scholarly journals Numerical Study of Multistage Transcritical Organic Rankine Cycle Axial Turbines

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Sciacovelli ◽  
P. Cinnella
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Dense Gas ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Inlet Conditions ◽  
The Impact

Transonic flows through axial, multistage, transcritical organic rankine cycle (ORC) turbines are investigated by using a numerical solver including advanced multiparameter equations of state and a high-order discretization scheme. The working fluids in use are the refrigerants R134a and R245fa, classified as dense gases due to their complex molecules and relatively high molecular weight. Both inviscid and viscous numerical simulations are carried out to quantify the impact of dense gas effects and viscous effects on turbine performance. Both supercritical and subcritical inlet conditions are studied for the considered working fluids. In the former case, flow across the turbine is transcritical, since turbine output pressure is subcritical. Numerical results show that, due to dense gas effects characterizing the flow at supercritical inlet conditions, supercritical ORC turbines enable, for a given pressure ratio, a higher isentropic efficiency than subcritical turbines using the same working fluid. Moreover, for the selected operating conditions, R134a provides a better performance than R245fa.

Experimental and Numerical Study of Supersonic Non-ideal Flows for Organic Rankine Cycle Applications

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Robertson ◽  
Peter Newton ◽  
Tao Chen ◽  
Aaron Costall ◽  
Ricardo Martinez-Botas
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Validation ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Helmholtz Energy ◽  
System Level ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Dense Gas ◽  
Cfd Simulations

Abstract The organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is low-grade heat recovery technology, for sources as diverse as geothermal, industrial, and vehicle waste heat. The working fluids used within these systems often display significant real-gas effects, especially in proximity of the thermodynamic critical point. Three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is commonly used for performance prediction and flow field analysis within expanders, but experimental validation with real gases is scarce within the literature. This paper therefore presents a dense-gas blowdown facility constructed at Imperial College London, for experimentally validating numerical simulations of these fluids. The system-level design process for the blowdown rig is described, including the sizing and specification of major components. Tests with refrigerant R1233zd(E) are run for multiple inlet pressures, against a nitrogen baseline case. CFD simulations are performed, with the refrigerant modeled by ideal gas, Peng–Robinson, and Helmholtz energy equations of state. It is shown that increases in fluid model fidelity lead to reduced deviation between simulation and experiment. Maximum and mean discrepancies of 9.59% and 8.12% in nozzle pressure ratio with the Helmholtz energy EoS are reported. This work demonstrates an over-prediction of pressure ratio and power output within commercial CFD packages, for turbomachines operating in non-ideal fluid environments. This suggests a need for further development and experimental validation of CFD simulations for highly non-ideal flows. The data contained within this paper are therefore of vital importance for the future validation and development of CFD methods for dense-gas turbomachinery.

Working Fluid Selection for Organic Rankine Cycles from a Molecular Structural Point of View

2013 ◽  
Vol 805-806 ◽  
pp. 649-653
Author(s):  
Bing Zhang ◽  
Shuang Yang ◽  
Jin Liang Xu ◽  
Guang Lin Liu
Keyword(s):  
Critical Temperature ◽  
Heat Source ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Organic Fluids ◽  
Cycle Efficiency

The optimum working conditions of 11 working fluids under different heat source temperatures for an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) were located in our previous work. In the current work, the system irreversibility of each candidate were calculated and compared at their optimal operating conditions. Obvious variation trends of both the cycle efficiency and irreversibility were found for different types of organic fluids. It is suggested, when selecting working fluid for our ORC system, the critical temperature should be as close as possible to the heat source temperature to achieve high cycle efficiency but avoid large irreversibility. The relationships between the structure of the molecules and the critical temperature of the working fluids are investigated qualitatively and potentially meaningful for the rational selection of proper organic fluids for certain ORCs.

A Comparative Study of Scroll Expander Performance Using CO2 and Zeotropic Mixtures As Working Fluids

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arun Kumar Narasimhan ◽  
Diego Guillen Perez ◽  
D. Yogi Goswami
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Brayton Cycle ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Scroll Expander

Abstract Scroll expanders are generally used for low temperature power generation applications due to their inherently small built-in volume ratio. The working fluid and operating conditions play an important role in the expander performance as well as its physical size and volume ratio. Hence, a comparative study of scroll expander performance was carried out between two different working fluids, R433C and supercritical (s-CO2). The s-CO2 Brayton cycle achieved a maximum cycle efficiency of 13.6% at an expander supply pressure of 11 MPa. Two separate scroll geometries were modeled for supercritical Organic Rankine Cycle (SORC) using R433C and s-CO2 Brayton cycle for the operating conditions that provided the maximum cycle performance. The s-CO2 scroll geometry achieved a maximum expander efficiency of 80% with a volume ratio of 2.5 and a diameter of 19 cm. The high inlet temperatures required a much higher volume ratio of 6.2 and scroll diameter of 30 cm for the R433C based SORC leading to greater leakages and lower expander efficiency of 62%. The comparative study shows that s-CO2 is better suited for scroll expander than R433C at such high expander supply temperatures.

