Effect of Phase Change Material Storage on the Dynamic Performance of a Direct Vapor Generation Solar Organic Rankine Cycle System

Jahan Zeb Alvi, Yongqiang Feng, Qian Wang, Muhammad Imran, Lehar Asip Khan and Gang Pei
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Jahan Zeb Alvi: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212000, China
Yongqiang Feng: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212000, China
Qian Wang: School of Energy and Power Engineering, Jiangsu University, 301 Xuefu Road, Zhenjiang 212000, China
Muhammad Imran: Mechanical Engineering & Design, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
Lehar Asip Khan: Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Dublin City University, D09 Dublin, Ireland
Gang Pei: Department of Thermal Science and Energy Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei 230027, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-19

Abstract: Solar energy is a potential source for a thermal power generation system. A direct vapor generation solar organic Rankine cycle system using phase change material storage was analyzed in the present study. The overall system consisted of an arrangement of evacuated flat plate collectors, a phase-change-material-based thermal storage tank, a turbine, a water-cooled condenser, and an organic fluid pump. The MATLAB programming environment was used to develop the thermodynamic model of the whole system. The thermal storage tank was modeled using the finite difference method and the results were validated against experimental work carried out in the past. The hourly weather data of Karachi, Pakistan, was used to carry out the dynamic simulation of the system on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis. The impact of phase change material storage on the enhancement of the overall system performance during the charging and discharging modes was also evaluated. The annual organic Rankine cycle efficiency, system efficiency, and net power output were observed to be 12.16%, 9.38%, and 26.8 kW, respectively. The spring and autumn seasons showed better performance of the phase change material storage system compared to the summer and winter seasons. The rise in working fluid temperature, the fall in phase change material temperature, and the amount of heat stored by the thermal storage were found to be at a maximum in September, while their values became a minimum in February.

Keywords: solar organic Rankine cycle; direct vapor generation; phase change material; efficiency; net power; energy stored (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: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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