Project Work on

SELECTION OF BEST WORKING FLUID BASED ON EXERGY

ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE

by

Mohit Kumar Siddha

(Enrollment No.:- 14117040)

Mukul Goyal

(Enrollment No.: - 14117041)

Sarang Nagwanshi

(Enrollment No.:- 14117042)

Under the supervision of

Dr. K. Murugesan

MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, ROORKEE

ROORKEE-247667 (INDIA)

APRIL, 2017
 CANDIDATE DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the work carried out in the report entitled “SELECTION OF
BEST WORKING FLUID ON THE BASIS OF EXERGY ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC
RANKINE CYCLE”, is presented for the subject MIN-300 Lab-Based Project submitted to
the department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology
Roorkee (India), is an authentic record of my own work carried out under the supervision of
Dr. K Murugesan, Associate Professor, IIT Roorkee.

I have not submitted the record embodied in this project report for the award of any
other degree or diploma in any institute.

Date: April, 2017 Mohit Kumar Siddha

Place: Roorkee Mukul Goyal

Sarang Nagwanshi

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the above statement made by the candidate is correct to the best
of my knowledge and belief.

Dr. K Murugesan

Associate Professor

MIED
 ACKNOWLEDMENTS

This report is based on the work led at Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Department at IIT Roorkee, which is the most prestigious, and a leading institute in India.

We would like to express by deep gratitude to Dr. K Murugesan, Associate

Professor, IIT Roorkee, who gave us opportunity to do this project under his supervision.
We also would like to thank him for his perpetual inspiration, valuable suggestions and
dynamic guidance during this project.

We would also like to thank the research scholars of Dr. K Murugesan for helping us
regarding how to use REFPROP software. It really helped us in our project calculations.

Place: IIT Roorkee Mohit Kumar Siddha(14117040)

Date: April, 2017 Mukul Goyal (14117041)

Sarang Nagwanshi (14117042)

Class : Mechanical, B.Tech, 3rd year

IIT Roorkee
 Table of contents
Chapter No. Title Page No.
Abstract
List of Figures
 ABSTRACT
The consumption of fossil fuel sources and energy demands are increasing continuously in
the world with the passage of time. The world energy consumption is expected to increase to
around 40% between 2016 and 2030. On the other hand, generating energy from the fossil
fuel causes some problem to the environment, such as global warming, air pollution, water
pollution, soil pollution, ozone depletion and so on. So, there has been an increasing interest
in the methods to effectively convert the low-temperature waste heat into useful forms of
energy. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) has been considered as one of the most feasible
methods to achieve high efficiency in recovering low-temperature waste heat as the organic
working fluids have higher molecular weight and lower critical temperatures.

Our purpose of this project was to find out the best working fluid for different working
conditions and parameters using energy and exergy efficiency. Also we tried to increase the
efficiency of the ORC by combined it with regeneration and reheating. We selected organic
fluids which have global warming potential (GWP) and Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP)
within acceptable limits. We used REFPROP and Solkane software to find out the
thermodynamics properties of different working fluids.

We used R-123, R-124 and R-227 as working fluid for simple ORC calculations. In all three
fluid, exergy destruction followed same order in four components of the cycle. Exergy
destruction was largest in evaporator followed by expander then condenser and at last pump.
For reheat-regenerative ORC R-227, R-245fa and R-236fa were used for exergy and energy
efficiency calculations. Due to reheat and regeneration there is in improvement in first law
efficiency around 5% and in second law efficiency around 10%. It also decreases the heat
required in the evaporator.
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure No. Title Page No.

 LIST OF TABLES

Table No. Title Page No.

