An Investigation of Real Gas Effects in Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressors

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Baltadjiev ◽  
C. Lettieri ◽  
Z. Spakovszky
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Pressure Curve ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Flow Acceleration ◽  
Vapor Pressure Curve ◽  
Thermodynamic Conditions ◽  
Real Gas Effects

This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of real gas effects on the performance and matching of centrifugal compressors operating in supercritical CO2. The analytical framework combines first principles based modeling with targeted numerical simulations to characterize the internal flow behavior of supercritical fluids with implications for radial turbomachinery design and analysis. Trends in gas dynamic behavior, not observed for ideal fluids, are investigated using influence coefficients for compressible channel flow derived for real gas. The variation in the properties of CO2 and the expansion through the vapor-pressure curve due to local flow acceleration are identified as possible mechanisms for performance and operability issues observed near the critical point. The performance of a centrifugal compressor stage is assessed at different thermodynamic conditions relative to the critical point using CFD calculations. The results indicate a reduction of 9% in the choke margin of the stage compared to its performance at ideal gas conditions due to variations in real gas properties. Compressor stage matching is also impacted by real gas effects as the excursion in corrected mass flow per unit area from inlet to outlet increases by 5%. Investigation of the flow field near the impeller leading edge at high flow coefficients shows that local flow acceleration causes the thermodynamic conditions to reach the vapor-pressure curve. The significance of two-phase flow effects is determined through a non-dimensional parameter that relates the time required for liquid droplet formation to the residence time of the flow under saturation conditions. Applying this criterion to the candidate compressor stage shows that condensation is not a concern at the investigated operating conditions. In the immediate vicinity of the critical point however, this effect is expected to become more prominent. While the focus of this analysis is on supercritical CO2 compressors for carbon capture and sequestration, the methodology is directly applicable to other non-conventional fluids and applications.

scholarly journals An Investigation of Real Gas Effects in Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressors

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nikola D. Baltadjiev ◽  
Claudio Lettieri ◽  
Zoltán S. Spakovszky
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Pressure Curve ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Local Flow ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Flow Acceleration ◽  
Vapor Pressure Curve ◽  
Thermodynamic Conditions ◽  
Real Gas Effects

This paper presents a comprehensive assessment of real gas effects on the performance and matching of centrifugal compressors operating in supercritical CO2. The analytical framework combines first principles based modeling with targeted numerical simulations to characterize the internal flow behavior of supercritical fluids with implications for radial turbomachinery design and analysis. Trends in gas dynamic behavior, not observed for ideal fluids, are investigated using influence coefficients for compressible channel flow derived for real gas. The variation in the properties of CO2 and the expansion through the vapor-pressure curve due to local flow acceleration are identified as possible mechanisms for performance and operability issues observed near the critical point. The performance of a centrifugal compressor stage is assessed at different thermodynamic conditions relative to the critical point using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations. The results indicate a reduction of 9% in the choke margin of the stage compared to its performance at ideal gas conditions due to variations in real gas properties. Compressor stage matching is also impacted by real gas effects as the excursion in corrected mass flow per unit area from inlet to outlet increases by 5%. Investigation of the flow field near the impeller leading edge at high flow coefficients shows that local flow acceleration causes the thermodynamic conditions to reach the vapor-pressure curve. The significance of two-phase flow effects is determined through a nondimensional parameter that relates the time required for liquid droplet formation to the residence time of the flow under saturation conditions. Applying this criterion to the candidate compressor stage shows that condensation is not a concern at the investigated operating conditions. In the immediate vicinity of the critical point however, this effect is expected to become more prominent. While the focus of this analysis is on supercritical CO2 compressors for carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), the methodology is directly applicable to other nonconventional fluids and applications.

Numerical Approach for Real Gas Simulations: Part II — Flow Simulation for Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Swati Saxena ◽  
Ramakrishna Mallina ◽  
Francisco Moraga ◽  
Douglas Hofer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Inlet Guide Vane ◽  
Thermodynamic Quantities ◽  
3D Flow ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
The Real ◽  
Operating Range

This paper is presented in two parts. Part I (Tabular fluid properties for real gas analysis) describes an approach to creating a tabular representation of the equation of state that is applicable to any fluid. This approach is applied to generating an accurate and robust tabular representation of the RefProp CO2 properties. Part II (this paper) presents numerical simulations of a low flow coefficient supercritical CO2 centrifugal compressor developed for a closed loop power cycle. The real gas tables presented in part I are used in these simulations. Three operating conditions are simulated near the CO2 critical point: normal day (85 bar, 35C), hot day (105 bar, 50 C) and cold day (70 bar, 20C) conditions. The compressor is a single stage overhung design with shrouded impeller, 155 mm impeller tip diameter and a vaneless diffuser. An axial variable inlet guide vane (IGV) is used to control the incoming swirl into the impeller. An in-house three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solver named TACOMA is used with real gas tables for the steady flow simulations. The equilibrium thermodynamic modeling is used in this study. The real gas effects are important in the desired impeller operating range. It is observed that both the operating range (minimum and maximum volumetric flow rate) and the pressure ratio across the impeller are dependent on the inlet conditions. The compressor has nearly 25% higher operating range on a hot day as compared to the normal day conditions. A condensation region is observed near the impeller leading edge which grows as the compressor operating point moves towards choke. The impeller chokes near the mid-chord due to lower speed of sound in the liquid-vapor region resulting in a sharp drop near the choke side of the speedline. This behavior is explained by analyzing the 3D flow field within the impeller and thermodynamic quantities along the streamline. The 3D flow analysis for the flow near the critical point provides useful insight for the designers to modify the current compressor design for higher efficiency.

