This paper presents a methodology to predict and optimize performance of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) using a back propagation neural network (BPNN) for diesel engine waste heat recovery. A test bench of an ORC with a diesel engine is established to collect experimental data. The collected data is used to train and test a BPNN model for performance prediction and optimization. After evaluating different hidden layers, a BPNN model of the ORC system is determined with consideration of mean squared error and correlation coefficient. The effects of key operating parameters on the power output of the ORC system and exhaust temperature at the outlet of the evaporator are evaluated using the proposed model and further discussed. Finally, a multi-objective optimization of the ORC system are conducted for maximizing power output and minimizing exhaust temperature at the outlet of the evaporator based on the proposed BPNN model. The results show that the proposed BPNN model has a high prediction accuracy and the maximum relative error of the power output is less than 5%. It also shows that when the operations are optimized based on the proposed model, the power output of the ORC system can be higher than the experimental results.

The design of the Latent Heat Thermal Storage System (LHTESS) was developed with thermal capacity of about 100 kWh as a part of small solar plant, based on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). The phase change material (PCM) used is Solar salt with the melting/solidification temperature of about 220°C. Thermo-physical properties of the PCM were measured, including its phase transition temperature, heat of fusion, specific heat and thermal conductivity. The design of the thermal storage was finalized by means of the 3-D CFD analysis. The thermal storage system is made of six rectangular boxes with dimensions of 1 m (width) × 0.66 m (height) × 0.47 m (depth). The thermal energy is delivered to each of the thermal storage boxes with the use of thermal oil, heated by Fresnel mirrors. The heat is transferred into and from the PCM in the box using 40 bi-directional heat pipes with the external diameter of about 12 mm. The length of the heat pipe in the PCM box is 430 mm and it is placed in the cylindrical metallic protection cartridge, installed in the thermal storage vessel. The working fluid in the heat pipe is water. A set of metallic screens are installed in the box with the pitch of 8–10 mm to enhance the heat transfer from heat pipes to the PCM and vice-versa during the charging and discharging processes, which take about 4 hours. The one unit of the described thermal storage system is undergoing the laboratory tests. Preliminary results demonstrate that the performance of the thermal storage is in a good agreement with numerical predictions. After completion of final design modifications, all units will be assembled at the plant’s demonstration site and tested with the ORC turbine.

This paper presents the organic Rankine cycle performance comparison of several working fluids with low global warming potential and low ozone depletion potential at several heat source temperatures. At an evaporating temperature of 80°C, maximum first law efficiency of 5.8% was achieved with ammonia, while at 145°C and 180°C, diethyl ether provides the maximum cycle efficiencies of 11.4% and 13% respectively. For the best operating conditions of the ORC model, a suitable two-stage scroll geometry was modeled and its performance was evaluated. Stage I and stage II scroll geometries with volume ratios of 5.3 each were modeled for the supply conditions of 180°C and 2.6 MPa. The geometries provided a combined shaft work of 8.7 kW at combined expander efficiency of 89% accounting for the losses due to the leakage in the expander.

This study focuses on the power cycles such as organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and combined regenerative Brayton/ORC. The selection of working fluids and power cycles is traditionally conducted by trial and error method and performing a large number of parametric calculations over a range of operating conditions. A methodology for selection of optimal working fluid based on the cycle operating conditions and thermophysical properties of the working fluids was developed in this study. Thermodynamic performance (thermal efficiency and net power output) of a simple subcritical and supercritical ORC was analyzed over a range of operating conditions for a number of working fluids to determine the effect of operating parameters on cycle performance and select the best working fluid. New expressions for thermal efficiency of a simple ORC are proposed. In case of a regenerative Brayton/ORC, the results show that CO 2 is the best working fluid for the topping cycle. Depending on the exhaust temperature of the topping cycle, Isobutane, R11 and Ethanol are the preferred working fluids for the bottoming (ORC) cycle, resulting in highest efficiency of the combined cycle. Finally, a performance map is presented as guidance for selection of the best working fluid for specific cycle operating conditions.