 NOMENCLATURE

Symbols Used

Cp Specific heat (kJ/kg K)

Ex Exergy rate (kJ/kg/sec)
դex Exergy efficiency
դpump Pump efficiency
դturb Turbine efficiency
դ Cycle efficiency
Qin Heat input rate (kJ1sec)
Q Heat transfer (kJ/kg)
m Mass flow rate (kg/sec)
W Mechanical power used by or provided to
the system (kJ/sec)
NHR Thermodynamic efficiency of the process
(power used for turbine per heat input, Net
Heat Rate (kWh)
h1,h2,h3,h4 These are the specific enthalpies at
indicated points on the T-S diagram (kJ/kg)
ΔP Pressure drop (kPa)
S Entropy (kJ/kg K)
T Temperature (K)
v Specific volume (m3/kg)
 Chapter 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF AN ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE

In this paper, energy and exergy analysis is done to show exergetic performances for
an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). This system supplies electrical energy to the given
building with a known configuration. The ORC system is supplied with solar energy from an
evacuated solar tube collector. The use of solar energy and the ORC system instead of
conventional energy sources reduces pollution and offers energy savings.
They performed the simulations of the operating for the ORC system using several
working fluids. The optimization procedure based on the exergetic analysis enabled them to
choose the best working fluid. The optimization looked for reducing the exergy destruction in
the key parts of the system.
The experiment investigations of Organic Rankine Cycle showed that using SES36 as
working fluid is feasible and the performances are acceptable. This fluid is an ecological
alternative for these systems. This paper showed that the power generation efficiency is low
at present and that it could be enhanced by improving the Rankine cycle if the condensation
heat could be recovered as a result of which the thermal performance of the low temperature
solar powered Rankine cycle would be improved greatly.

2.2 EXERGY ANALYSIS OF A SOLAR COMBINED CYCLE: ORGANIC RANKINE

CYCLE AND ABSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM.

In this paper, exergy analysis is used to evaluate the performance of a combined

cycle: organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and absorption cooling system (ACS) using LiBr–H2O,
powered by a solar field with linear concentrators.
The goal of this work was to design the cogeneration system able to supply electricity
and ambient cooling of an academic building and to find solutions to improve the
performance of the global system. Exergetic efficiency and exergy destruction ratio were
calculated for the whole system according to the second law of thermodynamics.
Exergy analysis of each sub-system leads to the choice of the optimum physical
parameters for minimum local exergy destruction ratios. In this way, a different connection of
the heat exchangers was proposed in order to assure a maximum heat recovery.
This paper showed that the decrease of the ORC exergetic efficiency is mainly due to
the increase of the exergy resource (fuel) and of the solar heat exchanger irreversibility with
the solar water temperature. The most penalizing components were high temperature heat
exchangers: the ORC solar heat exchanger, the ORC condenser, the ACS generator and the
ACS absorber.
2.3 ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF AN EFFICIENT ORGANIC RANKINE
CYCLE FOR LOW TEMPERATURE POWER GENERATION.

This paper presents and discusses the performance of an advanced Organic Rankine
Cycle (ORC) using a heated chemical instead of steam as found in the typical Rankine Cycle.
Chemicals used are the new quaternary refrigerant mixtures that are environmentally-friendly
and have efficient thermodynamic properties at low and medium waste heat temperatures
compared to other organic and non-organic fluids.
This mixture boils at extremely low temperatures and is capable of capturing waste
heat at temperatures less than 150°F (65OC). The quaternary mixture is formulated from R-
125, R-123, R-124, R-134a and its composition can be varied to best recover heat at
temperatures from less than 1 50°F (65°C) to 900°F (482°C).
In this paper energy and exergy analysis was presented for the behaviour of the
quaternary refrigerant mixture in ORC and compared to other fluids. Results showed that at
this temperature range waste heat is recovered and power is produced at efficiencies
significantly higher than other fluids. The results also showed that increasing the flue gas
temperature increased the thermal energy dissipated at the turbine and converted to kinetic
energy.

2.4 EXERGY EFFICIENY ANALYSIS OF ORC AND ORC-BASED COMBINED

CYCLES DRIVEN BY LOW TEMPERATURE LOW HEAT.

