POWER September 2020 - 13

GLOBAL MONITOR
5. The low-temperature recuperator and main process cooler are delivered
to the building that will house the 10-MW Supercritical Transformational
Electric Power (STEP) pilot plant at Southwest Research
Institute's campus in San Antonio, Texas. Courtesy: STEP Demo
commissioning, comprehensive testing will mitigate risks in
the advancement of sCO2
technology components and demonstrate
performance over a range of operating conditions, illustrating
the operability and performance of this high-efficiency
power cycle, " the STEP Demo coalition said on July 1.
According to GTI, by the end of the STEP Demo's six-year
project, the operability of the sCO2
power cycle will be demonstrated
and documented, starting with facility commissioning
as a simple closed recuperated cycle configuration initially
operating at a 500C (932F) turbine inlet temperature and progressing
to a recompression closed Brayton cycle technology
(RCBC) configuration operating at 715C (1,319F).
The transformational technology essentially uses highpressure
CO2
unique properties of supercritical CO2
instead of steam in a closed power cycle. " The
offer intrinsic benefits
over steam as a working fluid in closed and semi-closed cycles
to absorb thermal energy, to be compressed, and to impart
momentum to a turbine, " GTI explained. The project will also
uniquely attempt to advance the state-of-the-art for high-temperature
sCO2
power cycle performance from proof of concept
(technology readiness level [TRL] 3) to system prototype validated
in an operational system (TRL 7). TRLs offer a method of
estimating the maturity of technology, and range from 1 (basic
principle observed) to 9 (total system used successfully in project
operations). TRLs do not, however, indicate the quality of
technology implemented in designs.
Advancing the sCO2
technology has involved designing and
manufacturing the highly compact turbomachinery needed for
the system's aerodynamics, seals, and durability. It has so far
also involved designing, scaling, and fabricating the recuperators-and
ensuring they are durable. Much work is also focused
on materials development to address corrosion, creep, and fatigue,
as well as to ensure system integration and operability.
Among the project's notable objectives are that it will demonstrate
" the potential for producing a lower cost of electricity
in relevant applications, " as well as " the potential for a thermodynamic
cycle efficiency of greater than 50%. " The facility
has been designed to be " reconfigurable " to accommodate
for future testing, including for system and cycle upgrades,
new cycle configurations, such as cascade cycles or directly
fired cycles, and new or upgraded components, such as for
turbomachinery, recuperators, and heat exchangers.
For now, GTI is confident that " Developing and maturing the
technology at pilot scale will facilitate its commercialization
and spur the development of necessary designs, materials,
components, operation and control systems, sensors, and understanding
and characterization needed for larger-scale sCO2
power conversion systems. "
September 2020 | POWER
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POWER September 2020

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