The successful commissioning of my country's first large-scale supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation test unit located at the Yanliang Test Base of Xi'an Thermal Engineering Research Institute marks that my country has fully mastered the entire set of key core technologies for supercritical carbon dioxide cycling power generation, and has historically stood at the forefront of the world's technology in the field of thermal power generation
my country's first large-scale supercritical carbon dioxide cycling power generation test unit located in Yanliang District, Xi'an. Reporter Mu Jialiang took
"The unit has just completed the technical achievement appraisal." On August 30, Li Hongzhi, chief expert of supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation technology of Xi'an Thermal Engineering Research Institute, told reporters that just recently, China Electrical Engineering Society conducted a technical appraisal of my country's first large-scale supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation test unit located at the Yanliang test base of Xi'an Thermal Engineering Research Institute.
It has been less than a year since the unit successfully completed the 72-hour trial operation on December 8 last year. This appraisal means that the unit has won the recognition of industry experts.
The core equipment of my country's first large-scale supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation test unit has a localization rate of 100%. More than 400 patents were born during the 7-year R&D process, breaking the long-term monopoly of foreign companies in this field. Behind these achievements are countless sleepless nights...
research and development, starting from "a piece of white paper", the idea of
using carbon dioxide as a power generator was first proposed by foreign scientists in the 1960s, but it has not been realized due to technical limitations. The power generation process is that carbon dioxide gas is boosted by compressor and heated by the boiler, and reaches a supercritical state of high temperature and high pressure, which promotes the rotation of turbine , thereby driving the generator to generate electricity. Compared with traditional water vapor power generation technology, this technology has high power generation efficiency and good flexibility, which can better absorb new energy and effectively reduce carbon emissions. At that time, this technical research was still blank in the country.
"This is a disruptive technology that may change the future landscape of the thermal power generation field." Li Hongzhi was very firm in his heart.
In 2014, Huadeng Group relies on Xi'an Thermal Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd. to officially carry out related research on this technology, aiming to achieve a major breakthrough in transformative flexible low-carbon power generation technology.
In 2015, after the official project was established, Huaneng Group began to introduce professional talents and formed a professional R&D team with Li Hongzhi as the leader and more than 20 engineers participated.
When this young team was full of fighting spirit and began to embark on the road to fill the technical gap, the real difficulties had just begun...
Day at the test base
Doctor Gao Wei was one of the first people to go to the Yanliang Experimental Base of Xi'an Thermal Engineering Research Institute. When the
project was launched, the Yanliang Experimental Base had just been completed and the living security measures were not fully equipped. "I remember it was 2017. The road was dusty and there was no heating in winter." Gao Wei recalled that although it was very bitter, everyone was not stumped. Many people brought bedding directly from home, and all food and accommodation were at the base.
"All of them are 'science and engineering men'. They don't talk much. They just do experiments day and night, check data, write programs, and analyze data." The "science and engineering men" who Li Hongzhi said were not only facing difficult conditions at that time, but also thinking about how to break the technology monopoly.
Supercritical carbon dioxide turbine and compressors have a large working fluid density and high pressure, shaft sealing has always been a major problem that restricts the operation of these turntable equipment. Initially, the project team issued cooperation intentions and technical and business consultations to many internationally renowned dry air seal manufacturers. The responses they can get were either not cooperated or the conditions were extremely harsh. Therefore, the project team decided to cooperate with domestic manufacturers to carry out technical research.
printed circuit board heat exchanger is also the core equipment of generator sets, and is almost monopolized by foreign companies. No domestic company can provide mature products.Therefore, the project team decided to jointly carry out technical research on multiple key process processes, from photochemical etching to vacuum diffusion welding.
days of hard work. With the efforts of the R&D team, after more than three years, they have overcome key technologies such as small leaf high aerodynamic optimization, large shaft diameter dry air sealing, shaft end sealing self-cooling structure and developed the supercritical carbon dioxide turbine unit with the highest parameters in the world.
However, "leading" is far from here.
emitted the first kilowatt-hour kilowatt-hour
February 2, 2021, in the Yanliang Test Base, in the factory of a large supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation test unit, more than 20 people held their breath and stared at the screen in the command hall.
"Success!" The number beat faster everyone's heartbeat. At 19:03, the test unit successfully issued the first kilowatt-hour of electricity.
"At that time, there were warm applause and cheers in the hall, and many people hugged each other tightly." Thinking of that day, team member Wu Shuaishuai still couldn't help but feel excited. "A lot of us cried at that time. More than 7 years of hard work finally had a good result. We have overcome the most difficult stage!"
The most difficult stage was in 2020, and the crew entered the debugging stage.
R&D team is divided into two teams, and it runs 24 hours a day. This is conquering a cutting-edge technology and there is no experience to learn from.
Li Hongzhi introduced that the whole process was very unsuccessful, and abnormal jumps occurred in the test unit. Although carbon dioxide is non-toxic, it is a high-temperature and high-pressure gas after all, which can cause people to suffocate.
"The team members are under great pressure and are in a state of high tension. Sometimes they even risk their lives to go to the site to troubleshoot problems." Zhang Yifan, deputy director of the Institute of Clean Energy Technology, said, "Li Hongzhi is often the first to rush to the site to check problems. Only on the premise of ensuring the safety of personnel can he direct everyone to troubleshoot problems."
Nowadays, all performance indicators of the unit have reached the international leading level. Its successful commissioning marks that my country has fully mastered the complete set of key core technologies for supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation, and has historically stood at the forefront of technology in the world's thermal power generation field.
"In the next step, the R&D team will classify and sort out more than 400 technical patents, and further apply the technology to efficient and flexible thermal power, photothermal thermal storage and power generation, fourth-generation nuclear power and large-scale long-term energy storage, and explore an effective path for energy conservation and carbon reduction in my country's power generation field." Li Hongzhi said.
On September 17, 2013, Li Hongzhi got married. "I was on business trips during that time. My wife went to the airport to pick me up that day. In the afternoon, we went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the certificate. The next day I boarded another flight to Xinjiang," he said.
Over the years, members of the R&D team have been like this and have been on the road. The halo of the successful launch of the supercritical carbon dioxide cycle power generation test unit of
has not become the exploration end point of Xi'an Thermal Engineering Research Institute and the R&D team.
It is understood that the R&D team actively cooperates with domestic advantageous R&D units to build a complete industrial chain, insists on independent research and development of all core technologies, strives to achieve independent control of the entire process chain, and continue to strive for strategic initiative for my country in the technological competition in this field. ( Shaanxi Daily Reporter Mu Jialiang Wang Jiawei)
