,
  • And the official commissioning,

all three under the guidance of the notified body in Austria (TÜV Austria).

The original test facility existing at TUW was modified to a recuperated Rankine cycle. In the first test campaign, the novel heat exchangers with pure CO2 will be examined: the recuperator (a printed circuit heat exchanger) and the air-cooled condenser – both from the project partner Kelvion Thermal Solutions. A brand new gas burner and the attached Inconel primary heater will supply the testing section of the facility us with flue gas at 850 °C and heat up the CO2 to 650 °C.

It has been a long and bumpy road due to the many hurdles arising as a consequence of the pandemic and subsequent shortage of critical supplies. Nevertheless, the team at TUW made it happen. Congratulations!

 

 

 

Test rig successfully commissioned (Jun 26, 2023)

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Presentations of ETN’s fourth episode of the webinar series on R& Activities on sCO2 in Europe already available

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We are very glad to announce that the presentations of the 4th webinar on R&D Activities on sCO2 Activities in Europe are now available for download.

 

Organised by ETN Global, coordinator of the CO2OLHEAT Project, this last event was focused on heat exchanger technology, since heat exchangers are core equipment of sCO2 systems with an expectedly strong impact on Capital Costs and performance. It is to note that event was part of the European Sustainable Energy Week (EUSEW), as a Sustainable Energy Day.

 

These are the talks that we had the opportunity to enjoy:

  • CFD-aided conceptual design of a cooler in sCO2 cycles for novel waste-heat-to-power (WH2P) plant layouts, Panagiotis Drosatos (CERTH)
  • Development of a high-efficiency particle-sCO2 heat exchanger for CSP applications, Maxime Rouzès (John Cockerill)
  • How additive manufacturing will help the energy sector: application to the primary heat exchanger in a sCO2 cycle, Damien Serret (TEMISTH)

 

Follow this link to get your copy of the presentations: Link

 

Workshop at test rig – Technical University of Viena

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Following the Dissemination and Communication Plan of the SCARABEUS project, an open Workshop was organised at the Technical University of Vienna, home to the SCARABEUS test rig where the concept proposed in the project will be tested.

The meeting was held at the very nice facilities of TUW’s Science Centre in Franz-Grill-Straße 2-4, A-1030 Wien. The SCARABEUS team at TU Wien set up a very exciting agenda:

  • 00 – 10.15: Welcome, Prof. Markus Haider (TU Wien)
  • 15 – 11.15: The SCARABEUS project – experimental activities
    • 15 – 10.45: Overview of the SCARABEUS project

Prof. Giampaolo Manzolini (Politecnico di Milano)

  • 45 – 11.15: The SCARABEUS test rig at TU Wien

Viktoria Illyes, Technical University of Viena

  • 30 – 12.30: Tour to TUW’s lab and SCARABEUS rig
  • 30 – 14.30: Supercritical CO2 power cycles: components, perspectives and experiments
    • 30 – 13.50: Supercritical CO2 power from Baker-Hughes’s perspective

Marco Fiori, Baker Hughes

  • 50 – 14.10: Future outlook and challenges for implementing sCO2 power cycles

Prof. David Sánchez, University of Seville

  • 10 – 14.30: Supercritical CO2 as a working medium -characteristics

Prof. Rene Pecnik,  Delft University of Technology

  • 00 – 16.00: Supercritical CO2 power cycles: components and mixtures
    • 00 – 15.30: Turbomachinery from the standpoint of research

Prof. Teemu Turunen-Saaresti, Lappeenranta University of Technology

  • 30 – 16.00: Blends for sCO2 in power cycles

Prof. Andreas Jäger, Technical University of Dresden

  • 00 – 16.30: Supercritical CO2 test rigs: worldwide and in Europe

Dr. Otakart Frybort, Centrum Výzkumu Řež

The event was very well attended, and the presentations provided a very broad, informative and scientifically-rigorous overview of the current status of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide power cycles, in particular the benefits and challenges of using mixtures in certain applications. Lively discussions were also triggered during the sessions and in the numerous networking opportunities enabled by the programme. The speakers are certainly acknowledged for their effort in adapting their talks to a broad audience whilst still retaining a large amount of useful technical information.

Congratulations SCARABEUS team at TUW on such a well-crafted event, and thanks a lot for the very hard work put on this!

