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Variable load operation characteristics of CO2 closed cycle system for unmanned underwater vehicle

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  • Feng, Jiaqi
  • Cui, Hongbo
  • Zhang, Enbo
  • Zhao, Kunpeng
  • Bai, Bofeng

Abstract

CO2 closed cycle system is one of the most promising technologies for improving energy density of the power system for unmanned underwater vehicles (UUV). However, due to the limited space and the uncertain influence of the external environment, as well as in order to meet the multi-speed operation of UUV, it is key to develop a control strategy that uses few control components to achieve fast and stable wide-load operation. In this paper, a new combined control of valves and inventory tank is proposed, and the wide-variable load characteristics of CO2 closed cycle system under this control strategy are investigated. The results show that the combined control can achieve the maximum system load variation range of 100 %–30 %. During the load change from 30 % to 100 %, the overshoot of net output power is 13.5 %, the time to quickly reach the required output power is 26.8s, and the stable operation response time is 223.5s. The opening of CO2 bypass valve causes system pressure fluctuations, with the fluctuations in the range of 100 %–50 % are the most significant. Inventory tank extracts 9.1 % of system flow during the load increase and injects 9.8 % of system flow during load increase to achieve stable control of compressor inlet pressure. This study provides insights into the wide-load operation control of CO2 closed cycle system for UUV.

Suggested Citation

  • Feng, Jiaqi & Cui, Hongbo & Zhang, Enbo & Zhao, Kunpeng & Bai, Bofeng, 2025. "Variable load operation characteristics of CO2 closed cycle system for unmanned underwater vehicle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:335:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225040137
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.138371
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    References listed on IDEAS

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