Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

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Energy Conversion and Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/enconman

Optimization and comparison on supercritical CO2 power cycles integrated T

within coal-fired power plants considering the hot and cold end
characteristics
⁎
Ming Liu, Xuwei Zhang, Kaixuan Yang, Yuegeng Ma, Junjie Yan
State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Flow in Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The integration of supercritical CO2 (SCO2) cycle instead of steam Rankine cycle may be a revolutionary
Supercritical CO2 cycle technique to increase the efficiency of coal-fired power plants. To effectively extract exergy from the fluegas and
Thermodynamics convert exergy to power, the characteristics of hot end (heat reservoir) and cold end (heat sink) should be fully
Optimization considered, and the system multi-parameters should be optimized. In this study, based on a benchmark coal-fired
Coal
power plant integrated with a recompression SCO2 power cycle, quantitative efficiency enhancements of system
Genetic algorithm
improvements of the hot end and cold end for SCO2 power cycle are calculated and compared. The optimized
efficiency of benchmark coal-fired plant integrated with recompression SCO2 power cycle is 45.43%. When the
fluegas at the economizer outlet is effectively used, the power plant efficiency can be increased by 1.32%. With
single and double reheats to decrease the heat transfer irreversibility of the hot end, the power plant efficiency
can be increased by 1.77% and 2.24%, respectively. Cold end optimization with single intercooling and cold air
preheating can increase the power plant efficiency by 0.32% and 0.33%, respectively. Finally, a simple structure
system and a complex structure system are proposed. With optimal system parameters, the power plant effi-
ciencies of the complex and simple systems are 49.32% and 48.52%, respectively.

1. Introduction scholars worldwide. Feher [10] preliminarily studied the thermo-

Coal, an important primary energy source, is economically compe-
titive and a secure fossil fuel for power generation. Coal power will
approximately account for 31% of total power generation in 2030 [1].
Therefore, energy saving in coal-fired power plants is essential to
achieve sustainable development. In conventional coal-fired power
plants, water is used as the working fluid, and the Rankine cycle is used
for power generation. Technologies, including increasing temperature
and pressure of the live steam [2,3], reheat [4], and waste heat re-
covery [5], have been applied to increase the efficiency of coal-fired
power plants. In recent years, a revolutionary technique that uses su-
percritical CO2 (SCO2) Brayton cycle instead of the steam Rankine
cycle as the main cycle has been proposed and has drawn attention
[6–8].
The SCO2 Brayton cycle uses the supercritical CO2 (SCO2) as
working fluid, which is non-toxic, non-flammable, and low-corrosive.
Studies on the SCO2 Brayton cycle have been carried out since 1940s.
Sulzer [9] first proposed a partially condensed CO2 Brayton cycle in
1948. The advantages of SCO2 cycle have attracted attention from
dynamic performance of SCO2 power cycle and found that pressure loss
highly influences cycle efficiency, and compressor efficiency has
minimal effect on cycle efficiency. Angelino [11] conducted a detailed
thermodynamic analysis of the SCO2 power cycle and found that the
thermal efficiency of the recompression SCO2 power cycle is higher
than that of the single reheat steam power cycle when the turbine inlet
temperature exceeds 650 °C. The SCO2 power cycle is normally char-
acterized to have high thermal efficiency, compact structure, and high
power density. It can evolve to different cycle configurations and fit
various heat reservoirs. Moreover, it is suitable for power generation
applications, such as nuclear power [12–14], solar power [15–17], and
waste heat recovery [18–20].
Studies concerning the integration of SCO2 coal-fired power plants
(SCPP), which focus on the power cycle configuration and performance
evaluation, have begun in the last few years. System optimizations and
evaluations are based on a recompression SCO2 cycle. The basic scheme
of coal-fired power plant integrated with a recompression SCO2
Brayton cycle and its T-S diagram are shown in Fig. 1. The heat ex-
changers of the boiler include gas wall (GW), high-temperature

