Exergy efficiency analysis of ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle) and ORC-based combined cycles driven by low-temperature waste heat

Abstract There is large amount of waste heat resources in industrial processes. However, most low-temperature waste heat is directly discharged into the environment. With the advantages of being energy-efficient, enabling investment-savings and being environmentally friendly, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) plays an important role in recycling energy from low-temperature waste heat. In this study, the ORC system driven by industrial low-temperature waste heat was analyzed and optimized. The impacts of the operational parameters, including evaporation temperature, condensation temperature, and degree of superheat, on the thermodynamic performances of ORC system were conducted, with R113 used as the working fluid. In addition, the ORC-based cycles, combined with the Absorption Refrigeration Cycle (ARC) and the Ejector Refrigeration Cycle (ERC), were investigated to recover waste heat from low-temperature flue gas. The uncoupled ORC-ARC and ORC-ERC systems can generate both power and cooling for external uses. The exergy efficiency of both systems decreases with the increase of the evaporation temperature of the ORC. The net power output, the refrigerating capacity and the resultant exergy efficiency of the uncoupled ORC-ARC are all higher than those of the ORC-ERC for the evaporation temperature of the basic ORC >153 °C, in the investigated application. Finally, suitable application conditions over other temperature ranges are also given.

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