Power density optimisation of endoreversible closed intercooled regenerated Brayton cycle

Abstract

In the present paper, the power density, defined as the ratio of power output to the maximum specific volume in the cycle, is optimised for an endoreversible closed intercooled regenerated Brayton cycle coupled to constant temperature heat reservoirs in the viewpoint of finite time thermodynamics (FTT). The analysis shows that the cycle dimensionless power density can be optimised by searching the optimum heat conductance distributions between the hot- and coldside heat exchangers for a fixed total heat exchanger inventory and fixed heat conductance distributions of the regenerator and the intercooler, and by searching the optimum intercooling pressure ratio. When the optimisation is performed with respect to the total pressure ratio of the cycle, the maximum dimensionless power density can be maximised again, and a double maximum power density and the corresponding optimum total pressure ratio are obtained. The effects of some design parameter on the maximum power density and the corresponding performances are analysed by numerical examples.