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: yanjj@mail.xjtu.edu.cn (J. Yan).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2019.05.077
Received 4 April 2019; Received in revised form 21 May 2019; Accepted 23 May 2019
Available online 29 May 2019
0196-8904/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Liu, et al.
Fig. 1. Recompression SCO2 cycle for coal-fired power plant.
superheater (HSH), low-temperature superheater (LSH), economizer
(ECO), and air preheater (APH). The low-temperature and low-pressure
SCO2 is pressurized in the main compressor (MC), enters the low-
temperature recuperator (LTR) and the high-temperature recuperator
(HTR) to recover the heat of the high-temperature exhaust gas of the
turbine (TU), and is sequentially heated by the ECO, GW, LSH, and HSH
in the boiler. The high-temperature and high-pressure SCO2 expands to
generate power in the turbine. The turbine exhaust gas is sequentially
cooled in the HTR and the LTR. It then splits into two parts: one cools in
the precooler (PC) and the other mixes with SCO2 at the cold side outlet
of the LTR.
System optimizations aim to decrease the exergy destruction and
loss in hot end, cycle internal irreversibilities, and exergy loss in cold
end. These studies will be reviewed and stated with the system and
parameters as shown Fig. 1.
The fluegas of coal-fired boiler is a variable-temperature heat re-
servoir, and its available heat exits in a large temperature range
from ∼1500 °C to ∼100 °C. The highest temperature of SCO2 cycle
(turbine inlet temperature, T5) is restricted by the material selected to
construct the power plants, which is ∼600 °C. Therefore, the fluegas
exothermic curve and the SCO2 endothermic curve are not well mat-
ched, causing a large irreversibility of heat transfer. Single or multiple
stage reheats is an effective way to address this issue. The introduction
of reheating has been proven effective in increasing the cycle efficiency
[21]. For example, Moullec [7] proposed an SCCP with CO2 capture
using two-stage reheats to improve cycle efficiency. Mecheri carried out
an economic study [22] and compared cycle performance among dif-
ferent reheat stages [23]. Moreover, the SCPP developed by Institute for
Advanced Engineering used double reheats [24]. Single-reheat SCCP
was adopted by Zhou et al. [25] to perform exergy analysis and opti-
mization. Xu et al. [25] compared the SCCPs with single reheat and
double reheats, and optimal reheat pressure was obtained. In their
further studies [26,27], double reheats were used.
The temperature of SCO2 fluid fed to the boiler is about 400 °C in
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Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865
the recompression SCO2 cycle, as shown in Fig. 1. Cooling the fluegas
to ∼120 °C is difficult for the APH when the hot air temperature is
restricted by the material constructing the APH. Moreover, the fluegas
leaving the ECO should be further cooled to a suitable temperature
range (∼350 °C) to ensure denitration [28]. Therefore, an additional
ECO (AECO) is added in the boiler to efficiently use the medium tem-
perature fluegas energy. The coolant in the AECO was selected, and its
parameters were optimized. Mecheri and Moullec [6,22,23] proposed a
system using the SCO2 extracted from the MC outlet to cool the medium
temperature fluegas. Sun et al. [26] compared an additional bottom
cycle to efficiently extract exergy from medium temperature fluegas,
and six bottom cycles were compared. Geng et al. [29] designed an
SCO2 power cycle with fluidized bed combustion, and the SCO2 ex-
tracted from LTR outlet was used as coolant for AECO. Zhang et al. [28]
led all or a part of the SCO2 from the RC outlet as the coolant of the
AECO.
For the cold end of the recompression SCO2 cycle, the SCO2 exo-
thermic curve and the cooling water endothermic curve did not match
well. Fig. 1(b) shows that the SCO2 is cooled in PC, and it has high
temperature (about 80 °C), which is higher than the ambient tempera-
ture. The large heat transfer temperature difference will cause a large
exergy loss. Introducing the intercooling is an effective method to ad-
dress this issue. White et al. [30] integrated two-stage intercoolers in
their system. Xu et al. [31] adopted a single intercooler in their cycle.
The exergy carried by the SCO2 exhaust can be recovered and used in
the SCO2 cycle [32,33]. However, no studies have been carried out on
the application for coal-fired power plants.
Several system improvements have been proposed based on the
recompression SCO2 power cycle to effectively extract exergy from the
fluegas and convert the exergy to power, as listed in Table 1. However,
the efficiency enhancement by different system improvements cannot
be quantitatively compared due to the different system parameters of
SCO2 cycle, as shown in Table 1. Moreover, multi-parameter optimi-
zation is not mentioned in literature; however, it is needed to explore
M. Liu, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

Table 1
Previous typical studies on coal-fired power plants integrated with SCO2 cycle.
Year Parameter Configuration characteristics Power plant efficiency Ref.

2016 30 MPa/620 °C/620 °C/620 °C Double reheats, Using SCO2 from MC outlet as the coolant of AECO 47.8% [6]
2018 30 MPa/620 °C/620 °C/620 °C Double reheats, Intercooling, Using SCO2 MC outlet as the coolant of AECO, Partial flow strategy for SCO2 48.37 [31]
boiler, Two-stage APHs
2018 20 MPa/530 °C/530 °C Single reheat, Single compression, Using SCO2 from MC outlet as the coolant of AECO, Three-stage 41.9% [24]
recuperators (KIER)
2018 20 MPa/620 °C/620 °C/620 °C Double reheats, Using SCO2 from MC outlet as the coolant of AECO, Single recuperator (IAE) 43.9% [24]
2018 29.6 MPa/650 °C Intercooling, Using SCO2 from MTR outlet as the coolant of AECO, Three-stage recuperators 49.5% [34]
2018 31 MPa/600 °C/620 °C Single reheat, Using SCO2 RC outlet as the coolant of AECO 50.71% [28]
2018 ∼30 MPa/760 °C/760 °C Single reheat, Two-stage intercoolers, Using SCO2 from RC outlet 51.30% [30]

