【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】The world’s first 2×15 megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide-based waste heat power generation demonstration project was connected to the grid between 2015 and 2025

On September 26, 2024, the Civil Nuclear Energy Industry Innovation and Development Conference was held in Chengdu. At the conference, a variety of innovative products from fields such as advanced multi-purpose small reactors, nuclear power products, nuclear power technology services, applications of nuclear technology, and advanced energy conversion systems were showcased. Among them, the supercritical carbon dioxide waste heat power generation technology independently developed by the China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute has attracted widespread attention. What kind of new technology is this? How to achieve new types of energy conversion? To this end, the reporter interviewed Researcher Huang Yanping, deputy director and chief engineer of the Second Institute of China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute. Flowing carbon dioxide has more ‘force’ than water vapor. What is supercritical carbon dioxide? We know that water has three states: solid, liquid, and gas. As the temperature and pressure of the environment increase, the point at which the phase boundary between the liquid and gas phases disappears is called the critical point; the state of a substance beyond this critical point is known as the supercritical state. Similar to water, carbon dioxide also has a supercritical state. “When the temperature of carbon dioxide exceeds 31°C and the pressure rises above 73 atmospheres, carbon dioxide enters a supercritical state, which is a continuous fluid state. ”Huang Yanping said that, in simple terms, supercritical carbon dioxide has a density similar to that of water, but its viscosity is much lower than that of water. “In other words, it has greater ‘force’ compared to water, higher performance, and produces less heat as an environmental emission.”

Based on this, power generation using supercritical carbon dioxide as the working fluid allows operation at higher temperatures and pressures compared to traditional thermal power generation technologies that use steam, thereby improving the utilization rate of thermal energy and achieving higher power generation efficiency. Furthermore, through efficient heat conversion, greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly reduced, the impact on the environment can be diminished, and the optimization of the energy structure as well as sustainable development can be promoted. Globally, countries such as the United States, the European Union, and Australia have launched relevant research programs in recent years ； In our country, this technology has been included in the \"14th Five-Year Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation in the Energy Sector.\" Universities, research institutions, and enterprises are all competing to be at the forefront of this new field where revolutionary breakthroughs in energy conversion are possible. Developing key equipment from scratch to achieve global leadership in technology; new technologies mean exploring from zero. Previously, Huang Yanping’s team focused on research in pressurized water reactor technology, and began working on supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion technology in 2009. “At that time, this technology was completely unknown in the country; there were no precedents to follow, and old methods could not be applied to this new technology – one had to explore on their own. ”Huang Yanping recalled. The key equipment used in this technology includes heat sources, expanders, compressors, heat exchangers, etc. Among them, compressors play an important role in rapidly increasing the density of carbon dioxide. “At that time, it was a ‘strategic bottleneck’ technology. ”Huang Yanping said. But precisely because it was lacking, the team began to explore boldly, focusing on solving practical problems. They collaborated with Dongfang Electric to use gas turbine technology in the design, but soon encountered a problem: gas turbine technology is of the open type, with the gases produced after power generation being released directly into the environment ； On the other hand, supercritical carbon dioxide power conversion technology is a closed system; a closed cycle must be established within it in order to achieve a higher energy conversion efficiency. The team also faced another challenge: the supercritical carbon dioxide heat exchanger, which was also an entirely new concept in China at that time. Huang Yanping used an analogy: supercritical carbon dioxide heat exchange is like a strong man carrying sacks at a dock; having great strength, he can carry several sacks at a time. But the problem is that tools are needed to help move the heavy sacks from the dock onto the strong men’s shoulders. “A heat exchanger is such a tool that transfers energy from a heat source to a working fluid. The even greater challenge was that at that time, there were no industrial machines available to manufacture such special heat exchangers. ” Faced with these challenges, the team conducted continuous calculations, analyses, and experiments over the years 1967 and 1968; eventually breaking the international monopoly, they invented the industrial prototype for supercritical carbon dioxide energy transfer technology, and acquired the capability to develop entire systems as well as key components such as microchannel heat exchangers, compressors, and turbines. In 2018, China’s first supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton power generation system was developed successfully. “Through the Brayton cycle, thermal energy can be efficiently converted into electrical energy, offering advantages such as high efficiency, light weight, and better environmental sustainability. ”Huang Yanping said. On this basis, between 2019 and 2020, the team achieved the world’s first full-power, stable power generation using a megawatt-class supercritical carbon dioxide system, and developed a megawatt-class supercritical carbon dioxide power generation system based on a recompression cycle. By 2021, the efficiency of this system had increased by 30% compared to 2019, placing it at the forefront of global technology in this field. Beyond hardware devices, over the past decade or so, the team has carried out technical research and development as well as iterative testing to create the world’s first unified modeling and analysis platform for advanced nuclear energy systems based on Modelica, namely NUMAP. Huang Yanping said that this software system functions like a \"nervous system\"; as the project progresses, it continues to \"grow.\" After about a year, enough data will have been accumulated, which will enable support for engineering design and the creation of digital twins for the project. \"This will then lay the foundation for further development of design plans for related devices.\" ”Currently, this software system has also been introduced into university classrooms as an elective course for students in related new engineering disciplines.

