Exergetic optimization and comparison of combined gas turbine supercritical CO₂ power cycles

For developing a sustainable power system, the key is to maximize the use of available resources with a minimal impact on the environment. One technique for achieving this is exhaust heat recovery. In this paper, three gas turbine exhaust heat recovery supercritical carbon dioxide combined power cycles are presented. They are combined gas turbine-recompression cycle, combined gas turbine-preheating cycle, and combined gas turbine-simple regenerative cycle. For all the cycles, thermodynamic models are developed and the influence of varying mass flow rates, compression ratio, and mass split/recompression percentages in different components of all three cycles are investigated. Using genetic algorithm, exergetic optimization is done to find the optimal configuration for each cycle. The reduction in CO₂ emissions in presented cycles against fossil fuel power cycles is also assessed. Additionally, a comparison with a simple gas turbine (SGT) and an air bottoming combined cycle (ABC) is presented. The results indicate that owing to exhaust exergy recovery, there is a significant improvement in the energetic and exergetic performance of combined gas turbine-supercritical CO₂ power cycles compared to that of SGT and ABC. The sum of exergy destruction and exergy loss in the combined cycles is lower as compared to the sum in SGT. The reduction in losses compared to SGT is 22.89% in the case of the combined gas turbine recompression cycle and 35.8% in the case of the combined gas turbine preheating cycle (CGTPHC). Moreover, the energetic and exergetic performances of the bottoming supercritical CO₂ recompression cycles (BRECs) are better than those of the bottoming supercritical CO₂ preheating cycle owing to lower exergy destruction in the components of BREC. As a result of comparative analysis based on the exergetic performance and environmental impact, the CGTPHC is selected as an appropriate option for gas turbine exhaust exergy recovery.