Review of supercritical CO2 power cycle technology and current status of research and development

TLDR

The supercritical CO₂ Brayton cycle is attracting attention for next‑generation nuclear reactors because it offers high efficiency at mild turbine inlet temperatures, a compact footprint, and suitability for diverse heat sources such as nuclear, fossil, waste, and renewable energy. This paper reviews the current development progress of the S‑CO₂ cycle and compares various cycle layouts in terms of performance.

Abstract

The supercritical CO2 (S-CO2) Brayton cycle has recently been gaining a lot of attention for application to next generation nuclear reactors. The advantages of the S-CO2 cycle are high efficiency in the mild turbine inlet temperature region and a small physical footprint with a simple layout, compact turbomachinery, and heat exchangers. Several heat sources including nuclear, fossil fuel, waste heat, and renewable heat sources such as solar thermal or fuel cells are potential application areas of the S-CO2 cycle. In this paper, the current development progress of the S-CO2 cycle is introduced. Moreover, a quick comparison of various S-CO2 layouts is presented in terms of cycle performance.