In this paper based on exergy efficiency analysis, a mathematical model of low-

temperature ORC system was established, and several factors influencing the exergy
efficiency were investigated. In addition, to further utilize the waste heat, two ORC-based
combined cycles, i.e., ORC-ARC and ORC-ERC, driven by low-temperature flue gas were
investigated, and their exergy efficiency performances were also studied. For ORC system
with R113 as the working fluid, the influences of factors, including evaporation temperature,
condensation temperature, and degree of superheat, on exergy efficiency were simulated.
It was found that the evaporation temperature contribute substantially to the exergy
efficiency. The exergy efficiency first increases and then decreases with increasing
evaporation temperature for the specified waste heat conditions.
The results show that the net power output reduces, and the refrigerating capacity
increases with increasing evaporation temperature of the ORC section. In addition, the exergy
efficiency of the uncoupled system decreases as the evaporation temperature of ORC section
increases. For the ORC-ERC combined cycle, it is found that, as the evaporation temperature
of ORC section increases, the net power output reduces, and the refrigerating capacity
increases first and subsequently decreases. When evaporation temperature ranges from 136°C
to 153°C, ORC-ERC is suitable for the application conditions that require more cooling,
whereas the uncoupled ORC-ARC is suitable for application conditions that require more
power. When then evaporation temperature is higher than 153°C, both the net power output
and the refrigerating capacity of the uncoupled ORC-ARC system are higher than those of the
ORC-ERC system. Thus, it is possible for the uncoupled ORC-ARC system to reuse the low
temperature waste heat, even at a high evaporation temperature. In addition, the exergy
efficiency of the uncoupled ORC-ARC system is higher than that of the ORC-ERC system.
2.5 ENERGY, EXERGY AND PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS OF SMALL SCALE
ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRICALLY POWER
GENERATION APPLICATION RURAL AREAS OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES.

In the first part of this paper, thermodynamic analysis was carried out to determine the
performance, functional and operational parameters of small scale ORC systems. The
system’s energy and exergy efficiencies were estimated by developing the thermodynamic
models. To predict the energy losses in different components of an ORC system, a simulation
was carried out under different operating conditions. The maximum exergy destruction in the
system was in the evaporator followed by the expander, condenser and pump. In the second
part of this paper, the ORC system was tested in the laboratory aiming to install in the remote
areas of developing country. The laboratory tests have shown satisfactory performance over a
broad range of conditions including different pressure ratios, rotational speeds of the
expander and large variations of the heat source temperature.
From the experimental results, the maximum expander power output was 1.4 kW with
the expander’s rotating speed of 3600 RPM and inlet pressure of 13 bar. The thermal
efficiency of the corresponding condition was 8.55% with a maximum pressure ratio of 5.9.
No leakage in working fluid from the scroll expander was observed during the experiment.
This is because of the magnetic coupling in the scroll. The maximum isentropic efficiency of
the expander was found to be 70%.
The indications thus far confirm the robustness of the ORC system, which could be
well adapted in the rural areas of developing countries for electricity production. From an
economic point of view, the ORC system, which uses solar collectors, could have high capital
investment cost due to the cost of the expander and solar collectors. Therefore, rural people
cannot afford to buy the ORC system. The cost of a solar ORC can be decreased by extensive
R&D for the small scale ORC system. In addition, a new policy should be introduced to
implement the solar ORC technology in the developing countries. The new policies should
include the subsidies from the government to install this appropriate technology and attract
investors, manufacturers and developers for sustainable development. At the end of this
paper, the socio-economic benefits after installing the solar ORC system were discussed.

2.6 EXERGY ANALYSIS OF ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE WITH INTERNAL

HEAT EXCHANGER.

