COMPARATIVE MAXIMUM POWER DENSITY ANALYSIS OF A SUPERCRITICAL $CO_2$ BRAYTON POWER CYCLE

Abstract

The supercritical $CO_2$ (s-$CO_2$) power cycle has been taking into account as one of the most effectivealternatives for energy conversion because of its higher efficiency and smaller compressor and turbine sizes formany years. A plenty number of parametric and experimental studies for the different type of s-$CO_2$ cycles havebeen accomplished in the literature. In this paper, a performance analysis based on a power density criterion hasbeen carried out for a simple s-$CO_2$ Brayton power cycle. The parameters which are obtained from analyzes werecompared with those of a power performance criterion that is shown that design parameters at maximum powerdensity give a chance to smaller cycle components and more efficient s-$CO_2$ Brayton power cycle. Due to loses inthe cycle, the power and thermal efficiency will reduce by a certain amount, however, the maximum power densityconditions will still give a better performance than at the maximum power output conditions. The analysisexemplified in this paper may provide a reference for the finding of optimal operating conditions and the designparameters for real s-$CO_2$ Brayton power cycles