SCARABEUS papers presented at the 5th European Conference on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Energy Systems now available for download

The 5th European Conference on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Energy Systems was held in Prague (Czech Republic) on the 15th and 16th of March, 2023. The conference was very well organised by Prof. Dostal (Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic) and Prof. Brillert (Technical University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany).

The excellent scientific programme was comprised of scientific and industrial presentations, combined with interesting keynotes and panel sessions. The SCARABEUS consortium contributed two excellent papers:

  • Illyés, S. Thanheiser, P. Schwarzmayr, P.L. David, X. Guerif. A. Werner, M. Haider, sCO2 test facility at TU Wien: design, operation and results
  • Rodríguez-de Arriba, F. Crespi, D. Sánchez, A. Muñoz, A methodology to design air-cooled condensers for supercritical power cycles using carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide mixtures.

The technical papers presented at the conference are now available for download (Open-Access). Get you copy here: Link

 

Exhibition at the SCARABEUS experimental facility, TU Wien

 

 

 

As SCARABEUS is reaching the final stage of the project(end scheduled in February 2024), the consortium is very glad and proud to announce the Exhibition that will take place at the Science Centre, TU Wien, hosting the experimental facility where the innovative mixtures and components developed in the course of the project have been tested successfully.

A fabulous programme has been set up by the team at TU Wien, with assorted speakers from academia and industry who will share their experience, knowledge and thoughts about supercritical Carbon Dioxide power cycle technology.

10:00 Welcome – Prof. Markus Haider. Inst. for Energy Systems and Thermodynamics, TU Wien.
10:15 The SCARABEUS project and experimental work

Chaired by Markus Haider (TU Wien)

Overwiew about the SCARABEUS-Project

Prof. Giampaolo Manzolini (Project Coordinator)

Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano.

The sCO2-test rig at TU Wien

DI Viktoria Illyés (PhD-student)

Institute for Energy Systems and Thermodynamics, TU Wien

11:15 Coffee break
11:30 Presentation of sCO2-test rig and lab of TUW

Markus Haider, Viktoria Illyés, Andreas Werner

Institute for Energy Systems and Thermodynamics, TU Wien

12:30 Lunch  (Catering)
13:30 sCO2 power cycles: Components I, perspectives and experiments

Chaired by Markus Haider (TU Wien)

sCO2 from Baker Hughes´ perspective

Marco Fiori (MSc),

Product Development, Technology and Innovation Strategy

Baker Hughes.

Future outlook and challenges for implementing sCO2 energy conversion systems

Prof. David Sánchez

Department of Energy Engineering, University of Seville.

sCO2 as a working medium – characteristics of flow and heat transfer

Prof. René Pecnik

Head of Process and Energy Laboratory

Delft University of Technology.

15:00 Coffee break
15:30 sCO2 power cycles: Components II and mixtures

Chaired by Andreas Werner (TU Wien)

Turbomachinery from standpoint of research

Prof. T. Turunen-Saaresti

School of Energy Systems LUT University, Finland

Blends for sCO2 in power cycles

Dr. Andreas Jäger

Head of Working Group for Thermal Energy Machinery and -plants

TU Dresden.

sCO2 test rigs: world wide and in Europe (to be confirmed)

Ing. Otakar Frýbort

Centrum Výzkumu Řež, s.r.o., Czech Republic.

 

Attendance to the Exhibition is free and includes not only a technical tour to the lab and access to the room sessions but also excellent networking opportunities with the partners of the SCARABEUS consortium and fellow attendees. Do not miss this opportunity to get acquainted with the latest developments for next generation Concentrated Solar Power technologies!

