Off-design Performance Research Articles

Regulation strategies and optimizations of the expander and pump in organic Rankine cycle under off-design conditions

For the present investigations of the off-design performance of organic Rankine cycle systems, which are mainly based on indirect parameters such as temperature and pressure, it is difficult to provide direct theoretical guidance for the actual operation of the system. Therefore, this paper introduces a novel, directly regulated coupling model based on a quasi-two-stage single screw expander and a multistage centrifugal pump. In addition, to enhance the matching between the expander and the pump during the regulation, the coupled model is optimized using the particle swarm optimization algorithm. The results reveal that the net efficiency initially increases and then decreases when exploring regulation strategies for the expander and the pump, suggesting the existence of optimal operating points. Specifically, after applying the particle swarm algorithm, the net efficiency reached 13.23 % at an expander speed of 5076 RPM and a pump frequency of 46.8 Hz, reflecting a better match between the pump and expander regulation with the heat source conditions. For instance, at a heat source temperature of 200 °C, the net efficiency increased by up to 1.45 % compared to the original results.

Performance of Rough-Ribbed Low-Pressure Turbine Blades Under Varying Loading and Operating Conditions

Abstract In this research, we pursue the efficacy of riblets in reducing blade profile loss of Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT) blades under various design and off-design conditions. We adopt a strategy in which surface roughness is employed in the transitional regime to minimize the separation bubble-related losses and flush mounted riblets downstream to mitigate the boundary layer losses due to an increase in the turbulent wetted area. Several high-fidelity scale resolving simulations are carried out to test the efficacy of this ‘rough-ribbed’ LPT blade for loadings ranging from low-lift (LL), high-lift (HL) and ultra-high-lift (UHL) conditions. Furthermore, two exit Reynolds numbers - 83,000 and 166,000 pertaining to engine-relevant design and off-design conditions, respectively, are considered. The streamwise evolution of skin friction coefficient, boundary layer integral parameters, instantaneous flow features and second-order statistics are analyzed to determine the design and off-design performance of riblets. The results demonstrate the efficacy of scallop-shaped riblets in reducing the profile loss and the blockage due to boundary layers with loading and Reynolds number. This resulted in a net skin-friction reduction of 3.4% for LL and 8% for UHL loading at cruise and a corresponding reduction in the trailing edge momentum thickness from 10% to 15%. Furthermore, the study highlights the necessity to optimize the riblet ramp to achieve skin friction reduction under off-design conditions.

A novel dual-split layout for transcritical CO2 power cycle adapted to variable heat sources

Transcritical CO2 power cycle is widely used as the bottom cycle of natural gas engine to recover waste heat. However, owing to the large variation in waste heat sources caused by changes in engine operating conditions, the adaptability of the CO2 power cycle is poor, reflected in severe performance deterioration in thermal match, components and system power output. Hence, to improve the adaptability of the CO2 power cycle to wide-range fluctuation in heat sources, a novel dual-split configuration is proposed in this paper. The freedom of regulation is effectively enhanced by the supplementary split branches, and the mass flow rate through different heat exchangers can be actively adjusted with high flexibility. Furthermore, off-design performance models and a calculation procedure are built to present the off-design performance of the different cycles under the engine operational profile. The results indicate that the proposed configuration can improves the adaptability of the CO2 cycle to fluctuating heat sources effectively. Specifically, for all engine operational conditions, the invalidated operating region was contracted from eight to four points, with the engine coolant and exhaust gas utilisation rates exceeding 90 % and 97.4 % respectively. In addition, under low engine operating conditions, the cycle pressure ratio and mass flow rate were maintained at relatively high values, contributing to enhanced pump and turbine efficiencies. The maximum net power output increased by 8.3 kW, and the minimum brake-specific fuel consumption decreased by 16.9 %.

