Supercritical
Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has secured an electricity-generating technology using supercritical carbon dioxide and has moved to commercialize it. This new tech is said to be more efficient and require smaller equipment than existing solutions. The company announced on June 11 that it signed a contract with U.S.-based Echogen Power Systems for an electricity generation technology for waste heat recovery of supercritical carbon dioxide.
Echogen Power Systems is the leader in this field and succeeded in a demonstration test of the electricity generation equipment of seven megawatt supercritical carbon dioxide for the first time in the world. The existing generation equipment produces electricity by running a turbine with high-temperature and high-pressure steam, but supercritical carbon dioxide electricity generation uses a method that runs a turbine by heating carbon dioxide.
As carbon dioxide reaches a supercritical state with lower temperature and pressure than steam, it could raise energy efficiency when using carbon dioxide.
Also, it has the strong points of lower construction costs thanks to the possible miniaturization of major equipment, and significant durability due to the absence of turbine corrosion caused by water.
In particular, it has attracted attention as electricity generation equipment for industrial plants such as cement and steel, in which waste heat could be utilized.
Song Yong-jin, an executive in charge of strategy and planning at Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction, said, “The global market is estimated at two trillion won [US$1.8 billion] per year based on power equipment in the cement, steel, and plant sectors combined. We are aiming to achieve more than 100 billion won [US$89.96 million] in annual sales.”