Absorption Power Cycles (APCs) provide an interesting field within power cycles. The multicomponent mixture with variable temperature across boiling is employed as a working fluid. This has a potential for decreasing exergy loss associated with heat transfer during phase change processes (boiling and condensation). Absorption process has also an effect of lowering exhaust pressure of a turbine. The APCs hold a potential for heat recovery applications at very low temperatures, where constant temperature of boiling and condensation largely limits performance and economic effectiveness of Organic Rankine cycles (ORCs). Theoretical calculations show superiority of APC over extensive range of considered ORC working fluid. The advantage of APC further increases when air cooled condenser needs to be used instead of wet cooling tower. With the same boundary conditions for all cycles the APC provides higher utilization efficiency and power output at source temperatures below approximately 120 °C, for temperatures as low as 60 °C the net power output can be surpassed even more than three times. The proposed APC employs aqueous solution of salts considered generally for absorption cooling (Lithium Bromide, Lithium Chloride, Calcium Chloride) as a working fluid. Unlike ammonia used in mixture with water in Kalina APC or often ORC working fluids, used salts are non-toxic, environmentally friendly and pure water in expander simplifies its design. After summary of theoretical research from thermodynamics point of view are discussed principles, aspects and issues for design of single components of the cycle. Results of sizing are presented on two examples with 100 °C heat source. First one is 20 kW e unit using hot air as a heat source and air cooled condenser, second one is 500 kW e unit with heat source being pressurized water and using wet cooling tower heat rejection. Results show possibility of building relatively efficient system for even small power output with turbine isentropic efficiency nearly 80 % for the 20 kW e unit, but relatively large heat exchangers.

Small scale solar thermal systems are increasingly investigated in the context of decentralized energy supply, due to favorable costs of thermal energy storage (TES) in comparison with battery storage for otherwise economical PV generation. The present study provides the computational framework and results of a one year simulation of a low-cost pilot 3kW el micro-Concentrated Solar Power (micro-CSP) plant with TES. The modeling approach is based on a dynamic representation of the solar thermal loop and a steady state model of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and is validated to experimental data from a test site (Eckerd College, St. Petersburg, Florida). The simulation results predict an annual net electricity generation of 4.08 MWh/a . Based on the simulation, optimization studies focusing on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) converter of the system are presented, including a control strategy allowing for a variable pinch point in the condenser that offers an annual improvement of 14.0% in comparison to a constant condensation pinch point. Absolute electricity output is increased to 4.65 MWh/a . Improvements are due to better matching to expander performance and lower condenser fan power because of higher pinch points. A method, incorporating this control strategy, is developed to economically optimize the ORC components. The process allows for optimization of the ORC subsystem in an arbitrary environment, e.g. as part of a micro-grid to minimize Levelized electricity costs (LEC). The air-cooled condenser is identified as the driving component for the ORC optimization as its influence on overall costs and performance is of major significance. Application of the optimization process to various locations in Africa illustrates economic benefits of the system in comparison to diesel generation.

As world trade grows, fuel prices increase, and International Maritime Organization (IMO) emissions requirements tighten, there is more demand for the marine industry to employ innovative means of reducing the fuel consumption and emissions of shipping vessels. The main engines of large shipping vessels produce a large quantity of low temperature heat, but this valuable heat energy is transferred to cooling systems and rejected to the oceans as waste. At the same time, the electrical needs of shipping vessels are sustained by burning diesel fuel to run generators. Calnetix Technologies, in partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, has developed the Hydrocurrent™ 125EJW Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), a modularized system capable of absorbing the waste heat of main engine jacket water and converting it into grid-quality electric power. By combining this renewable source with the existing non-renewable source (engine gensets) a unique renewable-non-renewable hybrid power system is realized with minimal changes to overall ship power train. This novel hybrid system can be applied to all new and existing ships and allow for further integration into ship systems with available waste heat. Shipping vessels such as tankers, bulk carriers, and container vessels are typically equipped with a category 3 marine diesel engine for main propulsion. A 30 MW engine, a most common engine size, utilizes 200–300 m 3 /hr of jacket water regulated to a heated temperature of 80–95 C. When integrated into the jacket water and sea water loops, the ORC can produce up to 125 kW of gross grid-quality electric power. This adds an immense benefit to the ship. To produce the same amount of power, a diesel generator consumes as much as 250 metric tons of diesel fuel per year, generates emissions, and requires significant maintenance. Calnetix Technologies has leveraged its core technologies to develop the ORC into a reliable, high efficiency, compact and modular design. The turbo-generator or Integrated Power Module (IPM) is a hermetically sealed, high speed radial turbine coupled to a permanent magnet generator supported by magnetic bearings. Power from the IPM is converted by a high efficiency power converter supplying the ship with reliable power. The integrated design of the ORC along with the sophistication of its controls systems ensures essential ship functions are undisturbed under all conditions. The ORC is designed to comply with Nippon Kaiji Kyokai and Lloyd’s Register marine regulations and sea trials are anticipated to take place in 2015.

