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Field testing of a transcritical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engine coupled with concentrating photovoltaic thermal collectors.

Number: 2173

Author(s) : NIEUWENHUYSE J. van, SKIADOPOULOS A., MANOLAKOS D., LECOMPTE S., PAEPE M. de

Summary

Transcritical organic Rankine cycle (transcritical ORC) systems have the potential to achieve high heat-to-power performance for low-grade heat sources. In these systems, heat addition to the working fluid occurs under supercritical conditions, offering a way to improve the efficiency (compared to a subcritical ORC). In literature, several theoretical studies can be found, discussing efficiency improvement and performance of the overall cycle, the performance of the individual components and thermo-economic optimization. However, very few experimental campaigns have been carried out on an actual installation. Therefore, it is difficult to assess how such a system works under actual field conditions and what performance and efficiency it can reach in practice. In this paper, results are discussed from field tests that were performed on a small-scale transcritical ORC engine coupled with Concentrating Photo Voltaic Thermal (CPVT) collectors, which produce the heat that is provided to the ORC unit. Transcritical operation is discussed and a comparison is made to subcritical operation. In addition, the performance of the expander is extensively investigated. Based on the results presented in this paper, the potential of practical transcritical ORC engines for low-grade heat conversion is discussed and insight is given into the performance of the current scroll expander. A maximum thermal efficiency of 2.2% was measured under transcritical conditions. While this is low compared to normal subcritical operating conditions, this efficiency is in line with the few experimental data that have been previously reported in literature. The main factor causing this low efficiency is the low part-load performance of the current scroll expander. The maximum expander rotational speed that could be set without leaving the transcritical operating region was 22.5 Hz, which is only half of the nominal rotational speed. Future work includes performing experiments at higher expander rotational speeds and evaluating the supercritical heat exchanger performance based on the current measurements.

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  • Original title: Field testing of a transcritical organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engine coupled with concentrating photovoltaic thermal collectors.
  • Record ID : 30030506
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Technology
  • Source: 2022 Purdue Conferences. 19th International Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Conference at Purdue.
  • Publication date: 2022/07/10

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