scholarly journals Numerical CFD Simulations and Indicated Pressure Measurements on a Sliding Vane Expander for Heat to Power Conversion Applications

Designs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Bianchi ◽  
Sham Rane ◽  
Fabio Fatigati ◽  
Roberto Cipollone ◽  
Ahmed Kovacevic
Keyword(s):  
Power Output ◽  
Cfd Simulation ◽  
Mechanical Efficiency ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Pressure Measurements ◽  
Cfd Simulations ◽  
Large Power ◽  
Specific Power Output

The paper presents an extensive investigation of a small-scale sliding vane rotary expander operating with R245fa. The key novelty is in an innovative operating layout, which considers a secondary inlet downstream of the conventional inlet port. The additional intake supercharges the expander by increasing the mass of the working fluid in the working chamber during the expansion process; this makes it possible to harvest a greater power output within the same machine. The concept of supercharging is assessed in this paper through numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations which are validated against experimental data, including the mass flow rate and indicated pressure measurements. When operating at 1516 rpm and between pressures of 5.4 bar at the inlet and 3.2 bar at the outlet, the supercharged expander provided a power output of 325 W. The specific power output was equal to 3.25 kW/(kg/s) with a mechanical efficiency of 63.1%. The comparison between internal pressure traces obtained by simulation and experimentally is very good. However, the numerical model is not able to account fully for the overfilling of the machine. A comparison between a standard and a supercharged configuration obtained by CFD simulation shows that the specific indicated power increases from 3.41 kW/(kg/s) to 8.30 kW/(kg/s). This large power difference is the result of preventing overexpansion by supercharging. Hence, despite the greater pumping power required for the increased flow through the secondary inlet, a supercharged expander would be the preferred option for applications where the weight of the components is the key issue, for example, in transport applications.

Some Aspects of the Outline Design Specification of a 0.5 kW Stirling Engine for Domestic Scale Co-Generation

1996 ◽  
Vol 210 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
D H Rix
Keyword(s):  
Power Output ◽  
High Volume ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Stirling Engine ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Design Specification ◽  
Specific Power Output ◽  
Chp System

This paper describes the design considerations that were involved in the production of a prototype Stirling engine, primarily intended for use in a domestic scale combined heat and power (CHP) system. These are discussed in terms of the specification of basic design parameters—configuration, working fluid, etc. First the particular requirements of this application are considered, primarily a power output of 1 kW or less, suitability for high-volume mass production, ultra long life and as high an efficiency as possible. The design that emerges is relatively simple, of low specific power output and with rather conservative operating parameters—temperature, pressure and speed.

The Isoengine: A Novel High Efficiency Engine With Optional Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES)

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claus Linnemann ◽  
Mike W. Coney ◽  
Anthony Price
Keyword(s):  
Energy Storage ◽  
Power Output ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Compressed Air ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Compressed Air Energy Storage ◽  
Power Cycle ◽  
Specific Power Output ◽  
High Specific Power

A novel high efficiency reciprocating piston engine — the isoengine — is predicted to achieve net electrical efficiencies of up to 60% in units of 5 to 20 MWe size. The high efficiency and at the same time a high specific power output are achieved by integrating isothermal compression, recuperative preheating and isobaric combustion into a novel power cycle. The isoengine can utilize distillate oil, natural gas or suitable biofuels. While the first commercial isoengine is envisaged to have a power output of 7 MW, a 3 MW prototype engine is currently being tested. Since compression and combustion are performed in different cylinders, these processes can also be performed at different times such that the isoengine can be used to create a highly efficient small-scale compressed air energy storage (CAES) system. In such configuration, the engine can operate at more than 140% nominal load for a limited time, which depends on the air storage capacity.

Performance Comparison and Parametric Analysis of sCO2 Power Cycles Configurations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali S. Alsagri ◽  
Andrew Chiasson ◽  
Ahmad Aljabr
Keyword(s):  
Power Output ◽  
Thermal Efficiency ◽  
Performance Comparison ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Brayton Cycle ◽  
Computationally Efficient ◽  
Power Cycles ◽  
Optimization Study ◽  
Specific Power Output ◽  
Improve Calculation

A thermodynamic analysis and optimization of four supercritical CO2 Brayton cycles were conducted in this study in order to improve calculation accuracy; the feasibility of the cycles; and compare the cycles’ design points. In particular, the overall thermal efficiency and the power output are the main targets in the optimization study. With respect to improving the accuracy of the analytical model, a computationally efficient technique using constant conductance (UA) to represent heat exchanger performances is executed. Four Brayton cycles involved in this compression analysis, simple recaptured, recompression, pre-compression, and split expansion. The four cycle configurations were thermodynamically modeled and optimized based on a genetic algorithm (GA) using an Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software. Results show that at any operating condition under 600 °C inlet turbine temperature, the recompression sCO2 Brayton cycle achieves the highest thermal efficiency. Also, the findings show that the simple recuperated cycle has the highest specific power output in spite of its simplicity.

