CARBOSOLA

sCO₂ as working fluid for innovative power plants Commercial facilities usually generate electrical energy by open, direct heated Brayton or Joule processes (gas turbines) and closed, indirect heated Rankine processes (steam circuit). Instead, a novel and innovative concept suggests supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) as a working fluid for the Brayton process. Thereby, the low fluid viscosity at high density enables compacter components and small plant foot prints. Furthermore, numerous studies underline the potential and higher efficiency of sCO₂ power cycles in comparison to conventional energy conversion units.
In the frame of the CARBOSOLA project the design and commissioning of an operating technical scale facility with sCO₂ as a working fluid was performed at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. Temperatures up to 600 °C and 650 °C at 300 bar and mass flow rates of 1.32 kg/s and 3.3 kg/s are possible.