By the end of this year, the world’s first demonstration project will be generating electricity at full capacity. During the interview, Huang Yanping’s phone kept ringing; it was from clients who wanted to learn more about this technology and discuss potential future collaborations. ” It may be turning into reality: the team has shared good news – by the end of this year, the world’s first 2×15 MWe-class sintering waste heat-supplied supercritical carbon dioxide power generation system, for which the Nuclear Power Institute is responsible for the supply of all components, will begin operating at full capacity at the Shuigang steel plant site in Liupanshui, Guizhou, thus achieving the goals set for this demonstration project. Compared to traditional power generation methods, this technology is not cheap. In terms of economic benefits, taking this world’s first demonstration project as an example, Huang Yanping did some calculations: with no changes to the original sintering process, supercritical carbon dioxide technology improves the efficiency of waste heat utilization by 42% compared to the existing sintering waste heat steam power generation technology, resulting in a 115% increase in the system’s net power output. More than 90 million kWh can be generated each year, resulting in income of nearly 50 million yuan from power production. Considering a 20-year operational life for the units, the total profit over the entire investment period exceeds 1 billion yuan. “In short, it generally takes about three years to recoup the investment cost. ” Industry experts believe that this technology can also be combined with various heat sources to form power generation systems, enabling electricity production from sources such as fossil fuels, nuclear energy, solar thermal energy, industrial waste heat, geothermal energy, and biomass. This allows for the creation of modular, intelligent power generation units with different power levels, ranging from kilowatts to gigawatts. They estimate that the current market size is already in the hundreds of billions, with the potential to exceed one trillion in the future. However, this technology still faces significant obstacles to widespread adoption in the domestic market. “At present, this technology lacks relevant standards and specifications, and there are no corresponding systems or regulations for the commercialization of related technical achievements. ”Huang Yanping said that these shortcomings are not conducive to the high-power application of this technology nor to motivating researchers to be innovative. “In today’s highly competitive global environment, competitors are advancing at a rapid pace; we must not slack off. We need to overcome existing barriers and explore more potential applications in order to meet society’s demand for efficient and clean energy. ”

【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】2791-2025: Fuda Zijin Hydrogen Energy unveils China’s first 1,000-kilogram-class commercial ammonia decomposition hydrogen production and hydrogen refueling station https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-5704209-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)

【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】Successful First Operation of the Pilot Plant for Producing Liquid Fuels via Hydrogenation of High-Temperature Coal Tar, 2813–2025, Qingdao Institute of Energy, Chinese Academy of Sciences https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-5704913-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)

【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】2796-2025: Construction Management of Ethylene Process Piping Projects at Huanqiu Liu Jian’s Tarim Project Site – Completion of All Tasks https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-5704422-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Industry Forum)