the performance of the power cycle to decrease the internal exergy
destruction (irreversibilities) of the power cycle. No studies have been
carried out to recover exergy from exhaust SCO2 on the application of
coal-fired power plant. Therefore, system improvements of re-
compression SCO2 cycle are analyzed and compared considering the
hot end and cold end characteristics of coal-fired power plants in this
study. Furthermore, multiple system parameters are optimized by the
genetic algorithm. This paper aims to provide quantitative efficiency
enhancements of various types of system improvements and design
efficient SCPP considering these cycle improvements.
The rest of paper is organized as follows: A brief description of the
thermodynamic analysis and parameter optimization models is given in
Section 2. The benchmark SCPP system, which is a coal-fired power
plant integrated with recompression SCO2 power cycle, and its opti-
mization results are presented in Section 3. Results and discussions are
presented in Section 4. The quantitative efficiency enhancements of
system improvements from the hot end and cold end of SCO2 power
cycle are obtained. Optimized system configurations considering hot
end and cold end characteristics are proposed. The conclusions and
main results are presented in the last section.
2. Thermodynamic analysis and parameter optimization models
2.1. Thermodynamic models
The SCPPs include boilers, turbines, compressors, recuperators, and
pre-coolers. To analyze and optimize the performance of SCPPs, ther-
modynamic models for these devices and system performance were
developed and are presented in this section.
2.1.1. Model of coal-fired boiler
Boiler efficiency (ηb) is used to represent boiler performance, which
can be calculated as [35]:
ηb = 100 − q2 − q3 − q4 − q5 − q6
where q2 is heat loss ratio due to boiler exhaust gases, %; q3 is heat loss
ratio due to unburned gaseous combustibles, %; q4 is heat loss ratio due
to unburned solid combustibles, %; q4 is heat loss ratio due to radiation
and convection, %; and q6 is other heat loss ratio, %. The heat losses qi
(i = 3–6) are assumed as constant except q2 when different SCO2 sys-
tems are integrated within coal-fired power plants.
The available heat of boiler (Q0) is calculated as:
Q0 = ηb ·Qr = ηb ·B·LHV
where Qr is boiler input heat, kW; B is coal consumption of power plant,
kg·s−1; and LHV is the lower heating value of coal, kJ·kg−1.
2.1.2. Model of SCO2 power cycle
The import and export parameters of SCO2 cycle devices are cou-
pled, so the cycle thermodynamic model is developed based on the
models and their relationship of devices [17]. The CO2 property is re-
ferred to REFPROP 9.1 [36]. For conciseness, models of SCO2 cycle
devices are not presented.
The outlet conditions of the MC and the RC are determined by the
inlet conditions and the isentropic efficiency of the compressor. The RC
split ratio (SR1) is expressed as the ratio of the RC mass flow rate to the
total mass flow rate as follows:
SR 1= mRC / m (3)
−1 −1
where mrc is mass flow of RC, kg·s ; and m is total mass flow, kg·s .
Main compressor input power is calculated by using
WMC = m ·(1 − SR1)·(hMC,out − hMC,in )
= m ·(1 − SR1)·(hMC,out,is − hMC,in )/ ηMC,is (4)
where hMC,in and hMC,out are the enthalpies of the MC inlet and outlet,
respectively, kJ·kg−1; hMC,out,is is the isentropic enthalpy of the MC
outlet, kJ·kg−1; and ηMC,is is the MC isentropic efficiency.
Similarly, recompressor input power is calculated as
WRC = m ·SR1·(hRC,out − hRC,in )
= m ·SR1·(hRC,out,is − hRC,in )/ ηRC,is (5)
where hRC,in and hMC,out are the enthalpies of the RC inlet and outlet,
respectively, kJ kg−1; hRC,out,is is the isentropic enthalpy of the RC
outlet, kJ·kg−1; and ηRC,is is the RC isentropic efficiency.
For turbines, the outlet conditions depend on inlet conditions and
isentropic efficiency, and the turbine output power is expressed as
WT = m ·(hT,in − hT,out ) = m ·(hT,in − hT,out,is)·ηT,is (6)
where hT,in and hT,out are the enthalpies of turbine inlet and outlet,
respectively, kJ·kg−1; hT,out,is is the isentropic enthalpy of the turbine
outlet, kJ·kg−1; and ηT,is is the turbine isentropic efficiency.
The heat transfer of HTR and LTR satisfies the law of energy con-
servation. With heat loss ignored, HTR heat transfer is calculated as
QHTR = mHTR,h ·(hHTR,h,in − hHTR,h,out )
= mHTR,c ·(hHTR,c,out − hHTR,c,in ) (7)
(1)
where hHTR,h,in and hHTR,h,out are the enthalpies of the HTR inlet and
outlet, respectively, at the hot side, kJ·kg−1; hHTR,c,in and hHTR,c,out are
the enthalpies of the HTR inlet and outlet, respectively, at the cold side,
kJ·kg−1; and mHTR,h and mHTR,c are the mass flow rates of the HTR hot
and cold sides, respectively, kg·s−1.
LTR heat transfer is calculated as
QLTR = mLTR,h ·(hLTR,h,in − hLTR,h,out ) mLTR,c ·(hLTR,c,out − hLTR,c,in ) (8)
where hLTR,h,in and hLTR,h,out are the enthalpies of the LTR inlet and
(2)
outlet, respectively, at the hot side, kJ·kg−1; hLTR,c,in and hLTR,c,out are
the enthalpy of the LTR inlet and outlet, respectively, at the cold side,
kJ·kg−1; and mLTR,h and mLTR,c are the mass flow rates of the LTR hot
and cold sides, respectively, kg·s−1.
The second split ratio (SR2) is expressed by the ratio of the mass
flow rate of SCO2 to the AECO to the total mass flow rate as follows:
SR 2= mAECO/ m (9)
−1
where mAECO is mass flow of SCO2 to the AECO, kg·s .
AECO heat transfer is calculated as

