The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) 2013 Turbo Expo and 2013 Power Conference are planning to have supercritical CO₂ power cycle sessions. ASME conferences are a great opportunity to continue moving supercritical CO₂ power cycle technology forward and generate additional exposure. Check out the below listed conference websites if you are interested in presenting research.

ASME Turbo Expo 2013

• Dates: June 3 - 7, 2013
• Location: San Antonio, Texas USA
• Publication Schedule
• Abstract Submission Deadline: September 3, 2012
• Full-Length Draft Paper Submission Deadline: October 29, 2012
  

ASME 2013 Power Conference

• Dates: July 29 - August 1, 2013
• Location: Boston, Massachusetts USA
• Publication Schedule
• Abstract Submission Deadline: November 15, 2012
• Full-Length Draft Paper Submission Deadline: January 24, 2013
  

Chang Oh's October 2004 paper entitled Development of a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle: Improving PBR Efficiency and Testing Material Compatibility is available for download in PDF format through Owners Guide PDF.

The Superciritcal CO2 Power Cycle Symposium would like to congratulate Bratyon Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the Southwest Research Institute for their Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) SunShot Research and Development funding awards. Twenty-one awards were granted and three of them were related to supercritical CO2 power systems. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, "The SunShot CSP R&D program seeks to accelerate progress toward the cost target of $0.06 per kilowatt-hour through novel and revolutionary research into CSP technologies."

• Brayton Energy: High-Efficiency Receivers for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Cycles
• National Renewable Energy Laboratory: 10-Megawatt Supercritical-CO2 Turbine
• Southwest Research Institute: Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Turbo-Expander and Heat Exchangers
  

Dan Yurman published a nice article entitled Supercritical CO₂ Turbine Being Developed For Small Modular Reactors (SMR). It provides a comprehensive technology overview followed by a Q&A transcript with Steven Wright from Critical Energy LLC.

Congratulations to UW-Madison on the receipt of an $877,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant for Supercritical CO₂ power cycle research. The grant was awarded under the DOE Nuclear Energy University Program and the research will focus on optimizing cycle performance. This research can then be used to guide future initiatives to develop test equipment and ultimately a large-scale supercritical CO₂ advanced power system.

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Rocketdyne received a Baseload Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) Generation Award under the U.S. Department of Energy's SunShot Initiative. The DOE SunShot Initiative’s goal is to decrease the total cost of solar energy systems by 75% before the end of the decade making it cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity without subsidies and enable widespread deployment across the United States. Rocketdyne intends to utilize several new technologies, one of which includes an advanced supercritical CO₂ power cycle to increase thermal solar cycle efficiency by 5% and reduce balance of plant capital costs by 25%.

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The Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle test loop Barber-Nichols Inc. produced for the U.S. Department of Energy was loaded on to three trucks today and is being transported to Sandia National Laboratories for continued testing. The U.S. Department of Energy is developing Supercritical CO₂ Brayton Cycle technology specifically to support Generation IV Nuclear Reactor design. Generation IV Nuclear Reactor goals include safety, sustainability, cost-effectiveness, and proliferation risk reduction improvements. And in addition to Generation IV Nuclear, Supercritical CO₂ Brayton Cycles can also be of benefit to renewable and fossil fuel powered plants. Carbon dioxide is an extremely efficient working fluid in its supercritical state. And as a result, more electrical power can be produced per unit of fuel ultimately reducing operating costs, payback periods, and plant emissions.

An article entitled More on the Denatured Molten Salt Reactor from David LeBlanc was recently published on The Energy Collective. It makes mention of these reactors being an ideal match with gas brayton cycles, such as multi reheat helium or supercritical carbon dioxide.

M. Persichilli, A. Kacludis, E. Zdankiewicz, and T. Held from Echogen Power Systems will be presenting a paper at this year's Cleantech Conference & Showcase entitled Supercritical CO2 Power Cycle Developments and Commercialization: Why ScCO2 Can Displace Steam. The conference will be taking place on June 18-21, 2012 in Santa Clara, California USA. The paper will include a trade study comparing supercritical CO2 and steam-based heat recovery systems.