Organic Rankine Cycle 101

Unlike the traditional steam Rankine cycle, the organic Rankine cycle (ORC) uses a high molecular mass organic fluid. It allows heat recovery from low temperature sources such as industrial waste heat, geothermal heat, solar ponds, etc. The low temperature heat is converted into useful work, that can itself be converted into electricity. A prototype was first developed and exhibited in 1961 by Israeli solar engineers Harry Zvi Tabor and Lucien Bronicki.[1][2]

Working principle of the ORC

T-s diagram for the ideal/real ORC
The working principle of the organic Rankine cycle is the same as that of the Rankine cycle : the working fluid is pumped to a boiler where it is evaporated, passes through a turbine and is finally re-condensed.

In the ideal cycle, the expansion is isentropic and the evaporation and condensation processes are isobaric.

In the real cycle, the presence of irreversibilities lowers the cycle efficiency. Those irreversibilities mainly occur :

During the expansion : Only a part of the energy recoverable from the pressure difference is transformed into useful work. The other part is converted into heat and is lost. The efficiency of the expander is defined by comparison with an isentropic expansion.

In the heat exchangers : The sinuous way taken by the working fluid in order to ensure a good heat exchange causes pressure drops, and lowers the amount of power recoverable from the cycle.

Improvement of the organic Rankine cycle

ORC with Regenerator
In the case of a "dry fluid", the cycle can be improved by the use of a regenerator : Since the fluid has not reached the two-phase state at the end of the expansion, its temperature at this point is higher than the condensing temperature. This higher temperature fluid can be used to preheat the liquid before it enters the evaporator.
A counter-flow heat exchanger is thus installed between the expander outlet and the evaporator inlet. The power required from the heat source is therefore reduced and the efficiency is increased.

Applications for the ORC
The possible applications for the organic Rankine cycle technology are multiple. Among them, the most widespread and promising fields are the following:

• Waste heat recovery
  Waste heat recovery is without doubt the most important development field for the ORC. It can be applied to heat and power plants (for example a small scale cogeneration plant on a domestic water heater), or to industrial and farming processes such as organic products fermentation, hot exhausts from ovens or furnaces, exhaust gases from vehicles, intercooling of a compressor, condenser of a power cycle, etc.[3]
• Biomass power plant
  Biomass is available all over the world and can be used for the production of electricity on small to medium size scaled power plants. The problem of high specific investment costs for machinery such as steam boilers are overcome due to the low working pressures in ORC power plants. Also the ORC process helps to overcome the relatively small amount of input fuel in most of the regions possible for biomass energy production since an efficient working of ORC power plants is possible on small size plants.[4]
• Geothermal plants
  Geothermic heat sources vary in temperature from 50 to 350°C. The ORC is therefore perfectly adapted for this kind of application. However, it is important to keep in mind that for low-temperature geothermal sources (typically less than 100°C), the efficiency is very low and depends strongly on heat sink temperature (defined by the ambient temperature).
• Solar thermal power
  The organic Rankine cycle can be used in the solar parabolic trough technology in place of the usual steam Rankine cycle. The ORC allows a lower collector temperature, a better collecting efficiency (reduced ambient losses) and hence the possibility of reducing the size of the solar field.[5][6]
  
  Choice of the working fluid
• 
  The selection of the working fluid is of key importance in low temperature Rankine Cycles. Because of the low temperature, heat transfer inefficiencies are highly prejudicial. These inefficiencies depend very strongly on the thermodynamic characteristics of the fluid and on the operating conditions.
• In order to recover low-grade heat, the fluid generally has a lower boiling temperature than water. Refrigerants and hydrocarbons are the two commonly used components.
  Optimal characteristics of the working fluid :

Isentropic saturation vapor curve :

Since the purpose of the ORC focuses on the recovery of low grade heat power, a superheated approach like the traditional Rankine cycle is not appropriate.

Therefore, a small superheating at the exhaust of the evaporator will always be preferred, which disadvantages "wet" fluids (that are in two-phase state at the end of the expansion).

In the case of dry fluids, a regenerator should be used.
Low freezing point, high stability temperature :

Unlike water, organic fluids usually suffer chemical deteriorations and decomposition at high temperatures.

The maximum hot source temperature is thus limited by the chemical stability of the working fluid. The freezing point should of course be lower than the lowest temperature in the cycle.
High heat of vaporisation and density :

A fluid with a high latent heat and density will absorb more energy from the source in the evaporator and thus reduce the required flow rate, the size of the facility, and the pump consumption.

Low environmental impact

The main parameters taken into account are the Ozone depletion potential (ODP) and the global warming potential (GWP).
Safety

The fluid should to be non-corrosive, non-flammable, and non-toxic. The ASHRAE safety classification of refrigerants can be used as an indicator of the fluid dangerousness level.
Good availability and low cost

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