DOE OSTI2018
CSP plants using sCO 2 power cycle can potentially achieve high thermal conversion efficiency at low capital cost due to compact turbo-machinery and other components. An sCO 2 expander and improved heat exchanger is expected to provide a major stepping stone for achieving CSP power at $0.06/kW-hr LCOE, energy conversion efficiency > 50%, and total power block cost < $1,200/kW installed. Hybrid gas bearings (HGB) and Dry gas seals (DGS) are two key components that are critical for robust and efficient operation of future sCO 2 power cycles. From a system perspective, HGBs can provide substantial benefits (~3 to 5%) to the modular CSP operation, while use of DGSs limits the leakage losses as well as the windage losses in the generator and can increase overall generator efficiency by ~ 8%. The life limiting mechanisms of HGBs and DGSs in high pressure, high temperature sCO2 environment were not well understood and hence this program aims at developing physics-based performance prediction and life prediction models for these two components. The output of the performance models serves as input to the life models. The performance models were validated using experimental data and using data from literature. DGS and HGB models have shed light on some risks associated with its operation in sCO2 expander and will guide more robust designs tailored towards sCO 2 cycle applications. A DGS was tested in 1MWe sCO2 turbo expander to study its performance and validate the performance models. To understand the effect of high pressures, high temperatures and sCO 2 environment on crack initiation, crack propagation and LCF/HCF life of these components, a novel experimental setup was developed. The LCF test data was used to calibrate and validate the life prediction models. The effect of sCO 2 corrosion on the life of Ni-based super-alloys is quantified using long duration experiments. Advanced microstructure and spectroscopic analyses conducted shed light on some key differences between IN718 and IN617 in terms of oxidation morphology, chemical species diffusion and trapping, the formation of protective corrosion resistant layers and changes in surface properties. A novel crack initiation model was developed which takes into account strain distribution, temperature, hold times and activation energy at the gas-metal interface and predicts the number of cycles to initiate the crack in the Inconel alloy. An advanced 3D fracture mechanics-based crack propagation model was also developed which takes into account the transient loading mission of the component and predict how fast the crack will grow and what will be its final shape and size. High energy X-Ray tomography measurements were conducted to study and validate 3D morphology of crack growth inside the specimen. These two models along with chemical kinetics models obtained from corrosion tests can be combined to predict the total life of the component under given long term operating conditions. A Bayesian Hybrid Modeling (BHM) probabilistic framework was developed to quantify uncertainty in physics-based performance models and in crack initiation and crack propagation models, to calibrate the models and to validate the models with statistical confidence. Advanced coupled physics multi-phase flow models were developed to study condensation, boiling and phase change behavior of CO 2 under various sCO 2 turbomachinery and heat exchanger conditions. A novel experimental setup was also designed to observe phase change of CO 2 during its transition across liquid-gas-supercritical state lines.