Investigating the Effect of Changing the Working Fluid on the Three-Dimensional Flow Within Organic Rankine Cycle Turbines

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. White ◽  
A. I. Sayma
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Detailed Comparison ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Turbine Design ◽  
Similitude Theory

For small and micro scale (< 50 kWe) organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems to be commercially viable, systems are required that can operate efficiently over a range of operating conditions. This will lead to the high volume, low cost production that is critical to improve the current economy of scale, and reduce system costs. This requirement will inevitably mean utilising the same system within a range of different applications and may also require the same turbine to operate in different systems where the working fluid may change. Under these circumstances it is therefore important to develop suitable models that can determine the off design performance of these turbines. This will help to understand how the performance of existing ORC turbines responds to such changes. This topic is also of interest when considering retrofitting existing systems with more modern working fluids, which meet current environmental regulations. Recent work by the authors has developed a turbine design model and produced a candidate radial turbine design. Furthermore a modified similitude theory has been developed and validated, which can be used to predict turbine performance following a change in working fluid. This paper extends this analysis to a wider array of working fluids, and in addition to comparing the important performance parameters such as mass flow rate and turbine efficiency, a detailed comparison of the resulting flow field, blade loading distributions and velocity triangles is also presented. Predictions made using the modified similitude theory are compared to steady and unsteady 3D RANS CFD simulations completed using the commercial solver ANSYS CFX. Real fluid properties are accounted for by generating property tables using REFPROP. By comparing these important flow features the validity of the modified similitude model can be examined to a much greater extent.

Second Law Analysis and Optimization of Organic Rankine Cycle

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Somayaji ◽  
P. J. Mago ◽  
L. M. Chamra
Keyword(s):  
Waste Heat ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Second Law ◽  
Low Grade ◽  
Heat Sources ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Second Law Analysis

This paper presents a second law analysis and optimization for the use of Organic Rankine Cycle “ORC” to convert waste energy to power from low grade heat sources. The working fluids used in this study are organic substances which have a low boiling point and a low latent heat for using low grade waste heat sources. The organic working fluids under investigation are R134a and R113 and their results are compared with those of ammonia and water under similar operating conditions. A combined first and second law analysis is performed by varying some system operating parameters at various reference temperatures. Some of the results show that the efficiency of ORC is typically below 20% depending on the temperatures and matched working fluid. In addition, it has been found that organic working fluids are more suited for heat recovery than water for low temperature applications, which justifies the use of organic working fluids at the lower waste source temperatures.

Preliminary Design Optimization of an Organic Rankine Cycle Radial Turbine Rotor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edna Raimunda da Silva ◽  
Konstantinos G. Kyprianidis ◽  
Michael Säterskog ◽  
Ramiro G. Ramirez Camacho ◽  
Angie L. Espinosa Sarmiento
Keyword(s):  
Design Optimization ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Design Approach ◽  
Optimization Process ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Preliminary Design ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Radial Turbine

The present study describes the application of a preliminary design approach for the optimization of an organic Rankine cycle radial turbine. Losses in the nozzle the rotor have initially been modelled using a mean-line design approach. The work focuses on a typical small-scale application of 50 kW, and two working fluids, R245fa (1,1,1,3,3,-pentafluoropropane) and R236fa (1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropane) are considered for validation purposes. Real gas formulations have been used based on the NIST REFPROP database. The validation is based on a design from the literature, and the results demonstrate close agreement the reference geometry and thermodynamic parameters. The total-to-total efficiencies of the reference turbine designs were 72% and 79%. Following the validation exercise, an optimization process was performed using a controlled random search algorithm with the turbine efficiency set as the figure of merit. The optimization focuses on the R245fa working fluid since it is more suitable for the operating conditions of the proposed cycle, enables an overpressure in the condenser and allows higher system efficiency levels. The R236fa working fluid was also used for comparison with the literature, and the reason is the positive slope of the saturation curve, somehow is possible to work with lower temperatures. Key preliminary design variables such as flow coefficient, loading coefficient, and length parameter have been considered. While several optimized preliminary designs are available in the literature with efficiency levels of up to 90%, the preliminary design choices made will only hold true for machines operating with ideal gases, i.e. typical exhaust gases from an air-breathing combustion engine. For machines operating with real gases, such as organic working fluids, the design choices need to be rethought and a preliminary design optimization process needs to be introduced. The efficiency achieved in the final radial turbine design operating with R245fa following the optimization process was 82.4%. A three-dimensional analysis of the flow through the blade section using computational fluid dynamics was carried out on the final optimized design to confirm the preliminary design and further analyze its characteristics.