Click to download full programme and directions to the venue: download

For more information, get in contact with the Dissemination Manager of the SCARABEUS project: Prof. David Sánchez (ds@us.es)

 

 

 

New project on Supercritical Carbon Dioxide power systems opens 17 positions for Early Stage Researchers across Europe

iSOP stands for Innovation in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Systems. It is a four year project funded by the European Commission through the Marie Sklodovska-Curie subprogramme of Horizon Europe, the 100 billion Euro flagship R&D programme in the EU.

iSOP is an Industrial Doctoral Network (MSCA-DN-IN) coordinated by University of Seville (Prof. David T. Sánchez Martínez) and focused on different yet complementary key aspects of the technology: system integration for internally or externally heated concepts, component (turbomachinery and heat exchangers) design and manufacturing, operation, control, materials, enviro-economics… To investigate each topic, an Early Stage Researcher (Doctoral Candidate) will be recruited by two members of the consortium. This is a unique feature of this class of projects, aimed at maximising the exposure of the researchers to both scientific and industrial environments (50% of the time spent at academia and industry).

Check out the complete list of PhD topics available and the associated beneficiaries involved at the iSOP website: Link

Acknowledgement: ISOP has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme, Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Actions (DN-ID), under Grant Agreement No. 101073266.

Salma Salah successfully passes PhD Viva at City, University of London

As SCARABEUS heads towards the last months of the project, and research outcomes are being disseminated amongst different stakeholders, the younger researchers in the project are also achieving their scientific objectives.

This last week saw Salma Salah, a young researcher at City, University of London, successfully pass her PhD Viva. Within WP3, Salma has worked very hard on the development of the SCARABEUS turbine, in collaboration with Baker-Hughes and interacting with University of Seville to ensure seamless integration with the work carried out in WP5. Let’s have Salma presenting this with her own words:

I have been working during the last four years on a PhD research project entitled “the design and analysis of supercritical carbon dioxide axial turbines”. This research is a part of the SACARABEUS project which aims to demonstrate the application of CO2 blends for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plants to enable cycle efficiencies greater than 50%, and hence enhance competitiveness of CSP technologies in the energy market. Considering that the turbine efficiency significantly affects the overall plant performance, the overall aim of my research is to develop design and optimisation tools for a 100 MWe scale sCO2 multi-stage axial turbine design for concentrated solar power cycles.

Turbine design is a multi-stage process that starts with preliminary aerodynamic design and optimisation using a combination of one-dimensional mean-line design suitable loss models. These models are used to quantify the energy losses that the working fluid experiences during the expansion in the blade rows, and hence they can predict overall turbine performance. To develop a turbine design operating with CO2 blends that stands from a practical design, other considerations should be considered, such as mechanical and rotor-dynamic considerations, to ensure a turbine design withstands the applied stresses and can operate safely under the different operation conditions. Therefore, the scope of this research focused on exploring the existing design methodologies to produce a mean line design for a multi-stage axial turbine operating with CO2 blends and to investigate the validity of the loss models for non-conventional working fluids (such as CO2 and organic fluids). Within this research I worked on developing a mean-line design tool that can optimise the aerodynamic turbine performance alongside complying with rotordynamic and mechanical design criteria.

Additionally, multiple design loss models have been integrated for turbines operating with these non-conventional working fluids. Using the developed tool, the loss models have been computed for air, sCO2 and ORC turbines.

Ultimately, a 14-stage CO2/SO2 flow path has been designed for a 100 MW CSP plant and the financial feasibility of the turbine flow path has been investigated to ensure that the design stands from an economic point.”

The SCARABEUS team would like to congratulate Salma Salah on this major step in her scientific career, and also the supervisors Prof. Abdulnaser Sayma (City, University of London) and Dr. Martin White (University of Sussex) and the entire team at City, University of London. Best of luck for your future professional development Salma!

A copy of Dr. Salah’s thesis can be downloaded from the repository at City, University of London: https://openaccess.city.ac.uk/id/eprint/30364/

 

The third episode of the webinar series on R& Activities on sCO2 in Europe organized by ETN will take place on March 6th

 

As already published on this website, the CO2OLHEAT Project coordinated by ETN Global aims to demonstrate (at TRL7) the operation of a 2 MW Waste-Heat-to-power (WH2P) skid based on a 2MW-sCO2 cycle, able to efficiently valorize local waste heat at a significant temperature of 400°C in the CEMEX cement manufacturing plant in Prachovice (CZ).