The design of expanders for organic fluids is gaining an increasing attention due to the large opportunities opened by the ORC as a way to recover low grade heat. The possibility of recovering at least a fraction of the energy related to throttling in inverse cycles could have interesting relapses on the market of heating (heat pumps) and refrigeration machines. The main challenge to be faced is the management of a highly wet fluid (typical quality is in the 0–0.6 range), which puts off side dynamic expanders like turbines. For this reason, piston technology is proposed and analyzed. The potential recovery from the throttling of a 20 kW target domestic heat pump cycle is determined by modeling the real expansion cycle with two different codes, a commercial one (largely widespread and very easy to use) and a purposely developed one, which is much more customizable and may include different approaches to the physical behavior of the two–phase expansion. The results show interesting possibility of energy recovery from this generally wasted source, which opens the way to improvements of the heat pump COP from 4% to about 7%, depending on the working (i.e. seasonal) conditions. The analysis also points out the agreement in the results of two different adopted simulation tools (commercial AMESim ® and self-made customizable EES ® ), which can be thus considered valuable in the design, analysis and optimization of the proposed expander. Due to the biphasic nature of the working fluid, the performance of the expander is strongly influenced by the inlet conditions of the fluid from the condenser of the heat pump to the cylinders, such as throttling of the inlet/outlet valves and friction through the ducts. On the whole, this expander technology has very interesting chances to effectively manage fluids under highly wet conditions, like those related to the throttling from upper to lower pressure of inverse cycles.

This paper presents an analysis of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with dry cooling system aided by an earth-coupled passive cooling system. Several organic fluids were considered as working fluids in the ORC in the temperature range of 125–200°C. An earth-air-heat-exchanger (EAHE) is studied for a location in the United States (Las Vegas) and another in India (New Delhi), to pre cool the ambient air before entering an air-cooled condenser (ACC). It was observed that the efficiency of the system improved by 1–3% for the system located in Las Vegas and fluctuations associated with temperature variations of the ambient air were also reduced when the EAHE system was used. A ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) is also studied for these locations where cooling water is pre cooled in an underground buried pipe before entering a condenser heat exchanger in a closed loop. The area of the buried pipe and the condenser size are calculated per kW of power generation for various working fluids.

This paper reports on the performance of various organic refrigerants and their mixtures as working fluids for power generation in a supercritical Rankine cycle (SRC) from geothermal sources. Organic fluids that have zero or very low ozone depletion potential and are environmentally safe are selected for this study. Geothermal source temperature is varied from 125–200°C, and the cooling water temperature is changed from 10–20°C. The effect of varying operating conditions on the performance of the thermodynamic cycle has been analyzed. Operating pressure of the cycle has been optimized for thermal efficiency for each fluid at each source temperature. The condensation pressure is determined by the cooling condition and is kept fixed for each condensation temperature. Energy and exergy efficiencies of the cycle have been obtained for the pure fluids as a function of heat source temperature. Mixtures of organic fluids have been analyzed and effect of composition on performance of the thermodynamic cycle has been studied. It is observed that thermal efficiency over 20% can be achieved for 200°C heat source temperature and the lowest cooling temperature. When mixtures are considered as working fluids, the thermal efficiency of the cycle is observed to remain between the thermal efficiencies of the constituent fluids.

Geothermal power generation is achieved by feeding the harnessed geothermal heat into the boiler of an ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) based engine which uses an organic working fluid characterised by its low boiling temperature. For the purpose of this study, such a system was designed, built and operated to verify the concept of small-scale power generation using heat from a low temperature source. This experimental facility used hot water as the source of heat, brazed plate heat exchangers as the boiler and the condenser, an automotive inline fuel pump for circulation and a Scroll compressor operated in reverse to act as the expander. The working fluid was R245fa with a boiling point of 80°C at a pressure of 790kPa (or 40°C at 250kPa). A Prony Brake was fitted on the shaft of the expander to determine its power output. Experimental investigations found that ∼600W of power could be produced under optimum conditions at a rotational speed of ∼2000RPM. The details of the experimental facility as well as the results of the experiments are provided in this paper.

