⚡ Supercritical CO2 Brazed Plate Exchanger (BPHE)

Size Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers (BPHE): pseudo-critical temperature (Tpc), Jackson & Hall chevron Nusselt model, compactness density, and gas cooler duty.

⚡ Fortran 90 Engine Double Precision (IEEE 754) ✓ ISO / ASME Validated

Supercritical CO2 Brazed Plate Exchanger (BPHE)

Heat Exchangers

📊 Solver Telemetry ● ACTIVE

👁️ Views 42

⚡ Solves 36

💾 Downloads 352 📦 Fortran Code 4.1 KB

📅 Released Jun 2026

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⚡ Supercritical CO2 High-Pressure Chevron Corrugated Channels

Real-time visual simulation: sCO2 gas cooler channel (red to orange) and counterflow water (blue to cyan)

📝 Configuration & Presets

🔥 Transcritical CO2 Heat Pump ⚡ sCO2 Brayton Recuperator 🛒 R744 Supermarket Gas Cooler 🏭 sCO2 Waste Heat Recovery

⚡ Supercritical CO2 Stream

Operating Pressure P [bar]:

sCO2 Inlet Temp T_in [°C]:

sCO2 Mass Flow Rate ṁ_sCO2 [kg/s]:

💧 Coolant Water Stream

Water Inlet Temp T_cool,in [°C]:

Water Mass Flow ṁ_cool [kg/s]:

📐 Brazed Chevron Plate Geometry

Number of Plates N_p:

Chevron Angle β [deg]:

Plate Width W [m]:

Plate Length L [m]:

Supercritical CO2 BPHE Formulation:
• Pseudo-Critical Temp: T_pc = 31.04 + 0.35 · (P − 73.8) [°C]
• Supercritical Chevron Nusselt: Nu = 0.30 · Re^0.68 · Pr^0.40 · sin(β)^0.30
• Thermal Compactness: β_vol > 1000 m²/m³ (Ultra-compact footprint)
• Heat Duty: Q̇ = ṁ_sCO2 · (h_in − h_out) [kW].

📊 Performance Results

📊 Output Summary
💾 Fortran Source

Gas Cooler Thermal Duty (Q̇)

2345.5 kW (2.345 MW)

Pseudo-Critical T_pc: 47.2 °C | Pressure: 120 bar

TRANS-PSEUDOCRITICAL COOLING

sCO2 Outlet Temperature 69.1 °C Inlet = 160 °C

Coolant Water Outlet Temp 101.1 °C Inlet = 45 °C

sCO2 Heat Transfer Coeff (h) 3946 W/(m²·K) Overall U = 2173 W/(m²·K)

Area Compactness Density 414 m²/m³ 120 chevron plates

📈 Heat Duty Q̇ (kW) vs Operating Pressure P (bar)

📊 sCO2 Heat Coeff hs [W/(m²·K)] vs Plates Count Np

=================================================================
 THERMOFLUIDCALC — SUPERCRITICAL CO2 BPHE SIZING REPORT
=================================================================
Case Title                 : Supercritical CO2 Brayton Power Cycle Recuperator
Supercritical CO2 Stream   : P = 120.0 bar, T_in = 160.0 C, m = 8.00 kg/s (Tpc = 47.21 C)
Coolant Water Stream       : T_cool_in = 45.0 C, m_cool = 10.00 kg/s
BPHE Plate Geometry        : Np = 120 plates, W = 0.40 m, L = 0.85 m, Chevron = 60 deg
-----------------------------------------------------------------
SUPERCRITICAL REGIME       : TRANS-PSEUDOCRITICAL COOLING
GAS COOLER THERMAL DUTY (Q): 2345.45 kW (2.345 MW)
sCO2 Heat Coeff (h_sco2)   : 3945.8 W/(m2.K)
Overall Heat Transfer (U)  : 2172.7 W/(m2.K)
sCO2 Outlet Temperature    : 69.05 deg C
Coolant Water Outlet Temp  : 101.06 deg C
sCO2 Pressure Drop         : 5.79 kPa
Area Compactness Density   : 414 m2/m3
=================================================================

📘 Calculation Methodology & Supercritical CO2 Standards

Pseudo-Critical Property Variations

Near the pseudo-critical line ($T_{pc}$), $CO_2$ undergoes dramatic non-linear spikes in specific heat ($c_p$) and shifts in density, providing exceptionally high heat exchange rates without boiling/pinch limitations.

High-Pressure Brazed Plate Compactness

Chevron corrugated vacuum-brazed stainless steel plates provide compactness exceeding $1000\,\text{m}^2/\text{m}^3$ while withstanding pressures beyond $100 - 150\,\text{bar}$.

Key Engineering Assumptions

Modified Jackson & Hall supercritical Nusselt correlation for chevron BPHEs.
Counter-current gas cooling without condensation phase change.
Used in transcritical $CO_2$ heat pumps, R744 supermarket refrigeration, and $sCO_2$ Brayton power cycles.

ThermoFluidCalc Engineering Report