IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v341y2025ics0360544225050285.html

Multi-objective optimization and comprehensive assessment of CO2-based mixtures with thermal stability constraints for parabolic trough concentrated solar thermal power plants

Author

Listed:
  • Zhang, Shijie
  • Yu, Yujie
  • Yin, Jianyong
  • Li, Liushuai
  • Liu, Hang
  • Huo, Erguang
  • Huang, Rui
  • Wang, Shukun

Abstract

Blending CO2 with suitable organic fluids offers a promising approach to enhance the thermodynamic and economic performance of supercritical Brayton cycles in parabolic trough concentrated solar power (PT-CSP) plant. However, the high-temperature thermal stability of organic additives is often overlooked. This study develops a comprehensive assessment and multi-objective optimization framework that integrates thermodynamic, techno-economic, environmental, and ecological sustainability models to screen the optimal additive under safe operating constraints. Results show that CO2-based mixtures achieve higher thermal efficiency than that of pure CO2 under typical operating conditions of PT-CSP plant, with CO2&R134a mixture reaching the highest total thermal efficiency (26.05 %), 16.07 % higher than that of pure CO2. The advantage of CO2-based mixture as working fluid in terms of techno-economic aspect becomes increasingly prominent at elevated compressor inlet temperatures due to better thermodynamic match between working fluid and power cycle by adjusting mass fraction of additive. Nonetheless, the high global warming potential of some organic fluids leads to unacceptable greenhouse gas emissions and ecological cumulative exergy consumption, limiting their comprehensive competitiveness. Across various weighting strategies and cold source temperatures, R134a is identified as the optimal additive for recompression supercritical Brayton cycle in PT-CSP plant, based on trade-offs among total thermal efficiency, levelized cost of electricity, greenhouse gas emissions, and ecological sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhang, Shijie & Yu, Yujie & Yin, Jianyong & Li, Liushuai & Liu, Hang & Huo, Erguang & Huang, Rui & Wang, Shukun, 2025. "Multi-objective optimization and comprehensive assessment of CO2-based mixtures with thermal stability constraints for parabolic trough concentrated solar thermal power plants," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 341(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:341:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225050285
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.139386
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225050285
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.139386?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yu, Aofang & Xing, Lingli & Su, Wen & Liu, Pei, 2023. "State-of-the-art review on the CO2 combined power and cooling system: System configuration, modeling and performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    2. Siddiqui, Muhammad Ehtisham & Almatrafi, Eydhah & Bamasag, Ahmad & Saeed, Usman, 2022. "Adoption of CO2-based binary mixture to operate transcritical Rankine cycle in warm regions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 199(C), pages 1372-1380.
    3. Yao, Yu & Shi, Lingfeng & Tian, Hua & Wang, Xuan & Sun, Xiaocun & Zhang, Yonghao & Wu, Zirui & Sun, Rui & Shu, Gequn, 2022. "Combined cooling and power cycle for engine waste heat recovery using CO2-based mixtures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    4. Guo, Jia-Qi & Li, Ming-Jia & Xu, Jin-Liang & Yan, Jun-Jie & Wang, Kun, 2019. "Thermodynamic performance analysis of different supercritical Brayton cycles using CO2-based binary mixtures in the molten salt solar power tower systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 785-798.
    5. Lou, Bo & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2013. "Identifying the environmental support and constraints to the Chinese economic growth—An application of the Emergy Accounting method," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 217-233.
    6. Rath, Sebastian & Mickoleit, Erik & Gampe, Uwe & Breitkopf, Cornelia & Jäger, Andreas, 2022. "Systematic analysis of additives on the performance parameters of sCO2 cycles and their individual effects on the cycle characteristics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    7. Wang, Xurong & Li, Xiaoxiao & Li, Qibin & Liu, Lang & Liu, Chao, 2020. "Performance of a solar thermal power plant with direct air-cooled supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle under off-design conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    8. Su, Xing & Xu, Zehan & Tian, Shaochen & Chen, Chaoyang & Huang, Yixiang & Geng, Yining & Chen, Junfeng, 2023. "Life cycle assessment of three typical solar energy utilization systems in different regions of China," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(C).
