Comparison of a Novel Organic-Fluid Thermofluidic Heat Converter and an Organic Rankine Cycle Heat Engine

Christoph J.W. Kirmse, Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi, Andrew J. Haslam and Christos N. Markides
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Christoph J.W. Kirmse: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Andrew J. Haslam: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Christos N. Markides: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 7, 1-26

Abstract: The Up-THERM heat converter is an unsteady, two-phase thermofluidic oscillator that employs an organic working fluid, which is currently being considered as a prime-mover in small- to medium-scale combined heat and power (CHP) applications. In this paper, the Up-THERM heat converter is compared to a basic (sub-critical, non-regenerative) organic Rankine cycle (ORC) heat engine with respect to their power outputs, thermal efficiencies and exergy efficiencies, as well as their capital and specific costs. The study focuses on a pre-specified Up-THERM design in a selected application, a heat-source temperature range from 210 °C to 500 °C and five different working fluids (three n -alkanes and two refrigerants). A modeling methodology is developed that allows the above thermo-economic performance indicators to be estimated for the two power-generation systems. For the chosen applications, the power output of the ORC engine is generally higher than that of the Up-THERM heat converter. However, the capital costs of the Up-THERM heat converter are lower than those of the ORC engine. Although the specific costs (£/kW) of the ORC engine are lower than those of the Up-THERM converter at low heat-source temperatures, the two systems become progressively comparable at higher temperatures, with the Up-THERM heat converter attaining a considerably lower specific cost at the highest heat-source temperatures considered.

Keywords: thermofluidic oscillator; two-phase; unsteady; non-linear; organic Rankine cycle (ORC); combined heat and power (CHP); performance analysis; economic comparison; low-grade heat; off-grid power generation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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