ASME Turbo Expo & DOE STEP Demo Facility • Next-Gen Supercritical Power
Supercritical CO₂ (sCO₂) Brayton Cycle Power Sizer
Model compact, high-efficiency recompression Brayton power cycles utilizing supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂). Evaluate high-temperature industrial waste heat, concentrated solar power (CSP), and advanced nuclear SMR heat sources achieving 45% to 52% thermal efficiency with 10x smaller turbomachinery footprints than steam Rankine.
🌀 Thermal Heat Source & Cycle Conditions
💵 Economics, LCOE & Section 48 ITC
⚡ sCO₂ Thermodynamic & Output Performance
Commercial sCO2Net Electrical Output
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Gross: --
Thermal Net Efficiency
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Carnot Limit: --
Annual Clean Energy
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GWh / year
Turbomachinery Footprint
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Smaller vs Steam Rankine
Capital Investment & Lifecycle Economics
Turnkey Gross CapEx:
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Section 48 ITC Credit:
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Net CapEx Investment:
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Annual Electricity Revenue:
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Annual O&M Maintenance:
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Simple Payback:
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Diffusion-Bonded PCHE Capital Advantage
High fluid density near critical point yields ultra-compact recuperators with 95%+ thermal effectiveness
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CapEx Saved vs Steam
📐 sCO₂ Thermodynamic Governing Relations
• Carnot Limit: η_carnot = 1 - (T_cold_K / T_hot_K)
• Real sCO2 Thermal Efficiency: η_th = η_carnot * Cycle_Realization_Factor * (η_turb / 0.88)
• Net Power Output: P_net (MWe) = Thermal_Input_MWth * η_th
• Compression Work Reduction: Dense sCO2 (density ~ 500-700 kg/m³) reduces compressor work to ~30% of standard Brayton air cycles
• Annual Generation (GWh) = P_net (MWe) * 8,760 * Capacity_Factor / 1,000