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Experiment on composition-adjustable combined cooling and power cycle with CO2-based zeotropic mixture: An off-design performance investigation

Author

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  • Sun, Xiaocun
  • Shi, Lingfeng
  • Lu, Wei
  • Tian, Hua
  • Shu, Gequn

Abstract

CO2 is a promising natural working fluid for the combined cooling and power cycle (CCP) due to its great physical properties. Composition adjustment based on CO2-based zeotropic mixtures can further enhance the performance of CCP in changing external conditions (off-design performance). However, the enhancing effect of composition adjustment on CCP has only been proven effective in theoretical studies. Systematic experimental tests are lacking, and the operating feasibility of composition adjustment remains unrevealed. In this study, the off-design performance of composition-adjustable CCP is investigated. The performance comparison between composition-adjustable CCP and composition-fixed CCP is developed, and the dynamic characteristics of composition-adjustable CCP in off-design conditions are obtained. Experimental results show that composition adjustment can enhance the off-design performance of CCP, and the maximum relative increase can reach 13.7%. During the off-design conditions, the elapsed time of composition balance is significantly smaller than thermal balance, and the consuming time of composition adjustment can be ignored as long as the liquid level in separator is maintained steady. To accelerate the balancing speed of system, a fast regulation strategy based on flow reverse adjustment is proposed, and the elapsed time can be shortened by around half on the premise of maintaining the stabilization of system performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sun, Xiaocun & Shi, Lingfeng & Lu, Wei & Tian, Hua & Shu, Gequn, 2026. "Experiment on composition-adjustable combined cooling and power cycle with CO2-based zeotropic mixture: An off-design performance investigation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 347(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:347:y:2026:i:c:s036054422600455x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2026.140352
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    References listed on IDEAS

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