CCUS Innovation 2.0 competition: Innovative high temperature sealing solution for supercritical CO2 power cycle
Summary
John Crane UK Limited published the closing documents from its CCUS Innovation 2.0 grant project to develop an uncooled high-temperature dry gas seal for supercritical CO2 power cycles. The work covered new simulations, material compositions, and testing validation aimed at reducing seal leakage and potentially enabling an additional turbine expansion stage. This is a component-level R&D output from a competition-funded project, not a policy or market change.
Why it matters
Nothing here changes a cost, charge, rule, or what can be built. Supercritical CO2 turbomachinery is a long-horizon efficiency play for CCUS and other thermal cycles; a single sealing-component grant report has no near-term bearing on GB generation economics or deployment.
Key facts
- •Project lead: John Crane UK Limited
- •Funded under DESNZ CCUS Innovation 2.0 competition
- •Technology: uncooled high-temperature dry gas seal for supercritical CO2 power cycles
- •Claimed benefits: higher cycle efficiency, reduced leakage, possible additional turbine expansion stage
- •Output is a project closeout report, not a deployment or procurement decision
Areas affected
Related programmes
Memo
Innovative high temperature sealing solution for supercritical CO2 power cycle Project Lead: John Crane UK Limited Supercritical carbon dioxide power cycles are a novel process currently under consideration across the energy sector, including for carbon capture, usage and storage ( CCUS ). Compared with conventional steam-driven systems, they boast higher cycle efficiencies, reduced emissions and compact turbomachinery, resulting in reduced fuel and water consumption and lower capital expenditures. In this project John Crane developed an innovative, uncooled high-temperature dry gas seal solution for these applications using new simulations, material compositions and testing validation to operate at high temperatures and pressure values, with the potential to significantly reduce leakages and potentially even enable the inclusion of an additional turbine expansion stage.