Session: 30-11 System Testing

Paper Number: 153521

STEP 10 MWe sCO2 Turbine Simple Cycle Testing 

A 10 MWe sCO₂ turbine was developed and tested for the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power (STEP) demo pilot plant, which is a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) test facility located at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio. The plant was assembled and commissioned for simple cycle operation, and the initial testing of the turbine was performed including electric power generation. The project was developed in partnership between Southwest Research Institute, GTI Energy, and GE Vernova Research Center and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as part of the $169 million STEP Demo project. The goal of the program is to demonstrate mechanical qualification and cycle efficiency in both the simple and recompression recuperated Brayton cycle. Initial testing in the simple cycle configuration was performed with turbine inlet temperatures up to 500°C. This paper provides mechanical and performance test results for turbine which provided over 8 MW of gross shaft power.  Grid connection to the grid permitted over 4 MWe of net electric power output of the plant, achieving the goals for the simple cycle configuration. Other mechanical test data will be presented, including radial vibration and thrust position, along with the operating conditions of the test loop.  The plant will undergo reconfiguration into the RCBC configuration by adding a second (bypass) compressor and a second recuperator with the goal of achieving 10 MWe net electric power output and plant thermal efficiency approaching 50%.

Presenting Author: Jeffrey Moore Southwest Research Institute

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., Dresser-Rand/Siemens Energy, and Southwest Research Institute. 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. Dr. Moore is a member of the Turbomachinery Symposium Advisory Committee, the IFToMM International Rotordynamics Conference Committee, and the API 616 and 684 Task Forces.

Authors:

Jeffrey Moore Southwest Research Institute
John Klaerner Southwest Research Institute
Jonathan Wade Southwest Research Institute
Jason Mortzheim GE Vernova Advanced Research
Sylvain Pierre GE Vernova Advanced Research