Presentations of the event are available upon request. If you are interested, send an email to the Dissemination Coordinator of SC

The fourth episode of the webinar series on R& Activities on sCO2 in Europe organized by ETN will take place on Monday, June 12th

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A new episode of the webinar series on supercritical Carbon Dioxide technology is here. After Episode 1 -introduction to ongoing sCO2 projects in Europe-, Episode 2 -sCO2 compressor challenges- and Episode 3 -recuperative heat exchangers for sCO2 power systems-, Episode 4 will focus on the so-called primary heat exchanger.

 

Unlike turbomachinery and recuperators, primary heat exchangers are application-specific. This means that their design and specific challenges are tightly linked to the environment they will be used in: Waste Heat Recovery, Concentrated Solar Power… An excellent portfolio of speakers comprised of Panagiotis Drosatos (Centre for Research & Technology Hellas -CERTH), Maxime Rouzès (John Cockerill) and Damien Serret(TEMISTh) will guide us through different their experience in designing actual equipment, the specifications of the corresponding users and the challenges posed by the demanding operating conditions.

 

Attendance to the event is free but registration on Eventbrite is necessary: LINK. Download the flyer of the event here: DOWNLOAD

 

The CO2OLHEAT Project, coordinated by ETN Global, aims to demonstrate (at TRL7) the operation of a 2 MW Waste-Heat-to-power (WH2P) skid based on a 2MW-sCO2 cycle, able to efficiently valorize local waste heat at a significant temperature of 400°C in a heavy industrial facility.

 

ETN Global initiated, in September 2022, a series of webinars aimed at providing a forum where the R&D activities in the area of supercritical Carbon Dioxide technologies can be disseminated and made known to a wider audience. This initative has been joined by seven international and national projects, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission (CO2OLHEAT, COMPASsCO2, SCARABEUS, DESOLINATION, SOLARSCO2OL, sCO2-4-NPP) and by national R&D programmes in Germany (CARBOSOLA) and the Czech Republic (sCO2-Efekt).

 

The first webinar, held on September 22nd, aimed to introduce these projects in a single session, providing the main features of the project from technical and administrative standpoints. Opportunities for collaboration between projects and with stakeholders were also highlighted. Presentations can be downloaded from the SCARABEUS website: Link.

 

The second webinar took place on December 5th and presented a focus session discussing the fundamental and technical challenges posed for the design and operation of compressors in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide power systems. Three outstanding speakers covered these aspects; the session turned out very well and the feedback was very positive. Presentations can be downloaded from the SCARABEUS website: Link.

 

The next event will take place on March 6th, 16.00 – 17.00 CET. It will focus on heat exchanger technology, since heat exchangers are core equipment of sCO2 systems with an expectedly strong impact on Capital Costs and performance. Follow this link to registration: Link

 

 

 

 

SCARABEUS papers presented at the 5th European Conference on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Energy Systems now available for download

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The 5th European Conference on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Energy Systems was held in Prague (Czech Republic) on the 15th and 16th of March, 2023. The conference was very well organised by Prof. Dostal (Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic) and Prof. Brillert (Technical University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany).

The excellent scientific programme was comprised of scientific and industrial presentations, combined with interesting keynotes and panel sessions. The SCARABEUS consortium contributed two excellent papers:

  • Illyés, S. Thanheiser, P. Schwarzmayr, P.L. David, X. Guerif. A. Werner, M. Haider, sCO2 test facility at TU Wien: design, operation and results
  • Rodríguez-de Arriba, F. Crespi, D. Sánchez, A. Muñoz, A methodology to design air-cooled condensers for supercritical power cycles using carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide mixtures.

The technical papers presented at the conference are now available for download (Open-Access). Get you copy here: Link

 

Joint paper by City, University of London, University of Seville and Bakher Hughes published in Applied Thermal Engineering

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The SCARABEUS teams at City, University of London, University of Seville and Baker Hughes have recently published a paper authored jointly by the three institutions. This scientific publication is the result from the collaboration between Work Package 3 – Turbomachinery Design  and Work Package 5 – Techno-economic, Social and Environmental Assessments. In particular, the team at University of Seville has provided the boundary conditions for the design of the turbines, which has been carried out by City, University of London and Baker Hughes jointly. Then, the impact of the resulting turbomachinery efficiency on cycle performance has been assessed in WP5.