 

ETN Global initiated, in September 2022, a series of webinars aimed at providing a forum where the R&D activities in the area of supercritical Carbon Dioxide technologies can be disseminated and made known to a wider audience. This initative has been joined by seven international and national projects, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission (CO2OLHEAT, COMPASsCO2, SCARABEUS, DESOLINATION, SOLARSCO2OL, sCO2-4-NPP) and by national R&D programmes in Germany (CARBOSOLA) and the Czech Republic (sCO2-Efekt).

 

The first webinar, held on September 22nd, aimed to introduce these projects in a single session, providing the main features of the project from technical and administrative standpoints. Opportunities for collaboration between projects and with stakeholders were also highlighted. Presentations can be downloaded from the SCARABEUS website: Link.

 

The second webinar took place on December 5th and presented a focus session discussing the fundamental and technical challenges posed for the design and operation of compressors in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide power systems. Three outstanding speakers covered these aspects; the session turned out very well and the feedback was very positive. Presentations can be downloaded from the SCARABEUS website: Link.

 

The next event will take place on March 6th, 16.00 – 17.00 CET. It will focus on heat exchanger technology, since heat exchangers are core equipment of sCO2 systems with an expectedly strong impact on Capital Costs and performance. Follow this link to registration: Link

 

 

New Supercritical Carbon Dioxide funded by Horizon Europe, and with several partners from within SCARABEUS

 

A new project aimed at advancing supercritical Carbon dioxide technologies has just been kick-started in Europe. The project is titled Innovation in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Generation Systems and is funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie subprogramme (MSCA) of Horizon Europe, under Grant Agreement No. 101073266.

 

The consortium is comprised of nine industrial beneficiaries, six academic beneficiaries, one associated partner whose action is funded by United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI) and five additional associated partners supporting secondments of the doctoral candidates (see map below for details).

 

 

The project is coordinated by Prof. David T. Sánchez Martínez, University of Seville (Spain), and has a total duration of forty eight months, from January 2023 to December 2026. The total budget is M4.45 €, of which M3.84 € are funded by the European Commission and M0.61 € are funded by UKRI.

 

The aim of this four-year work programme is to undertake cutting edge multidisciplinary research and development to make a step change in understanding and advancing Supercritical CO2 based power generation systems’ technology. This will enable a step change in the role played by power and heat cycles to become major contributors to achieving the 2050 zero emissions targets. ISOP will achieve this goal while providing specialised training for 17 doctoral researchers to help establish the backbone of an important industry.

 

You can download the Press Release (download) for further information, or follow this link to navigate the project website: http://isopco2.eu/

 

ISOP PRESS

Presentations of the second webinar on R& Activities on sCO2 in Europe already available

As already published on this website, the CO2OLHEAT Project coordinated by ETN Global is organizing, since September 2022, a series of webinars aimed at providing a forum where the R&D activities in the area of supercritical Carbon Dioxide technologies can be disseminated and made known to a wider audience. This initative has been joined by seven international and national projects, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission (CO2OLHEAT, COMPASsCO2, SCARABEUS, DESOLINATION, SOLARSCO2OL, sCO2-4-NPP) and by national R&D programmes in Germany (CARBOSOLA) and the Czech Republic (sCO2-Efekt).

 

The second webinar, held on December 5th, gathered a very large number of people interested in understanding the fundamentals of sCO2 compressor design and operation as well as the technical challenges that remain hindering the commercial deployment of sCO2 power cycles. Click here to download the presentations in a single file and get ready for the third webinar in Q3 2023: Component Challenge – Compressors.

 

 

 

The second episode of the webinar series on R& Activities on sCO2 in Europe organized by ETN will take place on December 5th

As already published on this website, the CO2OLHEAT Project coordinated by ETN Global aims to demonstrate (at TRL7) the operation of a 2 MW Waste-Heat-to-power (WH2P) skid based on a 2MW-sCO2 cycle, able to efficiently valorize local waste heat at a significant temperature of 400°C in the CEMEX cement manufacturing plant in Prachovice (CZ).