Organic Rankine Cycle Optimization With Explicit Designs of Evaporator and Radial Inflow Turbine

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hasan Eren Bekiloğlu ◽  
Hasan Bedir ◽  
Günay Anlaş
Keyword(s):  
Power Output ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Source Temperature ◽  
Order Preference ◽  
Radial Inflow Turbine ◽  
Net Power Output

Abstract Although there are studies on optimizing organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) through individual components, in this study, for the first time, both evaporator and turbine designs are included in a multiobjective optimization. Twenty-eight working fluids are used to find optimum cycle parameters for three source temperatures (90, 120, and 150 °C). A mean-line radial inflow turbine model is used. Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II is utilized to minimize total evaporator area per net power output and maximize performance factor simultaneously. The technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Situation (TOPSIS) procedure is followed to obtain ideal solutions. A group of working fluids with highest net power output is determined for each heat source temperature. Optimized geometric parameters of the evaporator vary in a narrow range independent of the working fluid and the source temperature, but evaporator PPTD and degree of superheating depend on the working fluid. The specific speed, the pressure ratio through the turbine, and the nozzle inlet-to-outlet radius ratio do not change significantly with cycle conditions.

Working Fluid Selection for an Organic Rankine Cycle for Waste Heat Recovery under Different Heat Source Temperatures

2013 ◽  
Vol 732-733 ◽  
pp. 213-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuang Yang ◽  
Bing Zhang ◽  
Jin Liang Xu ◽  
Wei Zhang ◽  
Chao Xian Wang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Source ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Working Fluid Selection ◽  
Cycle Efficiency ◽  
Optimum Working

Optimum working conditions of 11 working fluids under different heat source temperatures in an organic Rankine cycle were systematically investigated. Cycle efficiency of each fluid was compared at their optimal operating conditions were then analyzed. R141b appears to be the best choice when the heat source temperature is around 200oC. Heptane is suggested the suitable working fluids for the ORC system when the heat source is 300oC.

scholarly journals Large Eddy Simulations of Strongly Non-Ideal Compressible Flows through a Transonic Cascade

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 772
Author(s):  
Jean-Christophe Hoarau ◽  
Paola Cinnella ◽  
Xavier Gloerfelt
Keyword(s):  
Compressible Flows ◽  
Flow Behavior ◽  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Ideal Gas ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Large Eddy Simulations ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Viscous Effects ◽  
Large Eddy

Transonic flows of a molecularly complex organic fluid through a stator cascade were investigated by means of large eddy simulations (LESs). The selected configuration was considered as representative of the high-pressure stages of high-temperature Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) axial turbines, which may exhibit significant non-ideal gas effects. A heavy fluorocarbon, perhydrophenanthrene (PP11), was selected as the working fluid to exacerbate deviations from the ideal flow behavior. The LESs were carried out at various operating conditions (pressure ratio and total conditions at inlet), and their influence on compressibility and viscous effects is discussed. The complex thermodynamic behavior of the fluid generates highly non-ideal shock systems at the blade trailing edge. These are shown to undergo complex interactions with the transitional viscous boundary layers and wakes, with an impact on the loss mechanisms and predicted loss coefficients compared to lower-fidelity models relying on the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations.

scholarly journals Component-Oriented Modeling of a Micro-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle System for Waste Heat Recovery Applications

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1984
Author(s):  
Ramin Moradi ◽  
Emanuele Habib ◽  
Enrico Bocci ◽  
Luca Cioccolanti
Keyword(s):  
Electric Power ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat Recovery ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Pump Efficiency ◽  
Micro Scale

Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems are some of the most suitable technologies to produce electricity from low-temperature waste heat. In this study, a non-regenerative, micro-scale ORC system was tested in off-design conditions using R134a as the working fluid. The experimental data were then used to tune the semi-empirical models of the main components of the system. Eventually, the models were used in a component-oriented system solver to map the system electric performance at varying operating conditions. The analysis highlighted the non-negligible impact of the plunger pump on the system performance Indeed, the experimental results showed that the low pump efficiency in the investigated operating range can lead to negative net electric power in some working conditions. For most data points, the expander and the pump isentropic efficiencies are found in the approximate ranges of 35% to 55% and 17% to 34%, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum net electric power was about 200 W with a net electric efficiency of about 1.2%, thus also stressing the importance of a proper selection of the pump for waste heat recovery applications.

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