Efficient Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Power Generation with low grade energy as heat source: preliminary design of Effi low res ORC unit

摘要

The Effi low res project intends to develop an ORC power generation unit working at low temperatures with improved overall efficiency and to improve cost-effectiveness, competitiveness and penetration of the ORC systems in the Greek market. The major goal is the performance optimization of an ORC unit by exploiting low temperature sources so as to make it cost effective. For that purpose a combined cycle has been designed which exploits the properties of the selected working fluid (refrigerant) that vaporize at low temperatures. Computational simulation techniques were used to investigate the performance of refrigerants selected for the specific application so as to substantiate the choice of the most suitable refrigerant for process optimization. Results show that R134a as a working fluid is an optimal solution to balancing three factors studied: required amount of heat, mass flow rate and cost.