    9. Huo, Erguang & Liu, Chao & Xu, Xiaoxiao & Li, Qibin & Dang, Chaobin & Wang, Shukun & Zhang, Cheng, 2019. "The oxidation decom position mechanisms of HFO-1336mzz(Z) as an environmentally friendly refrigerant in O2/H2O environment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 1154-1162.
    10. Ben Taher, M.A. & Pelay, U. & Russeil, S. & Bougeard, D., 2023. "A novel design to optimize the optical performances of parabolic trough collector using Taguchi, ANOVA and grey relational analysis methods," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    11. Zhang, Shijie & Li, Liushuai & Huo, Erguang & Yu, Yujie & Huang, Rui & Wang, Shukun, 2024. "Parameters analysis and techno-economic comparison of various ORCs and sCO2 cycles as the power cycle of Lead–Bismuth molten nuclear micro-reactor," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    12. Niu, Xiaojuan & Ma, Ning & Bu, Zhengkun & Hong, Wenpeng & Li, Haoran, 2022. "Thermodynamic analysis of supercritical Brayton cycles using CO2-based binary mixtures for solar power tower system application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    13. Yang, Shiying & Yang, Yucheng & Kankala, Ranjith Kumar & Li, Baoxia, 2018. "Sustainability assessment of synfuels from biomass or coal: An insight on the economic and ecological burdens," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 870-878.
    14. Xiao, Tingyu & Liu, Chao & Wang, Xurong & Wang, Shukun & Xu, Xiaoxiao & Li, Qibin & Li, Xiaoxiao, 2022. "Life cycle assessment of the solar thermal power plant integrated with air-cooled supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 119-133.
    15. Zhai, H. & Dai, Y.J. & Wu, J.Y. & Wang, R.Z., 2009. "Energy and exergy analyses on a novel hybrid solar heating, cooling and power generation system for remote areas," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(9), pages 1395-1404, September.
    16. Zhang, H.L. & Baeyens, J. & Degrève, J. & Cacères, G., 2013. "Concentrated solar power plants: Review and design methodology," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 466-481.
    17. Ma, Ning & Meng, Fugui & Hong, Wenpeng & Li, Haoran & Niu, Xiaojuan, 2023. "Thermodynamic assessment of the dry-cooling supercritical Brayton cycle in a direct-heated solar power tower plant enabled by CO2-propane mixture," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 649-663.
    18. Huo, Erguang & Hu, Zheng & Wang, Shukun & Xin, Liyong & Bai, Mengna, 2022. "Thermal decomposition and interaction mechanism of HFC-227ea/n-hexane as a zeotropic working fluid for organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 246(C).
    19. Dunham, Marc T. & Iverson, Brian D., 2014. "High-efficiency thermodynamic power cycles for concentrated solar power systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 758-770.
    20. Liang, Yaran & Lin, Xinxing & Su, Wen & Xing, Lingli & Zhou, Naijun, 2023. "Thermal-economic analysis of a novel solar power tower system with CO2-based mixtures at typical days of four seasons," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meng, Qingqiang & Cao, Lihua & Fang, Minghui & Si, Heyong, 2025. "Dynamic response characteristics of sCO2 mixtures under variable conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 315(C).
    2. Xiao, Tingyu & Liu, Chao & Wang, Xurong & Wang, Shukun & Xu, Xiaoxiao & Li, Qibin & Li, Xiaoxiao, 2022. "Life cycle assessment of the solar thermal power plant integrated with air-cooled supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 119-133.
    3. Bian, Xingyan & Wang, Xuan & Wang, Jingyu & Wang, Rui & Zhang, Xuanang & Tian, Hua & Shu, Gequn, 2024. "Transcritical CO2 mixture power for nuclear plant application: Concept and thermodynamic optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    4. Su, Zixiang & Yang, Liu & Wang, Hao & Song, Jianzhong & Jiang, Weixue, 2024. "Exergoenvironmental optimization and thermoeconomic assessment of an innovative multistage Brayton cycle with dual expansion and cooling for ultra-high temperature solar power," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    5. Sun, Yan & Li, Hong-Wei & Wang, Di & Du, Chang-He, 2024. "A novel zero carbon emission system based on the complementary utilization of solar energy and