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M. Liu, et al.
QAECO = m ·SR2·(hAECO,out − hAECO,in ) (10)
where hAECO,in and hAECO,out are the enthalpies of the AECO inlet and
outlet, respectively, kJ·kg−1.
The heat transfer of the boiler’s other heaters is calculated as
QH = m ·(hH,out − hH,in ) (11)
where hH,in and hH,out are the enthalpies of the boiler’s other heaters’
inlet and outlet, respectively, kJ·kg−1.
The heat release of supercritical CO2 in the precooler is calculated
as
QPC = m ·(1 − SR1)·(hPC,in − hPC,out ) (12)
where hPC,in and hPC,out are the enthalpies of the PC inlet and outlet,
kJ·kg−1.
The cycle efficiency (ηc) of the SCO2 power cycle is expressed as:
WT − WMC − WRC
ηc =
Q0 (13)
where WT is turbine output power, kW; WMC is MC input power, kW;
and WRC is RC input power, kW.
The power plant efficiency (ηcp) of SCPP is calculated as:
ηcp = ηb ·ηp ·ηc ·ηm ·ηg (14)
where ηp is efficiency of pipe that connects the boiler and SCO2 power
cycle, %; ηm is mechanism efficiency, %; and ηg is generator efficiency,
%.
2.2. Parameter optimization method
Regarding the system configuration of SCPP, the SCPP performance
is affected by its key parameters, which must be optimized to obtain the
best SCPP performance. Many parameters affect SCPP performance,
including MC inlet temperature and pressure, turbine inlet temperature
and pressure, recuperator terminal temperature difference, and equip-
ment pressure drop; hence, optimizing multiple parameters is compli-
cated. Genetic Algorithm [37,38] is chosen to optimize SCPP para-
meters because of its simple modeling, fast calculation, wide
applicability, and strong searching capability.
Genetic algorithm is a method to search for optimal solutions by
simulating natural evolutionary processes. The main principle is to first
compose the initial population by coding and then evaluate the fitness
of each individual in the population to achieve the survival of the fittest
in the population. Finally, the new population is generated through
selection, crossover, and mutation. The process is implemented re-
peatedly and gradually approaches the global optimum solution.
3. Parameter optimization of benchmark SCPP system
To obtain efficiency enhancements by various system improve-
ments, a benchmark SCPP is introduced and optimized. The SCPP basic
configuration (SCPP-BC) uses the tower coal-fired boiler as the heat
reservoir, as shown in Fig. 1. SCPP-BC is analyzed and optimized.
3.1. Basic parameters
In this study, the basic parameters of SCPP are chosen based on a
conventional 1,000 MW power plant. The coal consumption of the re-
ference power plant is 92.78 kg·s−1, and the live steam parameters are
30 MPa and 600 °C. The pipe efficiency, mechanism efficiency, and
generator efficiency are 99%, 99.5%, and 99.5%, respectively. The
outlet air temperature of APH is 332 °C. The boiler heat losses q3, q4, q5,
and q6 are 0, 0.4%, 0.4%, and 0.3%, respectively. Composition and
heating value of the feeding coal are shown in Table 2.
In the SCPP-BC, the pressure drop of each device on the low-pres-
sure side is equal, the pressure drop of each equipment on the high-
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Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865
Table 2
Composition and heating value of the feeding coal.
Mar/% Aar/% Car/% Har/% Nar/% Oar/% Sar/% LHVar/MJ·kg−1
14.00 12.00 61.45 3.61 0.71 7.80 0.43 23.42
*C - carbon), H - hydrogen, O - oxygen, N - nitrogen, S - sulfur, A - ash), M –
moisture, LHV - lower heating value. Subscripts are expressed as received basis,
Car + Har + Oar + Nar + Sar + Aar + Mar = 100%.
pressure side is equal, and the pipe pressure drop is ignored. The cal-
culation of SCPPs is based on the constant coal consumption. Table 3
lists the main parameters of SCPP-BC.
For the SCPP-BC, the SCO2 temperature of ECO inlet varies with the
parameters which change the boiler exhaust temperature. The boiler
exhaust heat loss (q2) and boiler efficiency can be calculated.
3.2. Optimization results
The key parameters, such as MC inlet pressure and temperature,
turbine inlet pressure, and temperature, have great influence on the
SCPP-BC performance. To obtain the optimal performance of the SCPP-
BC, the genetic algorithm is used to optimize the four key parameters:
MC inlet temperature and pressure, turbine inlet temperature and
pressure. Table 4 lists the variation range of the parameters optimized.
Optimization ranges of parameters are chosen in terms of traditional
coal-fired power plants with water as working fluid. Turbine inlet
parameters are mainly determined using installation materials. The live
steam temperature of coal-fired power plants is ∼600 °C, and it is ap-
proved to be a technologically feasible and cost-effective parameter.
According to the optimized results of the genetic algorithm, the
optimal MC inlet temperature and the optimal turbine inlet temperature
are 32 °C and 600 °C, respectively. The optimal values of the MC inlet
pressure and the turbine inlet pressure are 7.7 and 30 MPa, respec-
tively. Power plant efficiency increases with turbine inlet temperature
and pressure, and decreases with the compressor inlet temperature, as
reported in Ref. [29]. Thus, the optimal values of the MC inlet tem-
perature, turbine inlet temperature, and turbine inlet pressure are the
boundaries of the chosen ranges. Turbine inlet pressure is also opti-
mized with the exhaustive method. The power plant efficiency with the
exhaustive method is 45.45%.
Based on the optimal parameters, the state points and the perfor-
mance of the SCPP-BC are calculated, as shown in Tables 5 and 6, re-
spectively. The results show that the total mass flow of SCPP-BC is
7,722.7 kg·s−1, 33.2% of which is split into the RC to be compressed.
The inlet flue-gas temperature of APH is 426.5 °C, which results in high
boiler exhaust temperature of 181.6 °C. The boiler efficiency is 91.64%.
The cycle efficiency is 50.65%. The boiler input heat is 2,172.9 MW,
987.2 MW of which is converted to power. The power plant efficiency
of SCPP-BC is 45.43%, which is very close to the optimized value with
the exhaustive method with a relative error of 0.02%. Thus, the accu-
racy of Genetic Algorithm is acceptable. The recuperators have high
heat load that the high-temperature recuperator and the low-tempera-
ture recuperator are 1,877.9 and 1,286.4 MW, respectively.
For the SCPP-BC, the insufficient utilization of the medium tem-
perature fluegas heat in the boiler rear causes high boiler exhaust
temperature, resulting in high boiler exhaust heat loss and low boiler
efficiency. The cycle efficiency can be further improved by increasing
the average endothermic temperature and reducing the average exo-
thermic temperature. Hence, the SCPP-BC is improved and optimized to
improve power plant efficiency in the next section.
M. Liu, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

