Operation and analysis of a supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle.

Sandia National Laboratories is investigating advanced Brayton cycles using supercritical working fluids for use with solar, nuclear or fossil heat sources. The focus of this work has been on the supercritical CO{sub 2} cycle (S-CO2) which has the potential for high efficiency in the temperature range of interest for these heat sources, and is also very compact, with the potential for lower capital costs. The first step in the development of these advanced cycles was the construction of a small scale Brayton cycle loop, funded by the Laboratory Directed Research & Development program, to study the key issue of compression near the critical point of CO{sub 2}. This document outlines the design of the small scale loop, describes the major components, presents models of system performance, including losses, leakage, windage, compressor performance, and flow map predictions, and finally describes the experimental results that have been generated.