Prospects of Mixtures as Working Fluids in Real-Gas Brayton Cycles
This paper discusses the thermodynamic characteristics of the closed Brayton cycles in which the compression is placed near the critical point of the working fluid. Under these conditions, the specific volumes of the fluid during the compression are a fraction of the corresponding values under ideal gas conditions, and the cycle performances improve significantly, mainly at moderate top temperatures. As the heat is discharged at about the critical temperature, the choice of the correct working fluid is strictly correlated with the environmental temperature or with the temperature of potential heat users. To resort to mixtures greatly extend the choice of the right working fluid, allowing a continuous variation of the critical temperature. These cycles have a high power density, and the use of ordinary turbomachinery is accompanied by high capacities (tens of megawatts). In the low power range, microturbines or reciprocating engines are required. One important constraint on the choice of the right working fluid is its thermochemical stability that restricts the operative temperatures. Among the organic compounds, the maximum safe temperatures are limited to about 400 °C and, forecasting high temperature applications, it could be interesting to explore the potentiality of the inorganic compounds as secondary fluids in binary mixtures.
The role of real gas Brayton cycles for the use of liquid natural gas physical exergy.
Abstract When using the cooling capacity of LNG several thermodynamic schemes are proposable employing conventional and non conventional conversion cycles. All conventional systems make use of organic working fluids such as methane or propane in series of Rankine cycles used in a cascading mode. A simpler system is available, using a single cycle and a single fluid in a Brayton cycle. However ordinary Brayton cycles exhibit a modest efficiency. Resorting to Brayton cycles with strong real gas effects (which is possible selecting the base parameters of pressure and temperature in the vicinity of the critical point) improves considerable cycle performance. Since the level of cold in a LNG flow is thermodynamically predetermined, working fluids must be selected with a critical point which fit the LNG thermal capacity, i.e. some 5–15 C higher than the usual LNG temperature which is around −160 °C. Nitrogen was found as the best fluid to exploit real gas effects with efficiencies above 63% while perfect gas cycles give efficiencies around 56%. However, in real gas cycles the cooling capacity of LNG is only partially exploited: a better exploitation is obtained from perfect gas cycles or for more complex cascading Rankine cycle. Selecting working fluids with a higher critical temperature than nitrogen, as for example argon, the efficiency decreases to 58% respect to 63% for nitrogen, but the utilization of the cold of LNG improves from 0.30 MW/(kg/s) to 0.75 MW/(kg/s). Obviously as heat rejection temperature increases a larger fraction of cold in the LNG flow can be utilized. Combined cycles making use of a gas turbine offer also a good performance. The merits of real gas effect Brayton cycles also in this case remains evident. Finally, it is theoretically possible to use real gas effect Brayton cycles at low temperatures, which are typical of waste heat (say 100–150 °C: in this case cycle efficiency remain good, but power obtainable from a unit flow of LNG is modest.
The microscale obstacle-resolving meteorological model MITRAS v2.0: model theory
Abstract. This paper describes the developing theory and underlying
processes of the microscale obstacle-resolving model MITRAS version 2. MITRAS
calculates wind, temperature, humidity, and precipitation fields, as well as
transport within the obstacle layer using Reynolds averaging. It explicitly
resolves obstacles, including buildings and overhanging obstacles, to
consider their aerodynamic and thermodynamic effects. Buildings are
represented by impermeable grid cells at the building positions so that the
wind speed vanishes in these grid cells. Wall functions are used to calculate
appropriate turbulent fluxes. Most exchange processes at the obstacle
surfaces are considered in MITRAS, including turbulent and radiative
processes, in order to obtain an accurate surface temperature. MITRAS is also
able to simulate the effect of wind turbines. They are parameterized using
the actuator-disk concept to account for the reduction in wind speed. The
turbulence generation in the wake of a wind turbine is parameterized by
adding an additional part to the turbulence mechanical production term in the
turbulent kinetic energy equation. Effects of trees are considered
explicitly, including the wind speed reduction, turbulence production, and
dissipation due to drag forces from plant foliage elements, as well as the
radiation absorption and shading. The paper provides not only
documentation of the model dynamics and numerical framework but also a solid
foundation for future microscale model extensions.