Table 3
SCPP main parameters.
Item Value Item Value

MC inlet temperature/°C 32 Turbine efficiency/% 93

MC inlet pressure/MPa 7.7 Equipment pressure loss at low pressure side/MPa 0.10
Turbine inlet temperature/°C 600 Equipment pressure loss at high pressure side/MPa 0.15
Turbine inlet pressure/MPa 30 Recuperator terminal temperature difference/°C 6
Compressor isentropic efficiency/% 90 Terminal temperature difference of flue-gas heat exchanger/°C 30

Table 4
Parameter range.
Item Value Item Value

MC inlet temperature/°C 32–45 Turbine inlet temperature/°C 500–600

MC inlet pressure/MPa 7.4–8.4 Turbine inlet pressure/MPa 20–30

Table 5
Optimal parameters SCPP-BC state points.
State point* Temperature/°C Pressure/MPa Mass flow/kg·s−1

1 32.0 7.70 5159.6

2 76.1 30.45 5159.6
3 214.5 30.30 5159.6
3′ 214.5 30.30 2563.1
3′' 214.5 30.30 7722.7
4 396.5 30.15 7722.7
5 600.0 30.00 7722.7
6 433.5 8.00 7722.7
7 220.5 7.90 7722.7
8 82.1 7.80 7722.7
8′ 82.1 7.80 5159.6
8′' 82.1 7.80 2563.1

*state points are marked Fig. 1

Table 6
SCPP-BC performance optimal results.
Item Value Item Value

−1
Coal consumption rate/kg·s 92.78 HTR heat load/MW 1877.9
Total mass flow rate of 7722.7 LTR heat load/MW 1286.4
SCO2/kg·s−1
SR1 0.332 PC heat load/MW 982.6
Boiler input heat/MW 2172.9 APH inlet flue-gas 426.5
temperature/°C
Net power/MW 1008.5 Boiler exhaust 181.6
temperature/°C
Electric power/MW 987.2 Boiler efficiency (ηb)/% 91.64
Turbine output power/MW 1435.6 Cycle efficiency (ηc)/% 50.66
MC input power/MW 184.6 Power plant efficiency (ηp)/ 45.43
%
RC input power/MW 242.6

4. Results and discussions

4.1. Hot end system and parameter optimization

The hot end configuration of the SCPP can be improved by reheats

and further extracting exergy from the fluegas at the outlet of ECO.

4.1.1. Medium temperature fluegas heat utilization

The medium temperature fluegas heat at the ECO outlet can be
further cooled by low-temperature SCO2 in the AECO, which can re-
duce boiler exhaust temperature and improve boiler efficiency.
However, absorbing heat from medium temperature fluegas utilization
will decrease the average endothermic temperature of SCO2 power
cycle, resulting in decreased cycle efficiency. Therefore, the optimiza- Fig. 2. SCPP with different MFHUs.
tion of medium temperature fluegas heat utilization system balances

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M. Liu, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

the tradeoffs of boiler efficiency and SCO2 cycle efficiency. This paper
compares three medium temperature fluegas heat utilization systems
(MFHU), as shown in Fig. 2.

