A Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of Energetic and Exergetic Performance of Different Solar-Based Organic Rankine Cycles

Abstract

In this work, a comprehensive energetic and exergetic comparative assessment is presented for the simple solar organic Rankine cycle (SORC), regenerative solar organic Rankine cycle (RORC), and dual-loop solar organic Rankine cycle (DORC), considering parameters such as the net power produced, exergy destruction, exergy, and energy efficiency in four zones located in Colombia due to their high solar irradiation potential. The energetic and exergetic balances were applied for each system component, using toluene as the working fluid. The RORC system showed a 2% increase in efficiency over the SORC, while the DORC cycle was lower than the SORC (45.85%) and RORC (46.90%) systems. Finally, for the exergy analysis, the results revealed that the SORC (5.3%) and RORC (5.2%) systems had the highest efficiency compared to DORC systems. Additionally, the highest exergy destruction (89%) was related to the collector, followed by the evaporators (1–2%), pumps (0.1%), and turbines (1.12%).