Design optimization and off-design performance analysis of one-dimensional supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) recompression Brayton cycle (RBC) is an encouraging technology for thermal power conversion and heat harvest for a wide range of heat sources due to its high-efficiency, low auxiliary power consumption, and compact size. However, most studies on its design and off-design performance analysis have been limited to the simple zero-dimensional component models without considering aerothermodynamics and ambient conditions. In this study, we developed a set of fully one-dimensional components models for SCO2 compressors, turbines, and heat exchangers, and, then, applied them to the multi-objective design optimization of a SCO2 cycle targeting a 50 MW net power output. The cycle off-design performance analysis methods and the control strategies were developed to countermeasure the performance degradation against the varying cooling water temperatures and part loads. The multi-objective cycle design optimization demonstrates that the cycle thermal efficiency and total product unit cost can be 0.476 and 11.652$/GJ, respectively, for the 50 MW SCO2 RBC cycle. The choke margin of the main compressor is 0.136 less than that of the re-compressor, and condensation can lead to a sharp decline in efficiency under high-flow conditions, causing the earlier onset of choking. The off-design performance analysis shows that the turbine inlet pressure control improves cycle efficiency below the design point of 317 K but does otherwise above the point. In contrast, inventory control strategies can maintain stable cycle efficiency and achieve adjustable net power output between 10 % and 110 %. The findings have the potential to advance further the commercial application of SCO2 cycles in high-temperature thermal energy systems.

Impact of cold source temperature on transcritical CO2 power cycle: Design point optimization and off-design performance analysis

The transcritical CO2 (T-CO2) power cycle is regarded as one of the most promising alternatives to the steam power cycle in nuclear power plants. However, these plants often operate with transient cold source conditions, leading to deviations from the optimal design point and performance degradation. Therefore, this study examines a double recompression T-CO2 power cycle to optimize the design point pump inlet temperature and investigate part-load performance under cold source fluctuations. Results indicate that the lowest design point pump inlet temperature is optimal for low temperature cold sources and high load conditions to maximize thermal efficiency. When the system operates at 80% load with a cold source temperature of 5oC, the thermal efficiencies at the design point pump inlet temperature of 15oC and 25oC are 58% and 56.93%, respectively. In contrast, a moderate design point pump inlet temperature is better suited for accommodating wide fluctuations in operating conditions. A lower cold source temperature helps mitigate the reduction in thermal efficiency caused by load decreases. Furthermore, reducing the split ratio of low-temperature compressor can enhance thermal efficiency as the cold source temperature increases. These findings provide an effective approach to minimizing performance degradation in the T-CO2 power cycle under off-design conditions.

Multi-objective optimization and off-design performance analysis on the ammonia-water cooling-power/heating-power integrated system

The utilization of ammonia-water as a working fluid in energy conversion systems presents a promising approach for efficient geothermal energy development. In this paper, a novel ammonia-water cooling-power/heating-power integrated system is presented, a structure design method suitable for the integrated thermal system is developed, and a comprehensive analysis of system performance using thermodynamic, economic, and off-design analytical methods is conducted. This study explores the impact of various variables on system design and off-design performance. The results demonstrate that optimal design performance is achieved at evaporation temperatures of 3.5 °C (cooling-power) and 20 °C (heating-power), and the hot-part temperature difference is 21 °C. Lower mass flow rate and ambient temperature lead to improved off-design performance. Due to the influence of pressure on the phase transition temperature of geothermal water, the position of the phase transition zone has shifted, resulting in a change in the mass flow rate of ammonia-water. When the pressure ratio drops below 0.9, the heat release during the phase transition of geothermal water is incomplete, leading to a significant decrease in pump speeds by 44.76 % and 41.14 % in the two modes respectively. This work provides valuable insights and references for the design and optimization of integrated thermal systems.

Equation-Oriented Meanline Method for Axial Turbine Performance Prediction Under Choking Conditions

Abstract Meanline models play a crucial role in turbine design and system-level analyses, facilitating rapid evaluation of design concepts and prediction of off-design performance. Most of the existing meanline methods are inadequate in predicting turbine performance under choking conditions. These models either neglect the impact of losses on choking, or increases the computational complexity significantly. This limitation is addressed in this work, presenting a novel meanline model. The choking state at each cascade is determined by maximizing the mass flow rate, while taking into account the effect of losses. Leveraging the method of Lagrange multipliers, the optimization problems are transformed into a set of equations that seamlessly integrate with the rest of the meanline model. The resulting system of equations is then solved simultaneously using efficient root-finding algorithms, resulting in fast and reliable convergence. Validation against experimental data from three different turbines demonstrates the model's ability to accurately predict mass flow rate, torque, and exit flow angles across single- and multi-stage turbines, with errors typically within ±2.5 % and ±5.0 % for mass flow rate and torque respectively, and within ±5 degrees for flow angles. The proposed approach represents a significant advancement in meanline modeling, offering improved accuracy and computational efficiency.

