Globally, there are vast amounts of low-grade heat sources from industrial waste and renewables that can be converted into electricity through advanced thermodynamic power cycles and appropriate working fluids. In terms of the working fluid’s environmental impact, temperature match of cycle heat processes and system compactness, CO₂ transcritical power cycles (T-CO₂) were deemed more applicable for low-grade heat to power conversion. However, the system thermal efficiency of a T-CO₂ requires further improvement. Subsequently, a test rig of the small-scale power generation system with T-CO₂ power cycles was developed with essential connected components. These include a plate thermal coil CO₂ supercritical heater, a CO₂ transcritical turbine, a plate recuperator, an air-cooled finned-tube CO₂ condenser and a CO₂ liquid pump. Various preliminary test results from the system measurements are demonstrated in this paper. Meanwhile, the system model has been developed and applied to predict system performance at different operating conditions. The simulation results can therefore instruct further design and optimisation of system and components.

在全球范围内，有大量来自工业废料和可再生能源的低等级热源，可以通过先进的热动力循环和适当的工作流体将其转换为电能。就工作流体的环境影响，循环加热过程的温度匹配和系统紧凑性而言，CO ₂跨临界功率循环（T-CO ₂）被认为更适用于低级热能到功率的转换。但是，T-CO ₂的系统热效率需要进一步提高。随后，开发了带有T-CO ₂功率循环的小型发电系统的试验台，其中包含必不可少的连接组件。这些包括板式热线圈CO ₂超临界加热器，CO ₂跨临界涡轮机，平板换热器，风冷翅片管CO ₂冷凝器和CO ₂液体泵。本文展示了来自系统测量的各种初步测试结果。同时，已经开发了系统模型并将其应用于预测不同操作条件下的系统性能。因此，仿真结果可以指导系统和组件的进一步设计和优化。