Thermoeconomic analysis and off-design performance of an organic Rankine cycle powered by medium-temperature heat sources

Abstract This paper presents the performance of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) powered by medium-temperature heat sources. A simulation model, developed by the authors, has been improved to this scope. The model is based on zero-dimensional energy and mass balances for all the components of the system. It is also strictly related to the geometrical and design parameters of its components, especially in case of heat exchangers. The model evaluates the energetic and economic performance of the system, for different operating conditions and design criteria. In particular, the model allows one to set the geometrical parameters of heat exchanger and evaluate the off-design performance of the system. Hence, it could be an useful tool in the preliminary design of the plant. The n -butane has been used as working fluid according to results of the previous authors’ work. Two types of simulations have been performed. The first simulation aims at selecting a design optimization criterion of some geometrical parameters of the shell and tube heat exchangers. The total cost of ORC plant has been selected as objective function. The parametrical analysis has been performed in steady-state regime. The second simulation evaluates the off-design performance of the ORC power plant. The thermal input of the cycle, i.e. diathermic oil coming from the heat source, has been varied in terms of mass flow rate and temperature to analyze the plant response to variations of boundary conditions starting from the design point. With respect to the total cost minimization, as objective function, the simulation results show that for all heat exchangers the higher the heat transfer area, the higher the net power generated and income. Instead, the evaporator shows different trends, hence it represents a key element in ORC design. The geometric optimization of heat exchangers allows the ORC to increase the economic benefit, the net power generated and the global efficiency of about 21.06%, 20.01% and 33.60% respectively. The results of the off-design analysis show that the heat source mass flow rate is a key parameter in net power generation. Fixed the heat source temperature on the upper bound of its variation range (185 °C), the net power generation shows both the maximum and minimum value, 335.4 kW and 269.3 kW, in correspondence of the lowest and the highest value of heat source mass flow rate respectively. Moreover, the results show that the plant efficiency decreases as both heat source mass flow rate and temperature increase. Its maximum value, 14.7%, is achieved for heat source temperature and mass flow rate equal to 155 °C and 18 kg/s, while its minimum value, 9.54%, is reached for heat source temperature and mass flow rate equal to 185 °C and 24 kg/s.