Operational characteristics and performance optimizations of the organic Rankine cycle under different heat source/condensing environment conditions

The fluctuating heat sources and seasonal condensing environments are critical to the operation of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) under off-design conditions. This paper presents a comprehensive steady-state mathematical model developed using a newly built experimental platform. Focusing on the operational characteristics, including the evaporation pressure, condensation temperature, mass flow rate, and the performance of key equipment during the regulation of the expander, working fluid pump, and cooling water pump. Results show that the net efficiency initially increases before decreases, with both evaporation pressure and mass flow rate rising alongside the working fluid pump frequency. The quasi-two-stage single screw expander achieves an isentropic efficiency above 65 %. Additionally, flexible adjustments to the cooling water pump effectively regulate the cooling system, with timely cleaning of cooling pipelines enhancing net efficiency by up to 3.27 %. Optimization using the particle swarm algorithm improves system performance, achieving net efficiency enhancements of 1.8 % and 12.3 % under specific conditions. The novelty of this study lies in directly regulation of the expander, working fluid pump, and cooling water pump, significantly enhancing the off-design performance. This research provides valuable insights for researchers and designers, enabling flexible regulation of ORC operations to ensure efficient performance under varying conditions.

Off-design performance optimization for steam-water dual heat source ORC systems

High-pressure steam and hot water often coexist as industrial waste heat. In this study, dual loop and single loop ORC systems are designed for 700 kPa, 4.1 kg/s steam, and 90 ℃, 122.36 kg/s hot water conditions to study the off-design performance when steam or hot water conditions change. To maximize net output power, we employ a particle swarm optimization algorithm to optimize the evaporation and condensation temperatures. The results show that within the specified hot water conditions, the evaporation and condensation temperatures of D-ORC's low-pressure loop and S-ORC increase with rising hot water inlet temperature and flow rate. The S-ORC demonstrates a higher net output power growth rate as hot water flow rate and temperature rise. Under specific steam conditions, when the steam outlet is in a gas-liquid two-phase state, D-ORC's maximum net output power is 1.7 % higher than that of the S-ORC, with little variation in optimal evaporation and condensation temperatures with respect to steam inlet pressure. At a 3.5 kg/s steam flow rate, the D-ORC's high-pressure loop becomes ineffective, whereas S-ORC efficiently adjusts heat exchange capacity under diverse steam-water conditions, Consequently, the D-ORC's average net output power is 34.2 % lower than that of the S-ORC.

CFD-based shape optimization of flashing converging-diverging nozzles in pelton turbines for domestic carbon dioxide heat pumps including off-design conditions

A path to enhance the coefficient of performance (COP) of domestic heat pumps is to replace the throttling valve with a turboexpander. Designing this component requires addressing supersonic flashing flows localized within the nozzle. In particular, two-phase flows prevent the application of the method of characteristics to design efficient converging–diverging shapes. To overcome this issue, we propose a shape optimization combined with a homogeneous equilibrium flow model as a design tool. Kriging models are used as surrogates of the objective function and constraint to reduce the overall computational burden associated with shape optimization. The infilling criterion to improve surrogate accuracy involves the maximization of the constrained expected improvement. A multi-point optimization is formulated, including design and off-design conditions in both objective and constraint, for a total of four relevant operating conditions. The off-design conditions are derived from system analysis, accounting for variations in the evaporator temperature and outlet gas-cooler temperature. The optimized nozzle results in a COP improvement of 7.6%, compared to a 6.6% increase when replacing the throttling valve with a baseline geometry designed as recommended by the literature. The adoption of a multi-point optimization strategy ensures that this enhancement in design conditions is not offset by off-design performance decay, which is 0.3 percentage points over the three off-design conditions. Overall, replacing the throttling valve with the optimized expander leads to an average COP improvement of 8.6%.

