Construction, Design and Calculations

Supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) cycles are very perspective and they are researched globally. The application of this gas medium is fairly wide and it could be find both in the nuclear and non-nuclear power systems. Current research consider S-CO2 to be a suitable coolant used for the secondary circuits of power plants. The specific studies were made within the framework of the European research project dealing with the Gas-cooled Fast Reactors development. The possible usage of the S-CO2 in the secondary circuit was studied in order to improve the efficiency of the whole power plant. This type of the research has to be studied and verified using the experimental data. That is the reason why the experimental facilities are needed. Research Centre Rez deals with this R&D topic in the frame of the SUSEN (Sustainable Energy) project. One of the goals of this project is to build the S-CO2 experimental loop. This Supercritical carbon dioxide experimental loop was designed and is currently being built. This loop will be useful for material testing, vibration of variously heated channels, wrapping turbine blades, heat-exchangers tests, etc. Heat-exchangers testing depending on the CO2 purity will be one of the experimental issues. Design parameters of the S-CO2 loop are defined by:- max. temperature = 550 °C,- max. pressure = 25 MPa,- max. mass flow rate = 0,35 kg/s,- heating power = 100 kW