Design and Assessment of the Solar Energy Based Direct Steam Generation Supercritical CO2 Brayton Cycle

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the performance of the supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle (sCO2-BC) with intercooling and reheating for low-temperature solar energy application. The heat required for the sCO2-BC is supplied from an evacuated tube solar collector. Energy and exergy analyses of the solar energy-assisted sCO2-BC with intercooling and reheating are investigated. In addition, the effects of operating parameters like solar radiation, collector number, compressor, and turbine input pressure on system performance are examined parametrically. According to the findings of the analysis, the net power production is found to be 0.2687 kW. In addition, the solar energy-based sCO2-BC's energy and exergy efficiencies are found to be 3.68% and 3.95%, respectively. Moreover, it has been determined that the sCO2-BC's energy and exergy efficiencies reduce with the increase of solar irradiation, the collector number, and the compressor inlet pressure, while the system's energy and exergy efficiencies rise with the increase of the turbine input pressure.