hydrogen," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    6. Yao, Yu & Shi, Lingfeng & Sun, Xiaocun & Zhang, Yonghao & He, Jintao & Tian, Hua & Shu, Gequn, 2025. "Improving the applicability of CO2 transcritical cycles to finite cold sources: A mixture solution considering properties and vehicle integration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    7. Doninelli, M. & Morosini, E. & Di Marcoberardino, G. & Invernizzi, C.M. & Iora, P. & Riva, M. & Stringari, P. & Manzolini, G., 2024. "Experimental investigation of the CO2+SiCl4 mixture as innovative working fluid for power cycles: Bubble points and liquid density measurements," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    8. Ma, Ning & Bu, Zhengkun & Fu, Yanan & Hong, Wenpeng & Li, Haoran & Niu, Xiaojuan, 2023. "An operation strategy and off-design performance for supercritical brayton cycle using CO2-propane mixture in a direct-heated solar power tower plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PA).
    9. Yu, Aofang & Xing, Lingli & Su, Wen & Liu, Pei, 2023. "State-of-the-art review on the CO2 combined power and cooling system: System configuration, modeling and performance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    10. Yang, Rui & Ma, Ning & Zhao, Pan & Song, Liming, 2025. "Thermodynamic assessment of multivariate coupling effects on the performance of supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles in solar power tower plants utilizing KCl-MgCl2 as a storage medium," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 323(C).
    11. Xie, Liangtao & Yang, Jianguo & Yang, Xin & Yu, Yonghua & He, Yuhai & Hu, Nao & Fan, Yu & Sun, Sicong & Dong, Fei & Cao, Bingxin, 2024. "Optimisation of Brayton cycle CO2-based binary mixtures: An application for waste heat recovery of marine low-speed diesel engines exhaust gas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 312(C).
    12. Aofang Yu & Wen Su & Li Zhao & Xinxing Lin & Naijun Zhou, 2020. "New Knowledge on the Performance of Supercritical Brayton Cycle with CO 2 -Based Mixtures," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, April.
    13. Ma, Ning & Meng, Fugui & Hong, Wenpeng & Li, Haoran & Niu, Xiaojuan, 2023. "Thermodynamic assessment of the dry-cooling supercritical Brayton cycle in a direct-heated solar power tower plant enabled by CO2-propane mixture," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C), pages 649-663.
    14. Delise, T. & Tizzoni, A.C. & Menale, C. & Telling, M.T.F. & Bubbico, R. & Crescenzi, T. & Corsaro, N. & Sau, S. & Licoccia, S., 2020. "Technical and economic analysis of a CSP plant presenting a low freezing ternary mixture as storage and transfer fluid," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    15. Khamlich, Imane & Zeng, Kuo & Flamant, Gilles & Baeyens, Jan & Zou, Chongzhe & Li, Jun & Yang, Xinyi & He, Xiao & Liu, Qingchuan & Yang, Haiping & Yang, Qing & Chen, Hanping, 2021. "Technical and economic assessment of thermal energy storage in concentrated solar power plants within a spot electricity market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    16. Zhang, Huili & Benoit, Hadrien & Gauthier, Daniel & Degrève, Jan & Baeyens, Jan & López, Inmaculada Pérez & Hemati, Mehrdji & Flamant, Gilles, 2016. "Particle circulation loops in solar energy capture and storage: Gas–solid flow and heat transfer considerations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 206-224.
    17. Xin, Liyong & Yu, Wei & Liu, Chao & Liu, Lang & Wang, Shukun & Li, Xiaoxiao & Liu, Yu, 2023. "Thermal stability of a mixed working fluid (R513A) for organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PF).
    18. Sleiti, Ahmad K. & Al-Ammari, Wahib A., 2021. "Off-design performance analysis of combined CSP power and direct oxy-combustion supercritical carbon dioxide cycles," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 14-29.
    19. Islam, Md Tasbirul & Huda, Nazmul & Abdullah, A.B. & Saidur, R., 2018. "A comprehensive review of state-of-the-art concentrating solar power (CSP) technologies: Current status and research trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 987-1018.
    20. Meng, Qingqiang & Cao, Lihua & Li, Yanchao & Si, Heyong & Wang, Yaoli & Hou, Feng, 2025. "Multi-dimensional performance optimization of CO2 mixture power generation system using ANN and double-helix weighting mechanism," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 338(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:341:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225050285. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.