Dr. Wes Stein has extensive experience in the energy and power industry with a strong background in thermodynamic cycles. Prior to his role as Chief Technologist with the Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute (ASTRI), Wes was the Chief Scientist in Solar Energy at CSIRO. He joined CSIRO in 2000, after 19 years implementing renewable energy projects with industry, working in power station operation, maintenance and design. On commencing with CSIRO, Wes began looking at how to improve solar energy technology, which led to pioneering work with colleagues, on low-cost, high-performance heliostats

Abstract

Developments in sCO2 power cycles and their applications

As technology advances rapidly in the energy marketplace, there is an increasing need for more efficient power conversion cycles if thermal power sources are to remain competitive. One such cycle under development is based on the use of supercritical CO2 instead of steam as the working fluid. There are a number of variants and configurations, which are discussed. The key attributes and thermodynamics of sCO2 cycles, applications, the status of some key sCO2 projects and the key challenges/ barriers are presented.