The paper has been published in volume 230 of Applied Thermal Engineering (Elsevier) and it is available in Open Access on the publisher’s website (link). Check the abstract below:

The utilisation of certain blends based on supercritical CO2 (sCO2), namely CO2/TiCl4, CO2/C6H2 and CO2/SO2, have been found to be promising for enhancing the performance of power cycles for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) applications; allowing for up to a 6% enhancement in cycle efficiency with respect to a simple recuperated CO2 cycle, depending upon the nature of the used blend and the cycle configuration of choice. This paper presents an investigation of the impact of adopting these sCO2-based blends on the flow path design for a multi-stage axial turbine whilst accounting for aerodynamic, mechanical and rotordynamic considerations. This includes assessing the sensitivity of the turbine design to selected working fluid and imposed optimal cycle conditions. Ultimately, this study aims to provide the first indication that a high-efficiency turbine can be achieved for a large-scale axial turbine operating with these non-conventional working fluids and producing power in excess of 120 MW. To achieve this aim, mean-line aerodynamic design is integrated with mechanical and rotordynamic constraints, specified based on industrial experience, to ensure technically feasible solutions with maximum aerodynamic efficiency. Different turbine flow path designs have been produced for three sCO2 blends under different cycle boundary conditions. Specifically, flow paths have been obtained for optimal cycle configurations at five different molar fractions and two different turbine inlet pressure and temperature levels of 250 & 350 bar and 550 & 700 °C respectively. A total-to-total turbine efficiency in excess of 92% was achieved, which is considered promising for the future of CO2 plants. The highest efficiencies are achieved for designs with a large number of stages, corresponding to reduced hub diameters due to the need for a fixed synchronous rotational speed. The large number of stages is contrary to existing sCO2 turbine designs, but it is found that an increase from 4 to 14 stages can increase the efficiency by around 5%. Ultimately, based on the preliminary cost analysis results, the designs with a large number of stages were found to be financially feasible compared to the designs with a small number of stages.

 

Flowpath optimisation methodology used in the paper

Exhibition at the SCARABEUS experimental facility, TU Wien

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As SCARABEUS is reaching the final stage of the project(end scheduled in February 2024), the consortium is very glad and proud to announce the Exhibition that will take place at the Science Centre, TU Wien, hosting the experimental facility where the innovative mixtures and components developed in the course of the project have been tested successfully.

A fabulous programme has been set up by the team at TU Wien, with assorted speakers from academia and industry who will share their experience, knowledge and thoughts about supercritical Carbon Dioxide power cycle technology.

10:00 Welcome – Prof. Markus Haider. Inst. for Energy Systems and Thermodynamics, TU Wien.
10:15 The SCARABEUS project and experimental work

Chaired by Markus Haider (TU Wien)

Overwiew about the SCARABEUS-Project

Prof. Giampaolo Manzolini (Project Coordinator)

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano.

The sCO2-test rig at TU Wien

DI Viktoria Illyés (PhD-student)

Institute for Energy Systems and Thermodynamics, TU Wien
11:15 Coffee break
11:30 Presentation of sCO2-test rig and lab of TUW

Markus Haider, Viktoria Illyés, Andreas Werner

Institute for Energy Systems and Thermodynamics, TU Wien
12:30 Lunch  (Catering)
13:30 sCO2 power cycles: Components I, perspectives and experiments

Chaired by Markus Haider (TU Wien)

sCO2 from Baker Hughes´ perspective

Marco Fiori (MSc),

Product Development, Technology and Innovation Strategy

Baker Hughes.

Future outlook and challenges for implementing sCO2 energy conversion systems

Prof. David Sánchez

Department of Energy Engineering, University of Seville.

sCO2 as a working medium – characteristics of flow and heat transfer

Prof. René Pecnik

Head of Process and Energy Laboratory

Delft University of Technology.
15:00 Coffee break
15:30 sCO2 power cycles: Components II and mixtures

Chaired by Andreas Werner (TU Wien)

Turbomachinery from standpoint of research

Prof. T. Turunen-Saaresti

School of Energy Systems LUT University, Finland

Blends for sCO2 in power cycles

Dr. Andreas Jäger

Head of Working Group for Thermal Energy Machinery and -plants

TU Dresden.

sCO2 test rigs: world wide and in Europe (to be confirmed)

Ing. Otakar Frýbort

Centrum Výzkumu Řež, s.r.o., Czech Republic.

