Performance of Cogeneration Systems Using Waste Heat

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Khennich ◽  
Nicolas Galanis ◽  
Mikhail Sorin

The performance of two systems using a low-temperature heat source (100 and 125 °C) and an ORC with R245fa as the working fluid for combined heat and power production has been modeled. The first system supplies the heating load with a heat exchanger in series with the ORC boiler. In the second one this function is fulfilled by the ORC condenser. The results show that the effects of the heating load on the performance of the two systems are very different. The net power output decreases monotonically with increasing heating load for the first system while it exhibits a maximum in the case of the second one. The impact of the heating load and the source temperature on the turbine size, on the total thermal conductance of the heat exchangers, on the total exergy destruction and on several other parameters is also presented and discussed.

Author(s):  
Fredrik Ahlgren ◽  
Maria E. Mondejar ◽  
Magnus Genrup ◽  
Marcus Thern

Maritime transportation is a significant contributor to SOx, NOx and particle matter emissions, even though it has a quite low CO2 impact. New regulations are being enforced in special areas that limit the amount of emissions from the ships. This fact, together with the high fuel prices, is driving the marine industry towards the improvement of the energy efficiency of current ship engines and the reduction of their energy demand. Although more sophisticated and complex engine designs can improve significantly the efficiency of the energy systems in ships, waste heat recovery arises as the most influent technique for the reduction of the energy consumption. In this sense, it is estimated that around 50% of the total energy from the fuel consumed in a ship is wasted and rejected in fluid and exhaust gas streams. The primary heat sources for waste heat recovery are the engine exhaust and the engine coolant. In this work, we present a study on the integration of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) in an existing ship, for the recovery of the main and auxiliary engines exhaust heat. Experimental data from the operating conditions of the engines on the M/S Birka Stockholm cruise ship were logged during a port-to-port cruise from Stockholm to Mariehamn over a period of time close to one month. The ship has four main engines Wärtsilä 5850 kW for propulsion, and four auxiliary engines 2760 kW used for electrical consumers. A number of six load conditions were identified depending on the vessel speed. The speed range from 12–14 knots was considered as the design condition, as it was present during more than 34% of the time. In this study, the average values of the engines exhaust temperatures and mass flow rates, for each load case, were used as inputs for a model of an ORC. The main parameters of the ORC, including working fluid and turbine configuration, were optimized based on the criteria of maximum net power output and compactness of the installation components. Results from the study showed that an ORC with internal regeneration using benzene would yield the greatest average net power output over the operating time. For this situation, the power production of the ORC would represent about 22% of the total electricity consumption on board. These data confirmed the ORC as a feasible and promising technology for the reduction of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of existing ships.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (24) ◽  
pp. 4623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liya Ren ◽  
Huaixin Wang

Compared with the basic organic and steam Rankine cycles, the organic trans-critical cycle (OTC), steam flash cycle (SFC) and steam dual-pressure cycle (SDC) can be regarded as the improved cycle configurations for the waste heat power recovery since they can achieve better temperature matching between the heat source and working fluid in the heat addition process. This study investigates and compares the thermodynamic performance of the OTC, SFC, and SDC based on the waste heat source from the cement kiln with an initial temperature of 320 °C and mass flow rate of 86.2 kg/s. The effects of the main parameters on the cycle performance are analyzed and the parameter optimization is performed with net power output as the objective function. Results indicate that the maximum net power output of SDC is slightly higher than that of SFC and the OTC using n-pentane provides a 19.74% increase in net power output over the SDC since it can achieve the higher use of waste heat and higher turbine efficiency. However, the turbine inlet temperature of the OTC is limited by the thermal stability of the organic working fluid, hence the SDC outputs more power than that of the OTC when the initial temperature of the exhaust gas exceeds 415 °C.