Nonpremixed Approaches for Fuel Flexible, Low NOx Combustors in High-Efficiency Gas Turbines

Abstract Lean, premixed combustor designs have almost completely replaced non-premixed combustors for industrial gas turbine applications where NOx emissions are regulated. Nonetheless, these designs have also introduced turndown and fuel flexibility constraints and made combustion instabilities and flashback more problematic. Future gas turbine applications will require combustors to accommodate a range of alternative fuels, provide operational flexibility, and compete for services with a host of new technologies, including energy storage and fuel cells. The purpose of this paper is to propose nonpremixed, multi-stage designs for the next generation of high turndown, high fuel flexibility, low NOx combustion designs – referred to here as a Nonpremixed, Rich, Relaxation, Lean (NRRL) combustor. The key concept we explore is non-premixed combustion, followed by additional fuel mixing to locally fuel-rich conditions, a relaxation stage, and then a lean stage. This non-premixed approach can handle essentially any fuel composition, including pure hydrogen, liquid fuels, pure methane, pure ammonia, and any combination in between while breaking the NOx-CO tradeoff and reducing combustion instability risk. This paper provides chemical reactor network modeling calculations to identify key kinetic processes and time scales required for such a concept. This concept has completely inverted sensitivities from lean, premixed systems which prefer short residence times, low pressures, and low temperatures to minimize NO formation. This concept prefers long residence times, high pressures, and high temperatures, indicating a very different set of design trades for part load and off-design performance.

Off-design operation and performance of pumped thermal energy storage

In this article, we describe off-design models and control strategies for a Pumped Thermal Energy Storage (PTES) system that uses liquid thermal energy storage: specifically molten salt for hot storage and methanol for cold storage. Off-design conditions arise when load-following, or due to variations in storage tank temperatures or ambient temperatures. We propose a control strategy that uses inventory control to manage the mass flow rate in the thermodynamic cycles, which facilitates load following. We also propose a control strategy for the storage fluid mass flow rates, which are varied to ensure the molten salt is maintained at its design temperature. This maximizes efficiency and minimizes problems with salt freezing or degradation. The cold storage fluid mass flow rate is varied so that the cold tanks have the same state-of-charge as the hot tanks. This leads to variations in cold fluid temperature, but these variations are shown to be acceptably small (e.g. 7.5 % increase), and this control method is shown to be simpler and more efficient than an alternative strategy where tanks become unbalanced. The ambient temperature and storage tank temperatures are moved ±50 °C from the design values and the impact on power, duration, and tank temperatures is quantified. Results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy is stable and self-correcting – that is, storage temperatures converge on stable values after two-to-three charge-discharge cycles. When inputs return to design values, the system returns to its design point after two charge-discharge cycles. We also demonstrate that inventory control enables delivery of the target power output even when off-design conditions exist that would normally reduce the power output.

Experimental and analytical study of a reverse-bootstrap air refrigerator for fresh air-conditioning

ABSTRACT The use of hydrofluorocarbons as refrigerants is reduced because of the increasing greenhouse effect. Air refrigeration system is environmentally friendly with air as working medium. In this study, a reverse-bootstrap air refrigeration cycle was proposed for fresh air-conditioning, which eliminated the hot heat exchanger to reduce volume and weight, and a full fresh air refrigerator was developed and tested in a psychrometric test room. Combining the characteristic curves of a motor-driven turboexpander–compressor (MTEC), a numerical model was established to analyze system off-design performance. The relative deviations between the predictions and experimental data were within 10%. The test and calculation were conducted at standard conditions (the outdoor and indoor dry and wet bulb temperature is 35/24°C and 27/19°C, respectively). The MTEC operating at design rotating speed 38 krpm could supply fresh air with a flow rate of 517.4 kg/h and temperature of 12.0°C, and a cooling capacity of 2.93 kW was obtained with a system Coefficient of performance (COP) of 0.315. The optimal COP and corresponding rotating speed will change with the variation of environmental parameters. As the outdoor temperature increases from 32 to 38°C, the optimal COP decreases by 29.6% and the corresponding rotating speed increases from 39.6 to 47.6 krpm. Moreover, when the outdoor relative humidity increases from 35% to 55% and the indoor temperature increases from 23 to 31°C, the COP decreases by 36.8% and increases by 31.9%, respectively. The advanced exergy analysis indicate the system avoidable exergy destructions account for 54.9%. Under the avoidable conditions, the efficiency of compressor, expander, and motor is 0.85, 0.85, and 0.95, respectively, the system COP can reach 0.946. The exergy destruction analysis of components indicates the importance to optimize the compressor.

