SCARABEUS: Supercritical CARbon dioxide/Alternative fluids Blends for Efficiency Upgrade of Solar power plants
The aim of the SCARABEUS project is to demonstrate the capability of transcritical cycles, working with CO2-based binary mixtures in CSP plants, to reduce CAPEX (the target of the project is -30%) and OPEX (target -35%) with respect to state-of-the-art steam cycles, thus exceeding the reduction achievable with standard supercritical CO2 technology. This would translate into a LCOE below 96 €/MWh.
The partners of SCARABEUS will adapt the modelling of the cycle to CO2 mixtures with proper equations of states, along with the design of the heat exchangers and the turbomachinery involved. The partners will collect experimental data on various promising CO2 mixtures, and they will also demonstrate the innovative fluid and newly developed heat exchangers at a relevant scale (300 kWth) for 300 h in a CSP-like operating environment.
Project start: 1 April 2019
Project expected end: 31 March 2023
Partners: Politecnico di Milano, TU-WIEN, Universidad de Sevilla, City University of London, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Kelvion, Abengoa, Quantis
For further detailes on the project, please visit https://www.scarabeusproject.eu/
For additional information or queries, please contact Prof. Giampaolo Manzolini (giampaolo.manzolini@polimi.it).