In this work thermodynamic performance of ORC with internal heat exchanger was
comparatively assessed for various working fluids based on the second law of
thermodynamics. Special attention was paid to the effect of turbine inlet pressure on the
exergy destructions (anergies) at various system components and the exergy efficiency of
system.
Results obtained in this paper show that for a given source the component at which
the greatest anergy occurs differs with working fluid. As turbine inlet pressure increases,
exergy efficiency increases for working fluid such as ammonia or R22, but decreases for
working fluid with low critical pressure such as iso-pentane or n-pentane.
For ammonia, the anergy ratio at heat exchanger is the greatest among the
components of the system. However, the anergy ratio at regenerator is the greatest for R143a,
while the anergy ratio of exhaust is the greatest for iso-pentane or normal pentane. Exergy
efficiency generally increases with turbine inlet pressure for such as ammonia or R134a, but
decreases for iso-pentane and normal pentane.
2.7 EXERGY ANALYSIS AND WORKING FLUID SELECTION OF ORGANIC
RANKINE CYCLE FOR LOW GRADE WASTE HEAT RECOVERY

This paper first introduces the necessity of Organic Rankine Cycle(ORC) with the
depletion of fossils fuels, and global warming. ORC is the most practical method for waste
heat recovery. The main difference from the traditional Rankine cycle is that an organic
substance is used as the working fluid in ORC. In this, evaporator temperature, condenser
temperature and ambient temperature is always treated as constant for calculation. The
Genetic Algorithm(GA) method is employed to obtain optimal parameters of the ORC
system for different working fluids by considering the maximum overall exergy efficiency as
the objective function. For each case, the heat source inlet parameter and fixed pinch point
temperature difference of the evaporator and condenser are given. In the calculation, the
temperature of the cooling water and the isentropic efficiencies of the pump and expander are
kept constant. The calculation results show that the thermophysical properties of the working
fluid have little impact on internal exergy efficiency, but they do play an important role in
determining external exergy efficiency. With the increase of evaporation temperature, the
internal exergy efficiency of the ORC will increase for all working fluids, whereas the
characteristics of the external exergy efficiency exhibit parabolic-like curves. Evaporation
temperature of the ORC is a principal factor in determining the internal exergy efficiency,
rather than the thermophysical properties of the working fluids.

2.8 EXERGY ANALYSIS OF INTERNAL REGENERATION IN SUPERCRITICAL

CYCLES OF ORC POWER PLANT

In this paper, Organic Rankine Cycle is operating with supercritical parameters. In

this ORC is combined with additional heat exchanger. It improves the effectiveness of
operation of supercritical cycle by recovering heat from the vapour leaving the turbine. Also,
application of internal regeneration in ORC power plants increases the power and efficiency
of the plant. In this paper, two types of heat sources are discussed (i) open heat sources and
(ii) sealed heat sources. It was concluded that in the case of the sealed heat source the heat
potential is equal to the rate of energy supplied to the power plant whereas in the case of open
heat source the rate of energy supplied to the power plant is usually smaller than the available
one. In this paper, calculations for the supercritical ORC power plant with R365mfc as a
working fluid. The installation was either supplied from the sealed or closed heat source.
Energetical and exergetical analysis was carried out for the case of ORC installation. Power
and efficiency of the power plant of working fluid R365mfc with and without regeneration
was compared.
2.9 Exergy Analysis of a Combined Power and Ejector Refrigeration Cycle

In this paper, Organic Rankine Cycle is combined with ejector refrigeration cycle to
recover heat from low-temperature heat source. In this effect of turbine inlet and outlet
pressure, turbine inlet and condenser temperature are investigated on the exergy destruction
of each component of the system and exergy efficiency of the combined cycle. One of the
advantages of ejector refrigeration cycle (ERC) is its comparatively simple structure, which is
the result of replacing the compressor of conventional refrigeration cycle by ejector with no
moving parts. In addition ERC can be driven by low-grade energy sources using organic fluid
as working fluid. ERC can be used for the cogeneration of power and refrigeration by
combining it with various power cycles. An exergy analysis and a parametric analysis of the
combined cycle using R245fa as working fluid were performed to guide the thermodynamic
improvement of this cycle and to evaluate the effects of the key parameters on the cycle
performance. The system consists of a pump, boiler, turbine, ejector, condenser, expansion
valve, and evaporator. Results show that the biggest exergy destruction occurs in the heat
addition process and has an almost 50% of the total exergy destruction of the cycle. The
result that the exergy efficiency can have peak values with respect to turbine inlet pressure
may be a useful guide to the cycle operation for the effective recovery of low temperature
waste heat.

