Thermodynamic analysis of a simple Organic Rankine Cycle

Thermodynamic performance (thermal efficiency and net power output) of a simple subcritical and supercritical Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) was analyzed over a range of operating conditions for a number of working fluids to determine the effect of operating parameters on cycle performance and select the best working fluid. The results show that for an ORC operating with a dry working fluid, thermal efficiency decreases with an increase in the turbine inlet temperature (TIT) due to the convergence of the isobaric lines with temperature. The results also show that efficiency of an ORC operating with isentropic working fluids is higher compared to the dry and wet fluids, and working fluids with higher specific heat capacity provide higher cycle net power output. New expressions for thermal efficiency of a subcritical and supercritical simple ORC are proposed. For a subcritical ORC without the superheat, thermal efficiency is expressed as a function of the Figure of Merit (FOM), while for the superheated subcritical ORC thermal efficiency is given in terms of the modified Jacob number. For the supercritical ORC, thermal efficiency is expressed as a function of dimensionless temperature. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.