Design and dynamic modeling of printed circuit heat exchangers for supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton power cycles

Due to the unique geometries and hydraulics of printed circuit heat exchangers and rapidly changing properties of supercritical carbon dioxide, the effective design and rating of printed circuit heat exchangers is an essential requirement for their use in supercritical carbon dioxide power cycles. In this study, one-dimensional design and dynamic models have been developed in Aspen Custom Modeler for printed circuit heat exchangers utilized in printed circuit heat exchangers Brayton power cycles. The design model is used to determine the optimal geometry parameters by minimizing the metal mass. The dynamic model is used to predict transient behavior and can be easily implemented into system-level models developed in Aspen Plus Dynamics for cycle performance evaluations. In these models, the heat transfer coefficient and friction factor are calculated using data reported by Heatric, a prominent printed circuit heat exchanger manufacturer. Both models are validated by comparing with the data from a small-scale exchanger used in the 100 kWe facility operated by the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, and then applied to design and simulate low- and high-temperature recuperators for a 10 MWe supercritical carbon dioxide indirect recompression closed Brayton cycle, which is of interest to the U.S. Department of Energy. The designs and dynamic responses of the printed circuit heat exchangers are compared with conventional shell-and-tube exchangers and microtube shell-and-tube exchangers for the same applications. The simulation results indicate that the proposed printed circuit heat exchangers have fast dynamic responses due to their small metal masses and high heat transfer coefficients compared with the conventional shell-and tube exchangers. Even though the metal masses of the designed PCHEs are slightly higher than those of the microtube shell-and-tube exchangers, the printed circuit heat exchangers are still promising candidates for heat recuperation because of their mature manufacturing procedures and abundant laboratory and industrial operating experience.