scholarly journals CFD investigation on the performance analysis of Tesla turbine

2021 ◽  
Vol 850 (1) ◽  
pp. 012026
Author(s):  
J Kevin Joseph ◽  
R Jeyanthinathan ◽  
R Harish
Keyword(s):  
Power Output ◽  
Cfd Simulation ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Ansys Fluent ◽  
Rotating Speed ◽  
Velocity Magnitude ◽  
Turbine Disc ◽  
Improved Performance

Abstract A Tesla turbine is a bladeless turbine in which fluid flows in the direction of the centripetal path. It uses fluid properties such as Boundary layer & adhesion of fluid on a series of discs keyed to a shaft. The initial cost and maintenance cost of the Tesla turbine is very low. Our project’s main motive is to improve the performance of a Tesla turbine by changing various parameters such as disc diameter and disc rotating speed through the CFD simulation software using water as a working fluid. The CAD model is designed using Ansys design modeler, meshing is performed using Ansys meshing and post processing is carried out in Ansys fluent. The numerical simulations were carried out using Ansys Fluent which is based on the finite volume method and the changes that occurred in the pressure and velocities are investigated. The parametric study is performed by varying the turbine disc speed. By performing CFD simulations, total pressure contour and velocity magnitude contours are plotted and it is found that pressure and velocity are maximum when the clearance between disc and turbine casing is lesser and at higher turbine disc speeds. The power output of the Tesla turbine is also plotted for various rpm where higher rpm gives maximum power output. The results from the present study would be useful in designing an efficient Tesla turbine with improved performance.

scholarly journals A Double-Bed Adsorptive Heat Transformer for Upgrading Ambient Heat: Design and First Tests

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 4037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail Tokarev
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Heat Generation ◽  
Power Output ◽  
Thermal Efficiency ◽  
Natural Source ◽  
Specific Power ◽  
Specific Power Output ◽  
Heat Transformer ◽  
Continuous Heat ◽  
Steady State Cycling

A full scale lab prototype of an adsorptive heat transformer (AHT), consisting of two adsorbers, an evaporator, and a condenser, was designed and tested in subsequent cycles of heat upgrading. The composite LiCl/SiO2 was used as an adsorbent with methanol as an adsorbtive substance under boundary temperatures of TL/TM/TH = −30/20/30 °C. Preliminary experiments demonstrated the feasibility of the tested AHT in continuous heat generation, with specific power output of 520 W/kg over 1–1.5 h steady-state cycling. The formal and experimental thermal efficiency of the tested rig were found to be 0.5 and 0.44, respectively. Although the low potential heat to be upgraded was available for free from a natural source, the electric efficiency of the prototype was found to be as high as 4.4, which demonstrates the promising potential of the “heat from cold” concept. Recommendations for further improvements are also outlined and discussed in this paper.

Development of Efficient Small Scale Axial Turbine for Solar Driven Organic Rankine Cycle

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayad Al Jubori ◽  
Raya K. Al-Dadah ◽  
Saad Mahmoud ◽  
Khalil M. Khalil ◽  
A. S. Bahr Ennil
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Cycle Performance ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Cfd Simulations ◽  
Axial Turbine ◽  
Working Fluids ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Inlet Conditions

Recently, the increase in fossil fuel consumption and associated adverse impact on the environment led to significant interest in renewable energy sources like solar. This paper presents a new methodology that integrates the ORC cycle analysis with modeling of an efficient small scale subsonic axial turbine at low temperature heat sources using wide range of organic working fluids like R123, R134a, R141b, R152a, R245fa, R290 and isobutene. The work involves detailed turbine analysis including 1D mean line approach, extensive 3D CFD simulations and ORC cycle analysis at inlet total pressure ranging from 2–5 bar corresponding to temperature range from 275K–365K to achieve the best turbine and cycle performance. This work provides a more reliable data base for small scale organic working fluids instead of using the map of large scale gas turbine. The numerical simulation was performed using 3D RANS with SST turbulence model in ANSYS-CFX. Using iterative CFD simulations with various working fluids with subsonic inlet conditions, Mach number ranging from 0.6–0.65, results showed that using working fluid R123 for a turbine with mean diameter of 70mm, the maximum isentropic efficiency was 82% and power output 5.66 kW leading to cycle efficiency of 9.5%.

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