Thermal Analysis of a Novel Power Cycle that Incorporates Recompression with Main Compression Intercooling Brayton Cycle Cascaded with Compression-absorption Refrigeration Cycle

Abstract

This study describes the development of a novel integrated cooling and power system that incorporates two cascade compression-absorption refrigeration (CCAR) systems as heat recovery systems for the recompression with main compression intercooling s-CO2 Brayton (RMCIB) cycle. The proposed system undergoes thermal analysis, and the resulting output is compared to the primary system according to the principles of thermodynamics. Several parametric analyses are conducted in Python programming language against different boundary conditions to observe the nature of the system under different circumstances. Besides, exergy destruction occurring throughout the various components of the system is also analyzed. The outcomes of analysis indicate that the thermal efficiency of the RMCIB cycle can be enhanced by up to 15.38% and the 2nd law efficiency can be improved by up to 3.35% with the integration of two CCAR as heat recovery systems. Under optimum boundary condition, the proposed system can produce 64 MW net work and 12 MW cooling load at the expense of 100 MW as input heat in the heaters of the system. It has been shown through parametric analysis that the integrated system shows a noticeable improvement with the increase of three operating parameters: turbine inlet temperature, compressor inlet temperature, and pressure ratio. The exergy analysis shows that there is a total exergy destruction of 35.43 MW, with the majority of the exergy loss occurring inside the components of the power cycle. Heaters and recuperators are mainly responsible for exergy destruction (12.12% and 10.54%) which can be a concern for the future research.