 

Attendance to the Exhibition is free and includes not only a technical tour to the lab and access to the room sessions but also excellent networking opportunities with the partners of the SCARABEUS consortium and fellow attendees. Do not miss this opportunity to get acquainted with the latest developments for next generation Concentrated Solar Power technologies!

Click to download full programme and directions to the venue: download

For more information, get in contact with the Dissemination Manager of the SCARABEUS project: Prof. David Sánchez (ds@us.es)

 

 

 

New project on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide power systems opens 17 positions for Early Stage Researchers across Europe

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iSOP stands for Innovation in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Systems. It is a four year project funded by the European Commission through the Marie Sklodovska-Curie subprogramme of Horizon Europe, the 100 billion Euro flagship R&D programme in the EU.

iSOP is an Industrial Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN-IN) coordinated by University of Seville (Prof. David T. Sánchez Martínez) and focused on different yet complementary key aspects of the technology: system integration for internally or externally heated concepts, component (turbomachinery and heat exchangers) design and manufacturing, operation, control, materials, enviro-economics… To investigate each topic, an Early Stage Researcher (Doctoral Candidate) will be recruited by two members of the consortium. This is a unique feature of this class of projects, aimed at maximising the exposure of the researchers to both scientific and industrial environments (50% of the time spent at academia and industry).

Check out the complete list of PhD topics available and the associated beneficiaries involved at the iSOP website: Link

Acknowledgement: ISOP has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (DN-ID), under Grant Agreement No. 101073266.

Salma Salah successfully passes PhD Viva at City, University of London

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As SCARABEUS heads towards the last months of the project, and research outcomes are being disseminated amongst different stakeholders, the younger researchers in the project are also achieving their scientific objectives.

This last week saw Salma Salah, a young researcher at City, University of London, successfully pass her PhD Viva. Within WP3, Salma has worked very hard on the development of the SCARABEUS turbine, in collaboration with Baker-Hughes and interacting with University of Seville to ensure seamless integration with the work carried out in WP5. Let’s have Salma presenting this with her own words:

“I have been working during the last four years on a PhD research project entitled “the design and analysis of supercritical carbon dioxide axial turbines”. This research is a part of the SACARABEUS project which aims to demonstrate the application of CO2 blends for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants to enable cycle efficiencies greater than 50%, and hence enhance competitiveness of CSP technologies in the energy market. Considering that the turbine efficiency significantly affects the overall plant performance, the overall aim of my research is to develop design and optimisation tools for a 100 MWe scale sCO2 multi-stage axial turbine design for concentrated solar power cycles.

Turbine design is a multi-stage process that starts with preliminary aerodynamic design and optimisation using a combination of one-dimensional mean-line design suitable loss models. These models are used to quantify the energy losses that the working fluid experiences during the expansion in the blade rows, and hence they can predict overall turbine performance. To develop a turbine design operating with CO2 blends that stands from a practical design, other considerations should be considered, such as mechanical and rotor-dynamic considerations, to ensure a turbine design withstands the applied stresses and can operate safely under the different operation conditions. Therefore, the scope of this research focused on exploring the existing design methodologies to produce a mean line design for a multi-stage axial turbine operating with CO2 blends and to investigate the validity of the loss models for non-conventional working fluids (such as CO2 and organic fluids). Within this research I worked on developing a mean-line design tool that can optimise the aerodynamic turbine performance alongside complying with rotordynamic and mechanical design criteria.

Additionally, multiple design loss models have been integrated for turbines operating with these non-conventional working fluids. Using the developed tool, the loss models have been computed for air, sCO2 and ORC turbines.

Ultimately, a 14-stage CO2/SO2 flow path has been designed for a 100 MW CSP plant and the financial feasibility of the turbine flow path has been investigated to ensure that the design stands from an economic point.”

The SCARABEUS team would like to congratulate Salma Salah on this major step in her scientific career, and also the supervisors Prof. Abdulnaser Sayma (City, University of London) and Dr. Martin White (University of Sussex) and the entire team at City, University of London. Best of luck for your future professional development Salma!

A copy of Dr. Salah’s thesis can be downloaded from the repository at City, University of London: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/30364/