Abstract
Solar energy is a potential source for a thermal power generation system. A direct vapor generation solar organic Rankine cycle system using phase change material storage was analyzed in the present study. The overall system consisted of an arrangement of evacuated flat plate collectors, a phase-change-material-based thermal storage tank, a turbine, a water-cooled condenser, and an organic fluid pump. The MATLAB programming environment was used to develop the thermodynamic model of the whole system. The thermal storage tank was modeled using the finite difference method and the results were validated against experimental work carried out in the past. The hourly weather data of Karachi, Pakistan, was used to carry out the dynamic simulation of the system on a weekly, monthly, and annual basis. The impact of phase change material storage on the enhancement of the overall system performance during the charging and discharging modes was also evaluated. The annual organic Rankine cycle efficiency, system efficiency, and net power output were observed to be 12.16%, 9.38%, and 26.8 kW, respectively. The spring and autumn seasons showed better performance of the phase change material storage system compared to the summer and winter seasons. The rise in working fluid temperature, the fall in phase change material temperature, and the amount of heat stored by the thermal storage were found to be at a maximum in September, while their values became a minimum in February.
Highlights
The per capita demand for energy is increasing at a fast pace due to exponential increases in the human population, especially in developing countries
The results indicated that the solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system based on phase change material (PCM) storage can produce 20% extra electrical power compared to the water-storage-based solar
The hottest week of the year was simulated to check the performance of the PCM storage tank and the whole system
Summary
The per capita demand for energy is increasing at a fast pace due to exponential increases in the human population, especially in developing countries. In the case of the DVG solar ORC system, the solar collector operates as an evaporator, where heat is being carried out by an organic fluid. The indirect solar ORC system requires an extra HTF pump and heat exchanger (evaporator), which increases the cost and decreases the thermal efficiency compared to the DVG solar ORC system [10]. A phase change material (PCM) storage is a kind of LTS It is commonly utilized as a heat storage medium in the DVG solar ORC system. Compared and analyzed a PCM-based DVG and indirect solar ORC systems. This study analyzed how much the ORC efficiency, overall system efficiency, and net power output was increased by employing PCM storage in a direct vapor generation solar ORC system. The evaluation of the fall in working fluid temperatures and rise in PCM temperatures and the quantity of energy stored and released by the PCM during the charging and discharging process
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