Analysis of organic Rankine cycle based on thermal and exergy efficiency

Abstract

The binary power plant is a geothermal power generation system used at low to medium temperature levels and used indirect system. In this system, the heat generated from the reservoir is channelled to the secondary working fluid which has a lower boiling point than water using a heat exchanger. In this case, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a suitable system for use. This improves the performance and efficiency of the plants. However, in this system, the installation configuration of the ORC model is an important factor that can affect its performance. The selection of an improper ORC design reduces the thermal efficiency of the system. Therefore, it cannot utilize heat optimally. In this study, Engineering Equation Solution (EES) simulation program is used to run the system as in operation conditions. A comparative analysis is conducted using ORC, Regenerative ORC (RORC), and RORC with Internal Heat Exchanger (IHE). The results indicate that RORC with IHE has the greatest value for both energy (21.74%) and exergy efficiency (25.26%) while net power produced 5479 kW. This shows the addition of OFOH and IHE can increase these factors, improve performance and reduce energy degradation from the cycle.