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Summary Supercritical CO2 (sCO2) has been proven to be a promising working fluid for geothermal heat mining, and the produced hot sCO2 can be directly used for power generation. However, the sCO2 produced from a brine‐based reservoir may contain a certain amount of water, preventing direct power‐cycle utilization. In this paper, an axial vane separator was designed to address the separation problem of sCO2 and water produced from geothermal reservoirs. First, the influences of operational and structural parameters on the separation performance were analyzed through numerical simulations. Five factors were selected to develop separation performance regression models by the response‐surface method (RSM). Finally, geometrical parameter optimization was applied to these RSM models. The results show that the guide vane area and the exhaust inlet are the main locations impacting the system pressure drop. The separation performance can be affected by many factors, including the guide blade outlet angle, number of vanes, hub diameter, length of the vortex tube, droplet size, and inlet velocity. The water‐droplet size and the number of vanes are the most critical factors affecting the separation efficiency. The inlet velocity, the number of vanes, and the hub diameter have a larger influence on the pressure drop of the separator. The optimization results indicate that the separation efficiency can reach 100% under certain operating conditions with a pressure drop no greater than 100 kPa.

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With the extensive application of renewable energy generation, thermal power units are required to participate in peak-regulating operations. The mode of steam distribution significantly influences the economy when the steam turbine operates at a low load. The turbine unit’s governing valve characteristics and steam distribution modes are studied in this paper, and the optimal sliding pressure operation curve is derived. Firstly, the theoretical model of the governing stage and the governing valve is derived, and the reliability is verified with field data. Secondly, the overall simulation model of the turbine unit is established, and the turbine off-design performance is analyzed with variable main steam pressure. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the three steam distribution modes are discussed thoroughly. The steam distribution modes and optimal main steam pressures are analyzed. The results show that a precise composite sliding pressure operation scheme is recommended, and a sliding pressure operation mode is adopted under 470 MW and constant pressure operation for others.

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