Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of a novel two-stage transcritical N2O cycle

Thermodynamic (energy and exergy) analyses and optimization studies of two-stage transcritical N2O and CO2 cycles, incorporating compressor intercooling, are presented based on cycle simulation employing simultaneous optimization of intercooler pressure and gas cooler pressure. Further, performance comparisons with the basic single-stage cycles are also presented. The N2O cycle exhibits higher cooling COP, lower optimum gas cooler pressure and discharge temperature and higher second law efficiency as compared to an equivalent CO2 cycle. However, two-stage compression with intercooling yields lesser COP improvement for N2O compared to CO2. Based on the cycle simulations, correlations of optimum gas cooler pressure and inter-stage pressure in terms of gas cooler exit temperature and evaporator temperature are obtained. This is expected to be of help as a guideline in optimal design and operation of such systems.