This paper presents analysis of a supercritical CO2 (SCO2) shell and tube heat exchanger for use in a waste-energy recovery Rankine cycle. Heat transfer augmentation through the use of porous media to cool the tube side of the heat exchanger is presented. The variability of the specific heat of SCO2 at high side (shell side) pressure 20 MPa and low side pressure (tube side) of 12.4 MPa is presented. Second law considerations are presented in order to place a practical limit on the solutions presented. The addition of silica particle with porosity of =0.398 on the tube side of the heat exchanger is found to limit the pinch point in the heat exchanger to 80 K versus non-porous flow where the pinch point is 36.8 K. As the pinch point decreases, an increase in heat transfer area is needed. For a fixed lift, as the flow rate is increased, the pinch point increases lending to a smaller required heat exchanger area required.Keywords: SCO2, heat exchanger, heat transfer augmentation, porous mediaCite this ArticleAnderson Kevin R, Gross Thomas J, Christopher McNamara. Analysis of Porous Media Tube Cooling in a Rankine Cycle SCO2 Heat Exchanger. Journal of Thermal Engineering and Application. 2016; 3(1): 1–17p.