(1) MFHU 1. The low-temperature SCO2 from RC outlet is mixed with

that of LTR outlet at cold side and enters the AECO to recover the
medium temperature fluegas heat. Afterward, the SCO2 tempera-
ture rises, and it is sent to the HTR.
(2) MFHU 2. A part of the low-temperature SCO2 from the RC outlet is
diverted into the AECO to absorb medium-temperature fluegas
heat. It mixes with the SCO2 from the HTR outlet at cold side and
enters the ECO to absorb heat.
(3) MFHU 3. A part of the low-temperature SCO2 from the RC outlet
absorbs heat in the bottoming cycle recuperator (BTR) and enters
the AECO to absorb medium-temperature fluegas heat. After the
temperature rises, it expands to generate power in the bottoming
cycle turbine (BTU). The BTU exhaust has a high temperature to
heat SCO2 of the BTR cold side. It is sent to the LTR inlet at the hot
side and returned to the SCPP.
Fig. 3. Performance comparison of SCPP-BC and SCPP with MFHUs.
The SCPP with MFHUs was studied following the parameters in
Section 3.1. Parameters were optimized by using the genetic algorithm and 50.31%, respectively; moreover, power plant efficiency increases to
to obtain optimal performance. The optimal temperatures of SCO2 are 46.10%, 46.75%, and 46.42%, respectively.
shown in Fig. 2. In summary, the system improvement with MFHUs can improve the
The optimal performance of SCPP with MFHUs is compared and power plant efficiency of SCPP, and the SCPP with MFHU 2 has the
listed in Table 7. Table 7 shows that the total SCO2 mass flow of the highest power plant efficiency, followed by MFHU 3, and MFHU 1. For
SCPP with MFHU 1 is 7,774.7 kg·s−1, 30.9% of which is diverted into MFHU 1 and MFHU 2, only an AECO is added to the boiler rear, and the
the RC. The total SCO2 mass flow of the SCPP with MFHU 2 is SCPP configurations are relatively simple. For MFHU 3, a BTU and a
7,942.6 kg·s−1, and 33.2% and 3.2% of which are diverted into the RC BTR are appended into SCPP in addition to the AECO, relatively causing
and AECO, respectively. The total SCO2 mass flow of the SCPP with complex structure. Hence, the SCPP with MFHU 2 is the best option.
MFHU 3 is 7,999.1 kg·s−1, of which 33.2% is diverted into the RC, and
3.3% is split into the AECO. The boiler exhaust temperature of SCPP
with MFHUs is 126.7 °C, corresponding to the boiler efficiency of 4.1.2. Reheats
94.26%. Reheats can increase the average endothermic temperature of the
The performance of SCPP-BC and SCPP with MFHUs are compared, SCO2 power cycle, increasing the cycle efficiency accordingly. By
as shown in Fig. 3. The SCPP-BC recovers medium temperature fluegas contrast, reheaters will increase the flow resistance of the SCO2 cycle,
heat in the boiler rear insufficiently, resulting in boiler efficiency of resulting in decreased cycle efficiency. Therefore, the effect of reheat on
91.64%. The cycle efficiency and power plant efficiency are 50.66% SCPP performance is relatively complex.
and 45.43%, respectively. Compared with the SCPP-BC, the boiler ex- The MFHU 2 is a good system improvement for using medium-
haust temperature of SCPP with MFHUs all decrease to 126.7 °C, and temperature fluegas heat. Therefore, this system is adopted when the
the corresponding boiler efficiency all increase to 94.26%. The cycle reheats are added. The reheat temperature is assumed to be 600 °C. The
efficiency of SCPP with MFHU 1, 2, and 3 decreases to 49.96%, 50.66%, diagram of SCPP with single reheat is shown in Fig. 4. With regard to
single reheat, SCO2 expands in high-pressure turbine (HTU), tempera-
Table 7 ture decreases, and it enters the boiler to absorb heat. When the tem-
Performance results of SCPP with MFHUs. perature of SCO2 increases again, it enters the low-pressure turbine
(LTU) to expand for power. According to the parameters of SCPP in
Item Medium temperature fluegas heat utilization
Section 3.2.1, the influence of reheat pressure and the stages of reheats
MFHU 1 MFHU 2 MFHU 3 on SCPP performance is studied.
Reheat pressures are key parameters affecting the SCPP power plant
−1
Coal consumption rate/kg·s 92.78 92.78 92.78
efficiency For the SCPP with single reheat, the influence of reheat
Total mass flow rate of 7774.7 7942.6 7999.1
SCO2/kg·s−1 pressure on power plant efficiency is shown in Fig. 5(a). With the in-
SR1 0.309 0.332 0.332 crease of the reheat pressure, the power plant efficiency first increases
SR2 / 0.032 0.033 and then decreases. When the reheat pressure is 16 MPa, the power
Boiler input heat/MW 2172.9 2172.9 2172.9 plant efficiency reaches 48.52%. The temperature at optimal para-
Net power/MW 1023.6 1037.7 1030.4
meters is shown in Fig. 4. Fig. 5(b) illustrates the effect of reheat
Electric power/MW 1001.9 1015.7 1008.6
TU output power/MW 1441.6 1472.9 1435.6 pressure on power plant efficiency of SCPP with double reheats. The
BTU output power/MW \ \ 37.2 first and second reheat pressures greatly influence power plant effi-
MC input power/MW 191.8 188.3 191.2 ciency, and a group of the optimal first and second reheat pressure
RC input power/MW 226.3 246.9 251.3
maximizes power plant efficiency. The optimal first and second reheat
HTR heat load/MW 1859.8 1951.1 1951.1
LTR heat load/MW 1339.3 1319.6 1877.9 pressure are 20 and 13 MPa, respectively, and the power plant effi-
BTR heat load/MW \ \ 10.2 ciency is increased to 48.99%. The optimal distribution of turbine ex-
PC heat load/MW 1024.6 1010.5 1332.4 pansion ratios satisfy π1≈π2≈π3···≈πn≈π1/n because the physical
Boiler exhaust temperature/°C 126.7 126.7 126.7 property of turbine inlet SCO2 with high temperature and high pressure
Boiler efficiency (ηb)/% 94.26 94.26 94.26
is close to the ideal gas.
Cycle efficiency (ηc)/% 49.96 50.66 50.31
Power plant efficiency (ηp)/% 46.10 46.75 46.42 When multiple reheats are adopted, many parameters influence the
SCPP performance, leading to complicated optimization process. The

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M. Liu, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

