Session: 30-10 Component Design and Testing

Paper Number: 154214

Lessons Learned With Valve Design, Commissioning, and Testing at the STEP 10 MWe sCO2 Facility 

Valves are one of the most important pieces of equipment in fluid systems, with their usage helping perform all aspects of operation and maintenance. Designing valves for severe service is a demanding task but designing them for supercritical CO2 (sCO2) can be even more challenging. With manufacturers having limited design and material guidance and a lack of industry expertise for large bore sCO2 valves, manufacturers often rely on previous design and experience from severe service such as that of steam applications, which may not be suitable in this field. This paper covers the lessons learned through the commissioning, and operation, focusing on the deficiencies encountered with novel valves and Commercially off the shelf (COTS) valves designed for the 10 MWe Net sCO2 (STEP) facility. It discusses how the deficiencies that were identified were mitigated for project success, including the aspects of mechanical design, controller, and material modifications. These lessons emphasize the importance of material selection, testing and close monitoring of novel components through plant and component commissioning. They also emphasize how through monitoring of components during nominal operations to ensure optimal equipment behavior, one can gather information regarding anomalies, and make determinations of when changes need to be performed for successful operation and longevity of such mechanical devices.

Presenting Author: George Khawly SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE

Presenting Author Biography: George Khawly is a key member of the team working on the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power
(STEP) Pilot Plant, a 10 MWe super-critical carbon dioxide pilot plant, during which he has been performing subsystem analysis, design, and integration and has been assisting in the creation and maintenance of piping and
instrumentation diagrams and termination drawings. Additionally, he has led the commissioning efforts of several
systems including the control valves and pressure relief valves and applied his previous experience to provide guidance for the cooling tower system commissioning, operation, and maintenance. Mr. Khawly has experience operating the STEP facility and troubleshooting commissioning issues quickly and efficiently as they arise. He utilizes his understanding of complex system interactions gained through modeling activities and apply that understanding to the physical plant while it is operating.

Authors:

George Khawly SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Joshua Warren Southwest Research Institute
J. Jeffrey Moore Southwest Research Institute
Brian Moreland Southwest Research Institute