Numerical modelling and performance maps of a printed circuit heat exchanger for use as recuperator in supercritical CO2 power cycles

In heat to power systems with CO₂ as working fluid in the supercritical state (sCO₂), heat exchangers account for nearly 80% of the capital expenditure. Therefore, improved design, materials and manufacturing methodologies are required to enable the economic feasibility of the sCO₂ technology. In this study, a comparison of different modelling methodologies for Printed Circuit Heat Exchangers (PCHE) is proposed to identify strengths and weaknesses of both the approaches. The elementary heat transfer unit of a PCHE recuperator for sCO₂ applications is firstly modelled using 1D and 3D CFD methodologies respectively; implemented in GT-SUITE and ANSYS FLUENT software. After the comparison in terms of heat transfer performance and pressure drops, the 1D approach is used to model a 630kW PCHE recuperator. The PCHE model calibration on the design point, followed by its validation against off-design operating points provided by the manufacturer, eventually enabled to broaden the simulation spectrum and retrieve performance maps of the device. The CFD models comparison shows a good agreement between temperature profiles. However, the local heat transfer coefficient, modelled in the 1D approach through the Dittus-Boelter correlation, experiences a +10% offset on the hot side and a -20% on the cold one with respect to the 3D CFD calculations. Besides, the performance maps of the full scale PCHE recuperator show that the maximum temperature of the hot stream impose a greater influence than the maximum pressure of the cold one in terms of overall heat transfer coefficient. Nonetheless, both these operating parameters contribute to affect the heat exchanger effectiveness.