January 2022—STEP Demo Facility Continuing to Build
Significant progress has been made in the STEP Demo project with final equipment manufacturing, delivery, and installation. Fabrication issues have been encountered and resolved, which is a core purpose for executing this commercial-scale pilot project, in addition to the planned testing to confirm performance and operation.
The turbine rotor, which measures roughly a meter in length, arrived at SwRI in early October. The sCO2 turbomachinery is highly compact, and an equivalent steam turbine would be more than 10 times this size.
Fabrication of the high temperature recuperator (HTR) has been completed, and piping has been welded on to the HTR. The hardware is now awaiting trans-Atlantic shipment to Texas with delivery to SwRI in late February.
Other new equipment continues to arrive and get installed, with commissioning scheduled for late 2022. Testing of a simple recuperated cycle system configuration is scheduled for early 2023.
Become a project partner
This open project is welcoming new partners from around the world. OEMs, engineering companies, and power plant owner/operators are invited to join to gain a better understanding of how sCO2 technology can improve high-efficiency power generation.
For more information, contact Markus Lesemann directly.