Overview of recent developments and the future of organic Rankine cycle applications for exhaust energy recovery in highway truck engines

Overall developments in internal combustion engines suggest that the ORC system recovers exhaust heat for further use, increases system performance, and decreases adverse environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, and particulate matter. This paper presents an overview of crucial advancements in the field of ORC application in commercial vehicles for WHR and continuing developments toward clean fuels and emission regulatory standards. The review work is centered on the potential of ORC technology, its applications in highway truck engines heat recovery, and most notably, the bottlenecks associated with incorporating ORC technology into commercial vehicles exhaust energy recovery. Furthermore, a range of distinct engine operating patterns is reported in respect of average speeds of trucks to assess the appropriate operating points for the chosen application.