This paper presents a solar Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for electricity generation; where a regression based approach is used for the working fluid. Models of the unit’s sub-components (pump, evaporator, expander and condenser) are also presented. Heat supplied by the solar field can heat the water up to 80–95 °C at mass flow rates of 2–12 kg/s and deliver energy to the ORC’s heat exchanger unit. Simulation results of steady state operation using the developed model shows a maximum power output of around 40 kWe. Both refrigerant and hot water mass flow rates in the system are identified as critical parameters to optimize the power production and the cycle efficiency.

The optimization of energy conversion systems is of great significance in the utilization of low-grade heat. This paper presents an analysis of 6 working fluids in 12 thermodynamic cycles to optimize the energy conversion systems. The optimal exergy efficiency of the system is dependent on the type of the thermodynamic cycle, the choice of appropriate working fluid, and the working conditions. A zeotropic mixture of R134a and R245fa shows advantages in energy conversion process, as well as its heat exchange with the heat source and heat sink. The exergy efficiency of a 0.5R134a/0.5R245fa-based supercritical Rankine cycle system is 0.643–0.689 for a turbine inlet temperature of 415–445K, which is about 30% improvement over the exergy efficiency of 0.491–0.521 for a pure R32-based organic Rankine cycle under the same temperature limits. Furthermore, the 0.5R134a/0.5R245fa mixture saves more than 60% of the cooling water during the condensation process than the pure R32, R134a and R245fa.

A blow-down facility for experimental analysis of real gases is under construction at Politecnico di Milano (Italy), in collaboration with Turboden s.r.l. and in the frame of the research project named Solar . Experiments are meant to characterize flow fields representative of expansions taking place in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) turbine passages. Indeed, ORC power plants represent a viable technology to exploit clean energy sources, but ORC turbines design tools still require accurate experimental data for validation. A significant improvement of turbine efficiency is expected from detailed investigations on vapour streams; in fact, ORC turbines design tools still require accurate experimental data for validation. The facility is equipped with a straight axis supersonic nozzle as a test section and a batch-closed loop plant has been designed in order to reduce investment and operational costs. Due to the batch operation, the evaluation of the time evolution of main processes involved in the cycle is of great importance. To this purpose a dynamic simulation of the test rig has been carried out using a dynamic simulator based on an object-oriented modeling language, Modelica , allowing an easy development of component models structured with a hierarchical approach. Models include control loop devices, strongly influencing processes duration. This paper presents how the test rig has been modelled, with particular emphasis on the models framework and on simulation procedure; the calculation results are finally discussed. With a lumped parameter approach, a first scheme of the facility has been built by modelling each of the three main plant section (heating, test, condensation) using components included in a self-made library. Several models, not embedded in the Modelica standard libraries, have been created using Modelica code; among them the most important has been the supersonic nozzle. In order to better describe the facility behaviour and the thermal losses, a plant calculation refinement has been carried out by the development of finite volume based one-dimensional models of ducts and reservoirs, either in radial or axial direction; in particular, a novel distributed-parameters model has been built for the heating section. All simulations have been performed using Siloxane MDM and Hydrofluorocarbon R245fa as reference fluids and FluidProp ® to calculate thermodynamic properties. A quasi 1-D steady nozzle flow calculation has also been carried out by implementing FluidProp ® routines in a dedicated Fortran software. Since the unsteady nozzle expansion is well approximated by a sequence of steady states, the computation provides all thermodynamic properties and velocity along the nozzle axis as a function of time. Simulation results have given a fundamental support to both plant and experiments design.

The performance of dry-cooled ORC systems varies significantly with environmental conditions, diurnally and seasonally. This study analyzes the impact of environmental conditions on overall performance and operational control of dry-cooled ORC systems with fixed and variable geometry expanders. Performance analysis results are extended to time-series environmental data to determine the expected performance of a system over long durations. Analysis results indicate that, if other factors are held constant, variable speed condenser fans produce minimal performance improvement, while variable-geometry expanders have a significant impact.

