Influence of the temperature difference between the heat source and the evaporation temperature in ORC systems working with natural refrigerants

Abstract

The use of waste heat in many branches of industry is limited due to temperature in the range of 30 to 100oC. One of the methods of using waste heat are devices that implement the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). In currently used ORC systems, the heat source temperature is at least 80oC, while the low temperature heat source (usually atmospheric air) has a temperature of 30oC. The work analyzes the influence of the organic fluids properties on the performance of the proposed installation driven by the waste heat and working based on the ORC. The basic operation parameters in nominal conditions were determined for three selected natural refrigerants R290, R600a, R717 and one synthetic R245fa. The condensing temperature 30oC were defined as a nominal value. The research results compare how the generated electric power will change depending on the temperature difference between the temperature of the heat source and the temperature of evaporation. It turns out that for a device with finite dimensions, the maximum power is obtained for a specific evaporation temperature. And this is not the highest temperature that can be achieved. The highest evaporation temperature allows for the highest efficiency of the system, but not the maximum of capacity.