Exploring the role of hydrogen in decarbonizing energy-intensive industries: A techno-economic analysis of a solid oxide fuel cell cogeneration system

Industry is nowadays one of the most energy-demanding sectors representing a major contributor of global greenhouse gas emissions. The simultaneous need for electricity and high-temperature heat is what makes some industrial processes difficult to decarbonize via current commercially available technologies. As the demand for materials and goods is expected to grow in the upcoming years, it is crucial to define which strategies and technologies will serve as the cornerstone of sustainable development. This study addresses the imperative need for emission reduction of energy-intensive sectors by proposing a novel hydrogen-based cogeneration system in the framework of the paper and pulp industry, with the aim of providing general insights relevant to a broader spectrum of similar applications. The comparative analysis presented in this work focuses on three cogeneration options aimed at satisfying the paper mill energy needs: a conventional natural gas-fuelled gas turbine, a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) fed with grey hydrogen produced via steam methane reforming, and a SOFC operating using green hydrogen produced on-site. The latter involves an integrated multi-energy system with photovoltaic panels, electrolyzers, compressors, and storage tanks. Indeed, the SOFC potential of supplying electricity and high-temperature heat in the form of pressurized steam for industrial applications has not been well investigated yet and represents one of the main objectives of this work. Building on the real consumption profiles of a paper mill facility, techno-economic analyses are carried out for many system configurations, varying components size and layout to assess their performance with respect to CO2 emissions and two key economic parameters, the Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) and the net present cost. An in-house-developed flexible simulation framework is presented and expanded for the purposes of this study, including a detailed model that accounts for design and off-design performance of a SOFC cogeneration unit. Results demonstrate that integrating a SOFC with a heat recovery steam generator result in a 75% reduction in the mass flow of generable pressurized steam in comparison to a gas turbine. Additionally, in the cost-optimal scenario, CO2 emissions are 25% lower than the conventional gas turbine-based configuration, achieving complete independence from the electricity grid and an LCOH of 5.81€/kg without considering revenues from electricity sold.

On the Potential of Biomass-Fueled Externally Fired Micro-Gas Turbines in the Energy Transition: Off-Design Performance Analysis

Abstract The potential of replacing the use of natural gas with biomass gasification syngas through an externally fired micro-gas turbine (EFMGTs) is the main scope of this study. This includes the performance assessment at various off-design and ambient conditions compared to a reference natural-gas-fired Micro-Gas Turbine. The penetration of biomass use in the decentralized combined heat and power (CHP) sector can reduce fossil fuel dependency and contribute to the achievement of the net-zero emissions target. For this purpose, an analytical externally fired thermodynamic model is incorporated and validated with an artificial neural network (ANN) based on a natural-gas-fired micro-gas turbine unit. An operating strategy is proposed to ensure the system's safe operation under any fuel input conditions. The performance between the investigated cases is compared using an exergetic analysis. The main loss contributors that determine each case's performance are the exit losses. The substantial decrease of the latter results in high externally fired part-load efficiency, maximizing 110% of design-point efficiency. System performance has a linear dependency on ambient conditions. The increased flexibility introduced by the proposed operating strategy case facilitates the transition from natural gas to biomass, especially for higher heat-to-power ratio demands. The analysis highlights that the current externally fired configuration lags behind in high electrical demands (>90 kWel). However, this deficiency is diminished in cold ambient temperatures (<0 °C), indicating that the proposed technology is very opportune for these climatic conditions.

Proposal and performance analysis of a novel hydrogen and power cogeneration system with CO2 capture based on coal supercritical water gasification

To establish a sustainable energy system, it is essential to achieve low-carbon and clean utilization of coal. In this study, a novel hydrogen and power cogeneration system with full CO2 capture that based on coal supercritical water gasification (SCWG) is proposed. Hydrogen is separated from syngas produced by coal SCWG, and the remaining combustible gas is burned to generate power. Moreover, supercritical CO2 cycle is integrated within the cogeneration system to recover the waste heat with high exergy efficiency. Thermodynamic performances, effects of key operation parameters and off-design performances under part-load conditions of the cogeneration system are analyzed. Under the design condition, the cogeneration system produces 20.26 mol kg−1 hydrogen and generates 8746 kJ kg−1 net power, achieving the high energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of 54.77 % and 52.54 %. The exergy efficiency of cogeneration system can be enhanced by optimizing the operation parameters, which is increased by 0.42 %, 4.03 % and 1.10 % with the optimal coal water slurry concentration (17.5 %), higher gasification temperature (750 °C) and higher gas turbine inlet parameters (1500 °C/3 MPa), respectively. The cogeneration system performance decreases with the power load, and the exergy efficiency decreases by 9.61 % when the system power load reduces from 100 % to 30 %.

