Construction and dynamic test of a small-scale organic rankine cycle

Gang Pei, Jing Li, Yunzhu Li, Dongyue Wang and Jie Ji

Energy, 2011, vol. 36, issue 5, 3215-3223

Abstract: The fundamentals of a newly constructed kW-scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system on the use of R123 were illustrated. A specially designed and manufactured turbine was innovatively applied to this system. Formulations were developed to examine the heat transfer and power conversion processes of the ORC. Unlike water pumping, the vapor pressure of the pumped fluid in the ORC system was much higher, and cavitation was more easily facilitated. A technology was introduced to address this issue without a large height difference between the tank and the pump. A preliminary test of the constructed system under varying conditions was conducted. The mass flow rate through the pump was found to be unequal to that through the turbine during the converter frequency adjustment process. The two mass flow rates were influenced in different ways by the evaporator pressure. The experiment results show that a turbine isentropic efficiency of 0.65 and an ORC efficiency of 6.8% can be obtained with a temperature difference of about 70 °C between the hot and the cold sides. Overall, the turbine has demonstrated adequate performance by operating at off-design conditions, which underscores its potential for application in small-scale ORCs.

Keywords: Turbine; Organic rankine cycle; Cavitation; Converter frequency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (67)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:36:y:2011:i:5:p:3215-3223

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2011.03.010

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