Thermodynamic analysis and equilibration response time prediction of recuperator in the SCO2 Brayton cycle

The recuperator of supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) Brayton cycle significantly affects the system's flexible control due to its thermal inertia. In this study, the structural parameters and operating parameters of recuperator are considered to quantitatively analyze the law of their influence on equilibration response time. Chebyshev spectrum method has been innovatively applied to the one-dimensional dynamic response model of recuperator. The dynamic response time of recuperator under the condition of temperature variation on the hot side is analyzed. The results show that reducing the thermal inertia of solid wall (by increasing the specific surface area of recuperator) can effectively decrease the equilibrium time. Additionally, the rate of inlet temperature variation should not be too large to reduce the thermal inertia of fluid. The zigzag channel demonstrates better dynamic response characteristic than straight channel. A novel dimensionless formula, based on structure and operating parameters, is proposed to quantitatively characterize and predict the equilibrium time for both straight and zigzag channel, the error is within ±20 %. Moreover, a high-precision neural network is trained to predict the equilibrium time directly. The results provide significant theoretical and application support for alleviating the thermal inertia of PCHE and improving the flexibility of SCO2 system.