Turbines

TC Energy to work with Korean company to commercialize super-critical CO2 generation

Hanwha Power Systems aims to expand its sCO2 power generation business in the North American market.

TC Energy to work with Korean company to commercialize super-critical CO2 generation
(Credit: Hanwha Power Systems)

Hanwha Power Systems announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with TC Energy to develop a super-critical carbon dioxide (sCO2) waste heat recovery (WHR) project which will utilize the heat stream at a natural gas pipeline compressor station. 

The Korea-based Hanwha Power Systems is an industrial compressor supplier and a provider of sCO2 power generation systems and hydrogen/ammonia gas turbine solutions. Hanwha Power Systems plans to secure this sCO2 commercialization project as a foundation for expanding its sCO2 power generation business in the North American pipeline market.

The MOU outlines the installation of an sCO2 power generation system at a compressor station owned and operated by TC Energy in the state of West Virginia. The system is intended to recover the unused waste heat exhaust from a gas turbine compressor set, and provide a lower cost, carbon free renewable generation solution.

sCO2is a fluid that, under conditions exceeding 31°C temperature and 74 bar pressure, exhibits both the properties of a liquid and a gas. The sCO2 power generation system combines this characteristic of supercritical CO2 with Hanwha Power Systems’ integrally geared turbomachinery technology, maintaining the sCO2 in a closed-loop system.

(Credit: Hanwha Power Systems)

Power cycles based on super-critical carbon dioxide (sCO2) as the working fluid have the potential to yield higher thermal efficiencies at lower capital cost than state-of-the-art steam-based power cycles, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). When carbon dioxide (CO2) is held above its critical temperature and pressure, it acts like a gas yet has the density of a liquid. In this supercritical state, small changes in temperature or pressure cause dramatic shifts in density – making sCO2 a highly efficient working fluid to generate power.

“This MOU with TC Energy brings us one step closer to the successful commercialization of sCO2 power generation systems,” said Justin (Koo Yung) Lee, CEO of Hanwha Power Systems. “We will continue to contribute to carbon reduction in the oil and gas market by successfully expanding the application of sCO2 power generation systems across a wide range of compressor stations.”

Earlier this year, the Supercritical Transformational Electric Power, or “STEP” Demo pilot plant generated electricity for the first time using sCO2 power cycles. The $169 million, 10 MW sCO2 facility at the Institute in San Antonio is demonstrating the next- technology in a project led by GTI Energy. Partners include SwRI, GE Vernova, the U.S. Department of Energy/National Energy Technology Laboratory (U.S. DOE/NETL) and several other industry participants.

For the first time, SwRI said the pilot plant’s turbine achieved its full speed of 27,000 RPM at an operating temperature of 260°C and generated a small amount of power. The Insitute said the STEP team would slowly ramp up the operating temperature to 500°C and generate 5 MWe of power. After completion of this first test configuration, the STEP Demo project entered its final phase, where the pilot plant would be reconfigured to boost its efficiency and overall energy output. SwRI said this modification requires the installation of new equipment, as well as a new commission and test phase that would continue into 2025 until the pilot plant is running at full power. At the end of its final phase, the pilot plant would produce 10 MWe hourly.

The STEP Demo pilot plant is one of the largest demonstration facilities in the world for sCO2 technology. However, the pilot plant’s sCO2 turbomachinery is approximately one-tenth the size of conventional power plant components, which shrinks the physical footprint and construction cost of any new facilities.