Matteo Martinelli
PhD thesis title: Design and Optimization of High Efficiency Supercritical CO2 Oxy-combustion Power Cycles with CO2 Capture and Storage
Academic Tutor: Paolo Chiesa
Academic Supervisor: Emanuele Martelli
PhD cycle: 36° (see all student profiles of the same cycle > LINK)
BSc: Energy Engineering, Università degli Studi di Bologna
MSc: Energy Engineering, Politecnico di Milano
Visiting period at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA (USA), planned from January 2023 until May 2023. Planning activity is the modelling and performance optimization of oxy-combustion supercritical CO2 power plants.
Thesis abstract
In the framework of the increasing interest towards the development of transition technologies able to reduce significantly in the short/medium term the CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, the objective of my PhD project is to develop models, optimize and test different oxy-combustion cycles: the Allam cycle, the Semi-Closed Oxi-Combustion Combined Cycle and the SOS-CO2 cycle in collaboration with a leading energy company. The main advantage of oxy-combustion cycles is that they allow to easily separate and capture the CO2 produced during the combustion process, thus reducing emissions while keeping high efficiency.
Personal interest in my research theme
The energy transition represents a fundamental issue in almost all fields of research. I definitely wanted to act in the process, but I also felt that more focus should be put on solutions to reduce the pollutants emissions in the short/medium term. I decided to work on oxy-combustion for two main reasons: first because I think it represents a way to reduce emissions in the short term, and second because this field of research is strongly multidisciplinary, and allows me to work with different hybrid technologies and softwares, making me grow a lot as an individual and professional.