Fig. 4. SCPP with single reheat.

genetic algorithm is used to optimize the parameters and obtain the

optimal SCPP performance. The variation of the power plant efficiency
with the stage of reheats is shown in Fig. 6. When the pressure drop of
reheaters is not considered, the larger the number of reheats is, the
higher the power plant efficiency. When the pressure drop of reheater is
considered at 0.1 MPa, the power plant efficiency increases first and
then decreases with the increase of the stage of reheat. The increase of
stage of reheat raises the pressure drop, thereby reducing power plant
efficiency.
Fig. 7 shows the variation of the power plant efficiency increment
with the stage of reheat. Considering the pressure drop, the power plant
efficiency of SCPP with single reheat is 1.77% higher than that of SCPP
without reheat. The power plant efficiency of SCPP with double reheats
is 0.47% higher than that of the SCPP with single reheat. As the stage of
reheat increases, the power plant efficiency increment decreases. When
the number of reheat exceeds 4, the power plant efficiency decreases
due to the flow resistance.

4.2. Cold end system and parameter optimization Fig. 6. Influence of reheats on power plant efficiency.

The cold end is optimized from the intercooling and the cold end
waste heat recovery.

Fig. 5. Influence of reheat pressure on power plant efficiency.

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M. Liu, et al.
Fig. 7. Influence of reheats on power plant efficiency increment.
4.2.1. Intercooling
Intercooling can reduce the average exothermic temperature of the
SCO2 power cycle, thus increasing cycle efficiency. Intercooling in the
additional system devices leads to increased flow resistance of SCO2
cycle, which will decrease cycle efficiency. The diagram of SCPP with
one-stage intercooler is shown in Fig. 8. With regard to single inter-
cooling, SCO2 of the cold end is cooled by the first precooler and
compressed in the first main compressor. Afterward, it is cooled down
by the second precooler (SPC) and pressurized in the second main
compressor again.
According to the parameters of SCPP in Section 3.2.1, the influence
of intercooling pressure and the number of intercooling on SCPP per-
formance is studied. The inlet temperature of each MC is assumed to be
32 °C.
The SCPP with MFHU 2 is used as the basic system to investigate the
influence of intercooling. Intercooling pressure affects the SCPP power
plant efficiency. For the SCPP with single intercooling, the influence of
intercooling pressure on power plant efficiency is shown in Fig. 9(a).
Fig. 8. SCPP with single intercooler.
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Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865
With the increase of the intercooling pressure, the power plant effi-
ciency increases first and then decreases. When the intercooling pres-
sure is 10 MPa, the power plant efficiency reaches 47.07%, and the
optimal intercooling pressure is close to the lower limit. The tempera-
tures at optimal conditions are shown in Fig. 8. Fig. 9(b) illustrates the
effect of intercooling pressure on power plant efficiency of SCPP with
double intercooling. The optimal first and second intercooling pressure
are 9 and 12 MPa, respectively, and the power plant efficiency is in-
creased to 47.10%.
The variation of power plant efficiency with the stage of inter-
cooling is shown in Fig. 10, and the genetic algorithm is adopted to
obtain optimal parameters. If the pressure drop of equipment is ne-
glected, then the power plant efficiency increases with the stage of
intercooling. If the pressure drop of intercooler is assumed as 0.1 MPa,
the power plant efficiency first increases and then decreases with the
increase of intercooling stage.
Fig. 11 shows the variation of the power plant efficiency increment
with the stage of intercooling. Considering the pressure drop, the power
plant efficiency of SCPP with single intercooling is 0.32% higher than
that of SCPP with no intercooling. The power plant efficiency of SCPP
with double intercooling is only 0.03% higher than that of the SCPP
with single intercooling.
4.2.2. Waste heat recovery from cold end
A large amount heat of the cold end is taken away by the cooling
water, resulting in the cold end loss. The cold end loss can be decreased
by recovering it to preheat cold air that is fed to the boiler. The SCPP
with MFHU 2 is used as the basic system to investigate the influence of
waste heat recovery from the cold end. Cold air is preheated in the
additional air preheater (AAPH) to recover waste heat of the cold end,
as shown in Fig. 12.
According to the parameters in Section 3.2.1, parameters of SCPP
with AAPH are optimized by the genetic algorithm to obtain the op-
timal performance. The performance results are shown in Table 8. The
temperatures at optimal conditions are shown in Fig. 12. The cold
source loss of 19.8 MW is recovered by cold air, so the air absorption
heat in the APH is reduced, the boiler available heat is increased, and
the boiler efficiency reaches 95.17%. The cycle efficiency and power
plant efficiency are 50.54% and 47.08%, respectively.
M. Liu, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

Fig. 9. Influence of intercooling pressure on power plant efficiency.

Fig. 12. SCPP with waste heat recovery to preheat air.

Fig. 10. Influence of number of intercooling on power plant efficiency.

