Experimental Study on the Performance Characteristics of a Scroll Expander for 1kW-class Organic Rankine Cycle

The performance characteristics of a scroll expander is the most important variable for the performance of organic Rankine cycle system. In this paper, the performance characteristics of a scroll expander was identified using 1kW class organic Rankine cycle system with various operating conditions. The ORC system is composed of an evaporator, a scroll expander, a condenser and a working fluid feed pump that uses R245fa as working fluid. The hot water temperature was controlled from to by the 50kW-class electric water-heater. The maximum isentropic efficiency of the scroll expander was measured about 77%, and the shaft power was measured from 0.5 kW to 1.8 kW according to heat source temperatures.