Author(s):  
D. Y. Goswami ◽  
Gunnar Tamm ◽  
Sanjay Vijayaraghavan

A new thermodynamic cycle has been developed for the simultaneous production of power and cooling from low temperature heat sources. The proposed cycle combines the Rankine and absorption refrigeration cycles, providing power and cooling in desired ratios to best suit the application. A binary mixture of ammonia and water is used as the working fluid, providing a good thermal match with the sensible heat source over a range of boiling temperatures. Due to its low boiling point, the ammonia-rich vapor expands to refrigeration temperatures while work is extracted through the turbine. Absorption condensation of the vapor back into the bulk solution occurs near ambient temperatures. The proposed cycle is suitable as a bottoming cycle using waste heat from conventional power generation systems, or can utilize low temperature solar or geothermal renewable resources. The cycle can be scaled to residential, commercial or industrial uses, providing power as the primary goal while satisfying some of the cooling requirements of the application. The cycle is under both theoretical and experimental investigations. Initial parametric studies of how the cycle performs at various operating conditions showed the potential for the cycle to be optimized. Optimization studies performed over a range of heat source and heat sink temperatures showed that the cycle could be optimized for maximum work or cooling output, or for first or second law efficiencies. Depending on the heat source temperatures, as much as half of the output may be obtained as refrigeration under optimized conditions, with refrigeration temperatures as low as 205 K being achievable. Maximum second law efficiencies over 60% have been found with the heat source between 350 and 450 K. An experimental system was constructed to verify the theoretical results and to demonstrate the feasibility of the cycle. The investigation focused on the vapor generation and absorption processes, setting up for the power and refrigeration studies to come later. The turbine was simulated with an equivalent expansion process in this initial phase of testing. Results showed that the vapor generation and absorption processes work experimentally, over a range of operating conditions and in simulating the sources and sinks of interest. The potential for combined work and cooling output was evidenced in operating the system. Comparison to ideally simulated results verified that there are thermal and flow losses present, which were assessed to make both improvements in the experimental system and modifications in the simulations to include realistic losses.


Author(s):  
Ana C. Ferreira ◽  
Senhorinha F. C. F. Teixeira ◽  
José C. Teixeira ◽  
Luís A. Barreiros Martins

Stirling engines efficiency, the increased maintenance interval periods, the variety of energy sources and the relatively low gas emissions makes Stirling technology an interesting choice as prime mover for cogeneration applications. These are some of the reasons that justify the attention received from researchers in the last years, focused in its modelling, optimization and its application in the suppression of buildings energy needs. In this study, an alpha-Stirling engine was numerically modelled. At this configuration, the working fluid flows between expansion and compression spaces by alternate crossing of, a high temperature heat exchanger (heater), a regenerator and a low temperature heat exchanger (cooler). Thus, the engine is considered as a set of five components connected in series. MatLab® environment was used to implement a software-code to model the thermodynamic cycle of the Stirling engine. The modular code allows investigating the influence of different geometrical and thermal parameters of all the engine components that affects its power production and the efficiency, the effectiveness of heat exchangers and the design itself of the power plant. This parametric analysis helps finding some restriction values for geometrical parameters that cannot be solved through the optimization procedures. For instance, at some point, there is a geometrical limit for which the increase in heat transfer is overlapped by the void volume or pumping losses increase. The parametric analysis led to an enhanced configuration of the numerical model, which resulted in the increase of engine thermal efficiency (about 13.4%), with a power production close to 5 kW.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Makuc ◽  
Eldred Chimowitz

We describe the optimization of a supercritical CO2 Carnot engine aimed at utilizing waste heat from industrial processes. The approach is illustrated using data from a flow sheet for a toluene production chemical process [1], [2]. First, the maximum power that can be drawn from a stream carrying waste heat in the process is calculated. This heat is coupled with a supercritical working fluid Carnot engine and calculations are carried out to optimize the size and frequency of the engine. The impact of compression ratio, upper isotherm temperature, and engine pressure are considered. It is found that with a relatively small engine and frequency, on the order of 1.5 L and 50 Hz, having a moderate upper isotherm temperature and a compression ratio of 2, almost 1 million kWh of energy is recovered from a single waste stream, thereby reducing cooler loads, energy costs, and environmental emissions. The approach provides a novel computational adjunct for calculating the efficient potential recovery of waste heat in chemical process design.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gábor Györke ◽  
Axel Groniewsky ◽  
Attila Imre

One of the most crucial challenges of sustainable development is the use of low-temperature heat sources (60–200 °C), such as thermal solar, geothermal, biomass, or waste heat, for electricity production. Since conventional water-based thermodynamic cycles are not suitable in this temperature range or at least operate with very low efficiency, other working fluids need to be applied. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) uses organic working fluids, which results in higher thermal efficiency for low-temperature heat sources. Traditionally, new working fluids are found using a trial-and-error procedure through experience among chemically similar materials. This approach, however, carries a high risk of excluding the ideal working fluid. Therefore, a new method and a simple rule of thumb—based on a correlation related to molar isochoric specific heat capacity of saturated vapor states—were developed. With the application of this thumb rule, novel isentropic and dry working fluids can be found applicable for given low-temperature heat sources. Additionally, the importance of molar quantities—usually ignored by energy engineers—was demonstrated.