Table 8
Performance results of SCPP with waste heat recovery to preheat air.
Item Value Item Value

−1
Coal consumption rate/kg s 92.78 RC input power/MW 245.8
Total mass flow of SCO2/kg s−1 8060.0 HTR heat load/MW 2008.9
SR1 0.330 LTR heat load/MW 1330.1
SR2 0.054 PC heat load/MW 1003.0
Boiler input heat/MW 2172.9 AAPH heat load/MW 19.8
Net power/MW 1045.4 Boiler exhaust temperature/ 126.7
°C
Electric power/MW 1023.1 Boiler efficiency (ηb)/% 95.17
T output power/MW 1482.4 Cycle efficiency (ηc)/% 50.54
MC input power/MW 191.5 Power plant efficiency (ηp)/ 47.08
%

efficiency of SCPP-BC is 45.43%. The MFHU 2, which uses low-tem-

Fig. 11. Influence of number of intercooling on power plant efficiency incre-
ment.
4.3. Comparison and optimized systems
Based on SCPP-BC, the SCPP configuration is optimized from the hot
end and cold end. MFHU, reheat, intercooling, and waste heat recovery
of the cold end are studied in detail, as shown in Fig. 13. MFHU and
reheating can greatly improve power plant efficiency. The power plant
perature SCO2 from the recompressor outlet to absorb the medium-
temperature fluegas heat directly, increases power plant efficiency by
1.32%. The power plant efficiency is improved by 1.77% by a single
reheat. However, intercooling and waste heat recovery of the cold end
show lower improvement compared with SCPP performance. The
power plant efficiency of SCPP with MFHU 2 is 46.75%, which could be
further increased by 0.32% and 0.33% by single intercooling and
AAPH, respectively.
Based on the comparison and calculation above, two optimized
systems are proposed. In terms of increasing the efficiency of the
system, a complex SCPP is proposed in the paper, as shown in Fig. 14.
The SCPP is integrated with double reheats, MFHU 2, single inter-
cooling, and AAPH. According to the parameters in Section 3.2.1, the

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M. Liu, et al.
Fig. 13. Performance comparison of different SCPPs.
parameters of the SCPP are optimized by the genetic algorithm to ob-
tain the optimal performance. Under the optimal parameters, the
temperature of the state points of SCO2 cycle are calculated, as shown
in Fig. 14.
Fig. 15 shows the energy flows in the complex optimized SCPP. The
boiler efficiency can reach 94.86% by utilizing medium fluegas heat in
boiler rear and preheating cold air. The cycle efficiency is increased to
53.10%, and the power plant efficiency of the complex SCPP is in-
creased to 48.52%.
Complex system brings high cost and construction difficulties.
Therefore, considering efficiency and cost, a simple SCPP, which is only
integrated with the MFHU 2 and single reheat, is proposed, as shown in
Fig. 16. It has a relatively simple structure and acceptable power plant
efficiency. According to the parameters in Section 3.2.1, parameters of
the SCPP are optimized by the genetic algorithm to obtain the optimal
performance. The parameter values of the state point are calculated
under the optimal parameters, as shown in Fig. 16.
Fig. 17 shows the flows in the simple optimized SCPP. The boiler
efficiency can reach 94.26% by recovering low- and medium-fluegas
heat in the boiler rear. The cycle efficiency and the power plant effi-
ciency are 52.59% and 48.52%, respectively. Compared with the
complex optimized SCPP, the power plant efficiency of the simple SCPP
is 0.80% lower; the complexity and cost of the simple SCPP are
Fig. 14. Optimal complex configuration of SCPP with system improvements.
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Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865
significantly reduced.
Considering that high turbine inlet temperature has been reported
and studied by previous researchers [30], the efficiency improvements
of proposed systems are evaluated with turbine inlet temperature of
760 °C. The power plant efficiencies of simple and complex SCPPs
shown in Figs. 14 and 16 are calculated as 53.55% and 54.44%, re-
spectively.
5. Conclusion
Recompression SCO2 power cycle is characterized as high thermal
efficiency. When the cycle is directly derived by a heat reservoir of the
coal-fired boiler, some issues including low boiler efficiency and large
exergy loss to heat sink should be addressed by considering the hot end
and cold end characteristics. Therefore, based on a benchmark coal-
fired plant integrated with recompression SCO2 cycle, the quantitative
efficiency enhancements of system improvements from the hot end and
cold end are calculated and compared. The main conclusions of this
study are as follows:
1) The benchmark coal-fired plant is integrated with recompression
SCO2 cycle, the turbine inlet temperature of 600 °C is optimized,
and the power plant efficiency is 45.43%.
2) Three methods to extract the exergy from medium-temperature
fluegas outflow from economizer are compared. The power plant
efficiency is increased by 0.67%, 1.32%, and 0.99%. The method in
which a part of SCO2 is led from the low-temperature recuperator
outlet to the additional economizer has the highest efficiency en-
hancement. Moreover, the system structure is simple.
3) The efficiency enhancement by reheats is evaluated. The power
plant efficiency of coal-fired power plant first increases and then
decreases with the increase of reheat stages due to the pressure drop
of the reheaters. The power plant efficiency can be increased by
1.77% and 2.24% by single reheat and double reheats, respectively.
4) Intercooling and cold air preheating are attempted to decrease the
exergy loss to the heat sink. The power plant efficiency could be
increased by 0.32% and 0.33% with single intercooling and cold air
preheating, respectively. The plant efficiency will decrease with
over two intercooling stages.
5) A complex and a simple optimized system considering hot end and
cold end characteristics are obtained with optimal system parameter
efficiency of 49.32% and 48.52%, respectively.
M. Liu, et al. Energy Conversion and Management 195 (2019) 854–865

Fig. 15. Energy flows of the complex SCPP.

Fig. 16. Optimal simple configuration of SCPP with system improvements.

Fig. 17. Energy flows of the simple SCPP.

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