LAPSE:2018.1181
Published Article
LAPSE:2018.1181
Comparison of a Novel Organic-Fluid Thermofluidic Heat Converter and an Organic Rankine Cycle Heat Engine
December 3, 2018
The Up-THERM heat converter is an unsteady, two-phase thermofluidic oscillator that employs an organic working fluid, which is currently being considered as a prime-mover in small- to medium-scale combined heat and power (CHP) applications. In this paper, the Up-THERM heat converter is compared to a basic (sub-critical, non-regenerative) organic Rankine cycle (ORC) heat engine with respect to their power outputs, thermal efficiencies and exergy efficiencies, as well as their capital and specific costs. The study focuses on a pre-specified Up-THERM design in a selected application, a heat-source temperature range from 210 °C to 500 °C and five different working fluids (three n-alkanes and two refrigerants). A modeling methodology is developed that allows the above thermo-economic performance indicators to be estimated for the two power-generation systems. For the chosen applications, the power output of the ORC engine is generally higher than that of the Up-THERM heat converter. However, the capital costs of the Up-THERM heat converter are lower than those of the ORC engine. Although the specific costs (£/kW) of the ORC engine are lower than those of the Up-THERM converter at low heat-source temperatures, the two systems become progressively comparable at higher temperatures, with the Up-THERM heat converter attaining a considerably lower specific cost at the highest heat-source temperatures considered.
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Keywords
combined heat and power (CHP), economic comparison, low-grade heat, non-linear, off-grid power generation, organic Rankine cycle (ORC), performance analysis, thermofluidic oscillator, two-phase, unsteady
Subject
Suggested Citation
Kirmse CJ, Oyewunmi OA, Haslam AJ, Markides CN. Comparison of a Novel Organic-Fluid Thermofluidic Heat Converter and an Organic Rankine Cycle Heat Engine. (2018). LAPSE:2018.1181
Author Affiliations
Kirmse CJ: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Oyewunmi OA: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Haslam AJ: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Markides CN: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [ORCID]
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Oyewunmi OA: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Haslam AJ: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
Markides CN: Clean Energy Processes (CEP) Laboratory, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK [ORCID]
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Journal Name
Energies
Volume
9
Issue
7
Article Number
E479
Year
2016
Publication Date
2016-06-23
Published Version
ISSN
1996-1073
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Original Submission
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PII: en9070479, Publication Type: Journal Article
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Published Article
LAPSE:2018.1181
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External Link
doi:10.3390/en9070479
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Version History
[v1] (Original Submission)
Dec 3, 2018
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Dec 3, 2018
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https://psecommunity.org/LAPSE:2018.1181
Original Submitter
Calvin Tsay
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