 

ETN Global initiated, in September 2022, a series of webinars aimed at providing a forum where the R&D activities in the area of supercritical Carbon Dioxide technologies can be disseminated and made known to a wider audience. This initative has been joined by seven international and national projects, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission (CO2OLHEAT, COMPASsCO2, SCARABEUS, DESOLINATION, SOLARSCO2OL, sCO2-4-NPP) and by national R&D programmes in Germany (CARBOSOLA) and the Czech Republic (sCO2-Efekt).

 

The first webinar, held on September 22nd, aimed to introduce these projects in a single session, providing the main features of the project from technical and administrative standpoints. Opportunities for collaboration between projects and with stakeholders were also highlighted. Presentations can be downloaded from the SCARABEUS website: Link.

 

The second webinar is coming soon and it will be focused on “compressors”, since this was highlighted as one of the most critical research areas in order to deploy supercritical CO2 power cycles commercially. Three outstanding speakers will cover both fundamentals of sCO2 compressor design as well as technical challenges and industrial experiences: Giacomo Persico (Politecnico di Milano), Marco Ruggiero (Baker-Hughes) and Rasmus Rubycz (Atlas-Copco).

 

The event will take place on December 5th, 14.00 – 15.00 CET. Follow this link to registration: https://lnkd.in/eAtxEwZk

 

 

7th International Seminar on organic Rankine power systems hosted by University of Seville, a SCARABEUS partner – Save the date!

The team led by David Sánchez, Professor of Energy Engineering at University of Seville, will organize the 7th International Seminar on Organic Rankine Cycle Power Systems. This edition of the conference will be held from 4th to 6th of September in the beautiful city of Seville, and will gather the main players across the entire supply chain of ORC power systems.

 

More information about the event is now available in the conference website and LinkedIn account

 

It’s time to mark your calendar for this exciting event!!!

 

 

 

New joint paper by Quantis, University of Seville, Abengoa, Baker-Hughes and Kelvion discusses the carbon footprint of the SCARABEUS concept

A large team from within the SCARABEUS consortium has been assessing the carbon footprint of Concentrated Solar Power plants using supercritical power cycles running on Carbon Dioxide mixtures, in comparison with state of the art power plants relying on steam turbines. This collective work has looked into the contributions of construction and operation to carbon footprint, with a special focus on the singularities introduced by the utilization of an innovative working fluid.

The work was presented at the ASME conference held in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), June 13-17, at a very well attended session where an interesting discussion followed the presentation by Dr. Francesco Crespi, from University of Seville. Life Cycle Environmental Assessment is an ongoing task in SCARABEUS and further results will be published in the coming minths.

The paper is available in Open Access on the publisher’s website (link). Check the abstract below:

The SCARABEUS project, funded by the European Commission, is currently investigating the potential gains brought about by the utilization of carbon dioxide mixtures in supercritical power cycles of Concentrated Solar Power plants, in lieu of the common Rankine cycles based on steam turbines or even pure carbon dioxide cycles. The analysis has already confirmed that it is possible to attain thermal efficiencies higher than 51% when ambient temperatures exceed 40°C, which is unheard of when conventional technology or standard CO2 technology is used. Additionally, this extraordinary performance is achieved with simpler cycle layouts, therefore with lower capital costs. The additives considered include organic and inorganic compounds which are added to the raw carbon dioxide in a variable proportion, depending on the composition of the additive and on ambient temperature. Regardless, it is important to assess whether or not there is an additional environmental advantage in terms of carbon dioxide and other potential hazards brought about by the new chemicals in the system. This is presented in this paper where the results obtained so far by the consortium for the carbon footprint from a Life Cycle perspective are discussed. Along with the assumptions and methodology, the results are compared for three reference plants: state-of-the-art CSP plant based on steam turbines, innovative CSP plant using pure supercritical CO2 technology, and the SCARABEUS concept using supercritical CO2 mixtures. The results are promising as they suggest that it is possible to reduce the carbon footprint of a 110 MWe CSP plant to be significantly less than 27kgCO2/MWh from the fifth assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC AR5)