Off-design performance and economic analysis in coupled binary cycle with geothermal reservoir and turbo-expander

This study presents a thermo-hydro-mechanical reservoir model of the Chingshui geothermal field, coupled with a thermodynamic model of the binary cycle. A one-stage axial turbo-expander was designed and analyzed in three dimensions using ANSYS-CFX. The results were used to train the artificial neural network model, providing the mass flow rate of the working fluid, isentropic efficiency (ηis,exp), and shaft power of the turbo-expander under off-design conditions to the thermodynamic model of the binary cycle. When the mass flow rate of the geofluid (m˙geo) exceeded 30 kg/s, ηis,exp gradually increased from its lowest value over the operation time and approached the design value. The performance of the power cycle degraded substantially owing to the decrease in the production temperature and considerable increase in the power consumption of the injection pump (W˙pgeo). Owing to effect of W˙pgeo, the decrease ratios of the first- and second-law efficiencies at m˙geo = 40 kg/s from the 1st to the 30th year were 5.7 % and 4.2 % for the cycle, and 23.2 % and 21.9 % for the total system, respectively. Finally, six scenarios of decreased m˙geo were examined. The decreased m˙geo had a relatively small impact on the payback period, and significantly affected the electricity production cost.

Experimental analysis and modeling of gas turbine engine performance: Design point and off-design insights through system of equations solutions

In this article, a systematic approach is presented for simulating turbojet engine performance at both design and off-design points. The construction of gas turbine engines involves a core, with additional components added based on the proposed methodology. Accurate formulation of component characteristics and their matching forms the basis for the system of equations needed for solving off-design engine performance. The developed algorithm's initial step involves comparing results with experimental data obtained from 230 N engines. Experimental testing utilizes a 780 N engine under diverse operating conditions, allowing determination of thrust values, fuel consumption, and outlet gas temperatures. An engine characteristic curve is derived under static conditions at ground level and validated against ground test results in Tehran. Unknown parameters are calibrated using a dedicated model, enabling the extraction of engine performance parameters across different corrected speeds. These results are then compared with GasTurb outputs. Comparative analysis between the proposed model's simulation and experimental data demonstrates high accuracy, affirming the reliability of the presented model.

Thermodynamic analysis of two very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor-driven hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems under off-design operating conditions

This study conducts a thermodynamic analysis for two very-high-temperature gas-cooled reactor-driven hydrogen and electricity cogeneration systems integrating an iodine-sulfur cycle and a helium turbine direct cycle under off-design operating conditions. Control strategies are proposed based on inventory control. The calculation model is established for the main components of the system under off-design conditions. Two operation modes are proposed, one is to maintain the split ratio at the reactor outlet at the rated value, and the other is to maintain the hydrogen generation rate at the rated value. The off-design performance of the two systems under partial load in two modes is analyzed. For Systems 1 and 2, the suggested lower limits of reactor thermal power are 68.80 % and 69.00 % of the rated value in mode 1, and 72.04 % and 64.98 % in mode 2. As the reactor thermal power decreases from the rated value to the suggested lower limit, in modes 1 and 2, the hydrogen-electricity efficiency of System 1 decreases from 37.46 % to 36.20 % and 31.81 %, and that of System 2 decreases from 42.40 % to 41.45 % and 35.21 %. The decrease in overall efficiency is more significant in mode 2.

Off-design performance analysis of supercritical CO2 mixture Brayton cycle with floating critical points

The thermodynamic performance of supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Brayton cycle deteriorates significantly due to the mismatch between the cold source temperature and the working fluid’s critical point. Here, we present the first study on the off-design performance of a novel supercritical CO2 mixture Brayton cycle with floating critical points. A distillation based regulation subsystem is integrated into the power cycle to dynamically adjust the circulating composition of the binary CO2 mixture, thereby making its critical point float with the ambient temperature and achieving good temperature matching. The off-design behavior of the system operating with the representative mixture is investigated based on an in-house code. The influence of trigger conditions of critical point regulation on energy consumption of the regulation process is investigated. When the maximum temperature difference of the design points for consecutive days is set to 3 °C, the equivalent power consumption can be limited to 2.34 × 106 MJ per year, which affects the annual efficiency by less than 1 %. The results confirms that using the floating critical point method can improve the annual efficiency by 7 %-10.9 % and improve the specific output power by 6.1 %-9.4 % compared to the sCO2 cycle, depending on the power plant locations.