2.10 ENERGY AND EXERGY ANALYSIS OF AN ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE

(ORC) IN A BIOMASS- BASED FOREST PRODUCTS MANUFACTURING PLANT

In this paper, an energy and exergy analysis of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) unit
was carried out in a biomass-based forest products manufacturing plant. The ORC unit is
used for the production of electricity and heat, by using thermal oil as a heat source in the
plant. In this, calculations for the energy and exergy analysis of the evaporator, condenser,
turbine and regenerator at two different working conditions are done. Also, the effect of the
condenser pressure on the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system was studied. Also, the
advantages of ORC over conventional steam cycles were discussed. Most important one was
that they require less heat during the evaporation. In this study, seven refrigerants for the
ORC were examined: R134a, R152a, R290, R407c, R600, R600a, and ammonia. Key
exergetic parameters were examined: exergetic efficiency, exergy destruction rate, fuel
depletion ratio, irreversibility ratio, and improvement potential. It was also found that the
main source of exergy destruction was the ORC evaporator. In both studies, the gradation of
the exergy destructions of the components from the greater one to the lower one can be listed
as evaporator, condenser, turbine, regenerator and pump.
 Chapter –

CONCLUSIONS
5.1 Summary

In this project, an Organic Rankine Cycle was studied using the first and second law of
thermodynamics. We had studied two types of ORC (i) Conventional ORC (ii) Reheat-
Regenerative ORC. For the study of conventional ORC three fluids (R-123, R-124 and R-
227) were considered and out of these three, best fluid was selected on the basis of exergy
efficiency under same working conditions. Also, the energy losses in different components of
an ORC system were calculated. Then, Reheat-Regenerative ORC was studied using different
three fluids (R-227, R-245fa and R-236fa) under same working conditions. Reheat and
regeneration were implemented to increase the efficiency of the cycle.

5.2 Conclusions

In conventional ORC, best working fluid under assumed working conditions was R-227
based on exergy efficiency. Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP) and Global Warming Potential
(GWP) of R-227 were within acceptable limits. Also, exergy destruction in each component
of the cycle was calculated for all fluids. It shows the same order in all fluids. The maximum
exergy destruction in the system was in the evaporator followed by the expander, condenser
and pump. Maximum exergy is destroyed in evaporator due to temperature difference
between incoming and outgoing hot water of the heat source. Exergy efficiency can be
improved significantly by increasing heat exchange surface area of evaporator.

In the second part of the project, calculations for Reheat-Regenerative ORC were done and
R-236fa was best working fluid under assumed working conditions based on exergy
efficiency. There was increment of around 5% in energy efficiency and 10% in exergy
efficiency for each fluid. It is because regeneration decreased the heat required in the
evaporator and heat losses in the condenser. Also, reheat of fluid in expander increased the
output work which results in the improvement of efficiency of the cycle.

5.3 Suggestions for Future Work

The cement industry in India has seen a massive growth in the past decade. The total annual
production of cement in India in 2015-116 was 174.29 million tonnes. According to a study
done by TURBODEN (one of the market leaders in ORC technology), a 2,500 ton per day
plant of cement can be used to set up a 1.6 MW 12 CMA India (Cement Manufacturers’
Association of India) 13 Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), Green Rating Project,
2009 waste heat recovery plant using the Organic Rankine Cycle. Based on this assumption
and projected manufacturing capacity of cement industry in India, a rough potential of the
electricity production from waste heat by ORC technology is estimated to be 574 MW.