Session: 30-10 Systems 2

Paper Number: 129200

129200 - STEP 10 MWe sCO2 Turbine Commissioning 

A 10 sCO2 turbine was developed for the  Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) Demo pilot plant, which supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) test facility located at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, has been assembled and initial commissioning of the turbine has been performed. The project was developed in partnership with GTI Energy and GE Research and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the $156 million STEP Demo project.  The goal of the program is to demonstrate cycle efficiency in both the simple and recompression recuperated Brayton cycle.  Initial testing in the simple cycle configuration will be performed with turbine inlet temperatures up to 500°C.  The turbine has a 16 MW output yet weighs only 80 kg making it the highest power density of any industrial turbine.  This paper provides initial commissioning results of the turbine system including subsystem commissioning like lube oil and dry gas seal systems, evaluation of piping loads, and final alignment.  The initial rotation and break-in of the turbine is described along with the preliminary rotordynamic evaluation and performance measurements.  Other mechanical test data will be presented like radial and thrust bearing temperatures, dry gas seal cavity temperature, balance piston leakage, and casing temperature gradients. 

Presenting Author: Jeffrey Moore Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)

Presenting Author Biography: Dr. Jeffrey Moore is an Institute Engineer in the Machinery Section at Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. He holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. His professional experience over the last 33 years includes engineering and management responsibilities related to centrifugal compressors and gas turbines at Solar Turbines Inc. in San Diego, CA, Dresser-Rand (now Siemens Energy) in Olean, NY, and Southwest Research Institute in San Antonio, TX. His interests include advanced power cycles and compression methods, rotordynamics, seals and bearings, computational fluid dynamics, finite element analysis, machine design, controls, aerodynamics, and oxy-combustion. He has authored over 45 technical papers related to turbomachinery, co-authored four book chapters related to compression, sCO2 power cycles, energy storage, and hydrogen machinery, and has five patents issued.

Authors:

Jeffrey Moore Southwest Research Institute (SwRI)
John Klaerner Southwest Research Institute
Jonathan Wade Southwest Research Institute
Jason Mortzheim General Electric Vernova
Giridhar Jothiprasad General Electric Aerospace