Numerical Investigation of the Flow Behavior Inside a Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressor

2018 ◽  
Vol 140 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Ameli ◽  
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti ◽  
Jari Backman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Liquid Density ◽  
Flow Solver ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Fluid Behavior ◽  
Test Loop ◽  
Fluid Properties

Centrifugal compressors are one of the best choices among compressors in supercritical Brayton cycles. A supercritical CO2 centrifugal compressor increases the pressure of the fluid which state is initially very close to the critical point. When the supercritical fluid is compressed near the critical point, wide variations of fluid properties occur. The density of carbon dioxide at its critical point is close to the liquid density which leads to reduction in the compression work. This paper explains a method to overcome the simulation instabilities and challenges near the critical point in which the thermophysical properties change sharply. The investigated compressor is a centrifugal compressor tested in the Sandia supercritical CO2 test loop. In order to get results with the high accuracy and take into account the nonlinear variation of the properties near the critical point, the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow solver is coupled with a look-up table of properties of fluid. Behavior of real gas close to its critical point and the effect of the accuracy of the real gas model on the compressor performance are studied in this paper, and the results are compared with the experimental data from the Sandia compression facility.

Phase Behavior and Its Effects on Reactions in Liquid and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynnette A. Blanchard ◽  
Gang Xu
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Melting Point ◽  
Vapor Pressure ◽  
Phase Behavior ◽  
Critical Point ◽  
Pressure Curve ◽  
Light Component ◽  
Vapor Pressure Curve ◽  
Solid Liquid ◽  
Liquid Vapor

Carbon dioxide, either as an expanded liquid or as a supercritical fluid, may be a viable replacement for a variety of conventional organic solvents in reaction systems. Numerous studies have shown that many reactions can be conducted in liquid or supercritical CO2 (sc CO2) and, in some cases, rates and selectivities can be achieved that are greater than those possible in normal liquid- or gas-phase reactions (other chapters in this book; Noyori, 1999; Savage et al., 1995). Nonetheless, commercial exploitation of this technology has been limited. One factor that contributes to this reluctance is the extremely complex phase behavior that can be encountered with high-pressure multicomponent systems. Even for simple binary systems, one can observe multiple fluid phases, as shown in Figure 1.1. The figure shows the pressure–temperature (PT) projection of the phase diagram of a binary system, where the vapor pressure curve of the light component (e.g., CO2) is the solid line shown at temperatures below TB. It is terminated by its critical point, which is shown as a solid circle. The sublimation curve, melting curve, and vapor pressure curve of the pure component 2 (say, a reactant that is a solid at ambient conditions) are the solid lines shown at higher temperatures on the right side of the diagram; that is, the triple point of this compound is above TE. The solid might experience a significant melting point depression when exposed to CO2 pressure [the dashed–dotted solid/liquid/vapor (SLV) line, which terminates in an upper critical end point (UCEP)]. For instance, naphthalene melts at 60.1 °C under CO2 pressure (i.e., one might observe a three-phase solid/liquid/vapor system), even though the normal melting point is 80.5 °C (McHugh and Yogan, 1984). To complicate things even further, there will be a region close to the critical point of pure CO2 where one will observe three phases as well, as indicated by the dashed–dotted SLV line that terminates at the lower critical end point (LCEP). The dotted line connecting the critical point of the light component and the LCEP is a vapor/liquid critical point locus.

Analysis of Unsteady Flow in a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Radial Compressor Stage

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can Ma ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Jun Wu ◽  
Lu Dai
Keyword(s):  
Unsteady Flow ◽  
Critical Point ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Flow Analysis ◽  
Flow Simulation ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Vaned Diffuser ◽  
Radial Compressor

For nuclear power system, the supercritical CO2-based Brayton cycle is very promising for its potentially higher efficiency and compactness compared to steam-based Rankine cycle. Compressor is the critical component in the supercritical CO2-based cycle, which typically operates at an inlet fluid state close to the fluid critical point for optimal cycle efficiency. As the fluid parameters vary significantly near the critical point, the compressor is more vulnerable to flow instabilities and care must be taken in designing the compressor. The supercritical CO2 radial compressor features a compact design and the unsteady interactions between the impeller and the vaned diffuser are typically strong. A comprehensive understanding of the unsteady flow effects in the compressor is very helpful in guiding the aerodynamic design. However, little work has been performed on the flow analysis of the unsteady impeller-diffuser interactions in the supercritical CO2 radial compressor. In this work, the unsteady flow simulation of a supercritical CO2 radial compressor stage is carried out. Strong flow unsteadiness is observed and the isentropic efficiency shows a variation of over 20% within one revolution.