Author(s):  
Van P. Carey

For solar Rankine cycle combined heat and power systems for residential buildings and other small-scale applications (producing 1–10 kWe), a low manufacturing cost, robust, and durable expander is especially attractive. The Tesla-type turbine design has these desired features. This paper summarizes a theoretical exploration of the performance of a Tesla turbine as the expander in a small-scale Rankine cycle combined heat and power system. A one-dimensional idealized model of momentum transfer in the turbine rotor is presented, which can be used to predict the efficiency of the turbine for typical conditions in these systems. The model adopts a nondimensional formulation that identifies the dimensionless parameters that dictate performance features of the turbine. The model is shown to agree well with experimental performance data obtained in earlier tests of prototype Tesla turbine units. The model is used to explore the performance of this type of turbine for Rankine cycle applications using water as a working fluid. The model indicates that isentropic efficiencies above 0.75 can be achieved if the operating conditions are tailored in an optimal way. The scalability of the turbine design, and the impact of the theoretical model predictions on the development of solar combined heat and power systems are also discussed.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yıldız Koç ◽  
Hüseyin Yağlı ◽  
Ali Koç

In the present study, a subcritical and supercritical regenerative organic Rankine cycle (rORC) was designed. The designed rORCs assist a combined heat and power (CHP) engine, the fuel of which is biogas produced from anaerobic digestion of domestic wastes in Belgium. R245fa was selected as the working fluid for both the subcritical and supercritical rORC. During the parametric optimisation, the net power production, mass flow rate, exchanged heat in the regenerator, total pump power consumption, thermal and exergetic efficiencies of rORC were calculated for varying turbine inlet temperatures and pressures. After parametric optimisation of the rORC, the results were compared with the results of the previous study, in which only a simple ORC is analysed and parametrically optimised. Moreover, the effect of the regenerator was revealed by examining all results together. Finally, the exergetic analysis of the best performing subcritical and supercritical rORC was performed. Furthermore, the results of the present and previous studies were considered together and it is clearly seen that the subcritical rORC shows the best performance. Consequently, by using the subcritical rORC, the disadvantages of the using simple ORC (low performance) and supercritical cycle (safety, investment) can be eliminated and system performance can be improved.


Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominika Matuszewska ◽  
Piotr Olczak

Power conversion systems based on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) have been identified as a potential technology especially in converting low-grade renewable sources or waste heat. However, it is necessary to improve efficiency of ORC systems. This paper focuses on use of low geothermal resources (for temperature range of 80–128 °C and mass flow 100 kg/s) by using modified ORC. A modification of conventional binary power plant is conducted by combining gas turbines to increase quality of steam from a geothermal well. An analysis has been conducted for three different working fluids: R245fa, R1233zd(E) and R600. The paper discusses the impact of parameter changes not only on system efficiency but on other performance indicators. The results were compared with a conventional geothermal Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). Increasing of geothermal steam quality by supplying exhaust gas from a gas turbine to the installation has a positive effect on the system efficiency and power. The highest efficiency of the modified ORC system has been obtained for R1233zd(E) as a working fluid and it reaches values from 12.21% to 19.20% (depending on the temperature of the geothermal brine). In comparison, an ORC system without gas turbine support reaches values from 9.43% to 17.54%.


Author(s):  
Zemin Bo ◽  
Zhenkun Sang ◽  
Xiaojing Lv ◽  
Yiwu Weng

A 150kW organic working fluid radial turbine designed for the low temperature waste heat with temperature of 150 ∼ 200°C using R600a as working fluid was selected. Under the condition of same inlet temperature and rotational speed, the mixture R600a(iso-butane) / R601a(iso-pentane) with different compositions was adopted for the CFD numerical simulation to obtain the aerodynamic performance and the detailed flow of the organic working fluid radial turbine. The results show that the mixture R600a / R601a can broaden the output power range and increase the efficiency of the radial turbine compared with the pure working fluid. The output power of the organic working fluid radial turbine increases from 54.03kW to 129.6kW as the R600a composition increases from 0.1 to 0.9. The optimal composition of R600a / R601a was obtained for relatively higher efficiency of the organic working fluid radial turbine. The results can provide a reference for the selection of working fluid for radial turbine of the low temperature heat source.


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