In the last years one of the main research topics in energy field is represented by Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs), due to their applicability in energy recovery from waste heat and in distributed combined heat and power (CHP) generation, particularly in small and micro scale systems. One of the key devices of the cycle is the expander: it must have a limited cost (like all the other components, in order to ensure the economic feasibility), but also a high efficiency, since the temperature of the heat source is often low and then the cycle efficiency is inherently scarce. In the first part of this paper a literature review on various positive-displacement expanders is presented, in order to outline their performances and their application field. Then, the numerical model of a volumetric reciprocating expander is implemented. This model, and another one previously developed to simulate scroll expanders, is combined with a thermodynamic model of the whole ORC system, so that a comparison between the two technologies can be carried out. The results confirm the possibility of realizing small scale energy recovery and cogeneration (CHP) systems with acceptable electrical efficiency also adopting low-cost components, directly derived from large scale industrial components.

The organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is a power generating technology that can enable the utilization of waste heat to generate electric power from different sources, including geothermal hot springs, other power generating technologies, and industrial applications. There is a significant technical challenge in producing financially viable ORC plants, due to the high costs associated with custom heat exchange components and turbo-machinery. In the last few years, however, packaged systems have been developed from commercially available refrigeration systems, which significantly reduce cost. The goal of this project was to evaluate the feasibility of generating electricity using the waste heat from industrial air compression equipment. A simulation program was written to model the thermodynamics of the ORC. Several potential working fluids were surveyed and ranked based on their applicability to the industrial operating conditions. In particular, refrigerant R-236fa has been determined to be the most appropriate working fluid. The decision was made by weighing its thermal properties, as well as environmental and health considerations. Two types of heat rejection technology were considered, namely water-cooling and air-cooling, with emphasis on the effect of ambient conditions on ORC performance. It is concluded that water-cooling can be used for a plant located in Ontario, Canada, with the possibility of utilizing air-cooling during the cooler seasons of the year. An installation cost of U.S. $1,300/kW is feasible, yielding a simple payback period of 6.35 years. The results of this research project encourage further work to be done on this application of waste heat recovery.

A feasibility study has been conducted for an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system coupled to the exhaust of a Diesel engine generator. The objective of this study was to determine the possible electrical generation of the ORC using the exhaust gas of a 78 kW diesel engine as its energy input. A thermodynamic model was developed to predict the possible electricity generation of the ORC. Using this model it was determined that the preferred working fluid for the ORC was R245ca. The calculated maximum ORC thermal efficiency was 14.3%. The net electrical power generated from the ORC was 5.36 kWe. The ORC would require no additional fuel and would not generate any additional emissions. The most cost-effective and simple means to develop a small packaged ORC system is to high volume production HVAC system components. An ORC system consisting of air conditioning system components, including a scroll expander, yielded a projected ORC efficiency of 10.7%, and a net electrical power of 4.02 kWe. The total capital cost of the ORC system was $2,140 CAD. Three engine usage scenarios were developed, with the time to payback of the initial capital cost of the ORC ranging from 12.8 to 0.58 years, depending on low or high usage.

Thermodynamic analysis has been conducted for geothermal power cycles using a portion of deep ground sequestered CO2 as the working fluid. This allows energy production from much shallower depths and in geologic areas with much lower temperature gradients than those of current geothermal systems. Two different system designs were analyzed for power production with varying reservoir parameters, including reservoir depth, temperature, and CO2 mass flow rate. The first design is a direct single-loop system with the CO2 run directly through the turbine. This system was found to provide higher system efficiency and power production, however design complications such as the need for high pressure turbines, two-phase flow through the turbine and the potential for water-CO2 brine mixtures, could require the use of numerous custom components, driving up the cost. The second design is a binary system using CO2 as the heat transfer fluid to supply thermal energy to an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). While this system was found to have slightly less power production and efficiency than the direct system, it significantly reduces the impact of design complications associated with the direct system. This in turn reduces the necessity for certain custom components, thereby reducing system cost. While performance of these two systems is largely dependent on location and operating conditions, the binary system is likely applicable to a larger number of sites and will be more cost effective when used in combination with current off-the-shelf ORC power plants.

A supercritical Rankine cycle using zeotropic mixture working fluids for the conversion of low-grade heat into power is proposed and analyzed in this paper. A supercritical Rankine cycle does not go through two-phase region during the heating process. By adopting zeotropic mixtures as the working fluids, the condensation process happens non-isothermally. Both of the features create a potential in reducing the irreversibility and improving the system efficiency. A comparative study between an organic Rankine cycle and the proposed supercritical Rankine cycle shows that the proposed cycle improves the cycle thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency of the heating and the condensation processes, and the system overall efficiency.