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Investigating the effect of impurities on components and efficiency of the 10 MW S-CO2 gas turbine power plant

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Abstract

Following decades of laboratory research and nearly zero carbon emissions, supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) gas turbine power plants are poised to replace steam power plants. A S-CO2 gas turbine power plant can provide sustainable power generation systems for higher plant operations’ efficiency. However, the purity of the working fluid is one of the power plant’s most crucial sustainability factors, and it must be analyzed and fully understood. This work aims to investigate the effect of common impurities on the 10 MW S-CO2 gas turbine performance, using the software program reference fluid thermodynamic and transport database version 10 to calculate pure and mixed CO2 and determine the fluid density at the main compressor inlet. The analysis reveals that non-condensable impurities in N2, O2, Ar, CH4, and He have a negative effect on the cycle performance. The presence of 1 % impurity in O2, CH4, Ar, N2, and He in 99 % rich CO2 decreases the cycle efficiency from 48.25 % to 47.27 %, 44.86 %, 44.12 %, 35.71 %, and 23.95 %, respectively. The results show that the presence of 1 % He raises the turbine and recompressor inlet temperatures from 973.15 K to 1774.9 K and 361.37 K to approximately 801.52 K, respectively. Impurities such as CH4 and O2 must have limited tolerance, whereas N2 and He must have a zero-tolerance level. The condensable impurities in H2O, H2S, and SO2 have a positive effect on the cycle efficiency. The presence of 1 % in H2O, H2S, and SO2 in 99 % CO2 increases the cycle efficiency by 2.3 %, 1.7 %, and 1.2 %, respectively, and can corrode turbine blades and materials. Continued work is necessary to fully understand the effects of impurities in the working fluid of an S-CO2 gas turbine power plant performance over time so as to ensure quality construction and safe and efficient operations.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the CUBCL team and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada

    Ibrahim Ali & Henry Saari

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  1. Ibrahim Ali
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  2. Henry Saari
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Correspondence to Ibrahim Ali.

Additional information

This paper is written based on the first author’s Ph.D. thesis.

Henry Saari is an Associate Professor at Carleton University, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Ottawa, ON, Canada. He is the Lead Engineer of the CUBCL project. His research activities focus on development of lightweight materials for aircraft gas turbine blade applications, leading to improved efficiency and power output, and material compatibility for supercritical carbon dioxide gas turbines used for high efficiency power generation.

Ibrahim Ali received his Ph.D. in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada. He has 11 years of experience with GE heavy-duty gas turbine power plant as a gas turbine maintenance engineer. He obtained his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Higher Institute of Polytechnic Sebha Ly, M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering with Power Electronic from Bradford University, UK. His research interests include developing a condition monitoring system for a 10 MW S-CO2 gas turbine power plant.

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Ali, I., Saari, H. Investigating the effect of impurities on components and efficiency of the 10 MW S-CO2 gas turbine power plant. J Mech Sci Technol 36, 4789–4796 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0837-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-022-0837-8

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