SCARABEUS test rig successfully commissioned at Technische Universität Wien

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!