Numerical Investigation of the Flow Behavior Inside a Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Ameli ◽  
Teemu Turunen-Saaresti ◽  
Jari Backman
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Centrifugal Compressor ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Lookup Table ◽  
Liquid Density ◽  
Flow Solver ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Fluid Behavior ◽  
Fluid Properties

Centrifugal compressors are one of the best choices among compressors in supercritical Brayton cycles. A supercritical CO2 centrifugal compressor increases the pressure of the fluid which state is initially very close to the critical point. When the supercritical fluid is compressed near the critical point, wide variations of fluid properties occur. The density of carbon dioxide at its critical point is close to the liquid density which leads to reduction in compressor work. The investigated compressor is a centrifugal compressor tested in the Sandia supercritical CO2 compression loop. In order to get results with the high accuracy and take into account the non-linear variation of the properties near the critical point, the CFD flow solver is coupled with a lookup table of properties of fluid. Behavior of real gas close to its critical point and the effect of the accuracy of the real gas model on the compressor performance are studied in this paper and the results are compared with the experimental data from the Sandia compression facility.

The Influence of Tip Clearance on Supercritical CO2 Centrifugal Compressor Performance

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang Zhao ◽  
Qinghua Deng ◽  
Hanzhen Zhang ◽  
Zhenping Feng
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Leading Edge ◽  
Low Pressure ◽  
Tip Clearance ◽  
Compressor Stage ◽  
Blade Tip ◽  
Blade Tip Clearance ◽  
Blade Leading Edge

The supercritical CO2 (SCO2) compressor is the key component of the SCO2 Brayton cycle. It is considered as one of the most promising power conversion systems, because the compressor could consume small compression work as operating condition near the critical point. In this paper, a researched SCO2 compressor was designed to operate with slightly above the vapor-liquid critical point of CO2. The flow characteristics were investigated by NUMECA FINE/Turbo, coupled with the thermophysical properties of CO2 in REFPROP database. Particular attention was paid on the blade tip clearance flow characteristics. The formation and development mechanism of the blade tip low pressure regions and the parameters distributional difference were studied. Then, the effects of different blade tip clearance types on the low pressure regions of the blade leading edge tip and the aerodynamic performance of SCO2 compressor stage were compared and discussed. The combined effects of the injecting action, the blade leading edge tip shedding vortex, and the flow acceleration can lead the fluid thermodynamic state to enter the low pressure and low temperature regions at the leading edge of both the main blade and splitter blade tip. Especially, the condensation maybe exist at sharp corner of the blade tip leading edge. However, the tip clearance leakage vortex can significantly inhibit and weaken the low pressure regions. With the increase of tip clearance, the distribution and development tendency of the static pressure and temperature on the main blade leading edge tip are similar, but there is a significant influence for the splitter blades tip. Furthermore, because the tip clearance increases, the SCO2 compressor stage pressure ratio and isentropic efficiency have degraded in whole operating range, but the stable operation range is expanded. Therefore, the above comprehensive factors should be considered during the design process in order to select the suitable tip clearance shape.

Performance of Supercritical CO2 Dry Gas Seals Near the Critical Point

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Fairuz Zakariya ◽  
Ingo H. J. Jahn
Keyword(s):  
Critical Point ◽  
Supercritical Co2 ◽  
Closed Loop ◽  
High Pressures ◽  
Thermal Power ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Real Gas ◽  
Dry Gas Seal ◽  
Gas Seals ◽  
And Performance

The Queensland Geothermal Energy Centre of Excellence is investigating the use of supercritical CO2 closed loop Brayton cycles in the Concentrated Solar Thermal power cycle plant. One of the important components in the turbomachinery within the plant are seals. As the cycle is closed loop and operating at high pressures, dry gas seals have been recommended for future use in these systems. One of the main challenges of using supercritical CO2 dry gas seals is that operating conditions are near the critical point. In the supercritical region in the vicinity of the critical point (304 K, 7.4 MPa), CO2 behaves as a real-gas, exhibiting large and abrupt non-linear changes in fluid and transport properties and high densities. To correctly predict the seal operation and performance, the interaction between this real gas and the seal rotor (primary ring) and the seal stator (mating ring) need to analysed and investigated in detail, as they can lead to significant changes in flow and seal performance. Results from this paper show that increased centrifugal effects caused by higher gas densities can reduce the pressure in the sealing dam region. This adversely affects the loading capacity of the dry gas seal. However, it also benefits seal performances by reducing the leakage rate. The current work presents an investigation of the supercritical CO2 dry gas seals operating close to the critical point with an inlet pressure and temperature of 8.5Mpa and 370K respectively and a speed of 30000 RPM. Results highlighting the effects of the groove length or dam to groove ratio on the performance of the dry gas seal are presented. The seal is simulated using Computational Fluid Dynamics to study the flow behaviour of the supercitical CO2 in the dry gas seal. Supercritical CO2 fluid properties are based on the fluid database REFPROP. The numerical model was validated with previous work and good agreement was demonstrated.

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