Energetic and exergetic efficiency comparison of recuperative transcritical organic Rankine cycles under different pure and mixture fluids

Abstract

AbstractA thermodynamic model of basic and recuperative transcritical organic Rankine cycles (TRCs) associated with using five pure and six mixed fluids as working fluids has been developed. This model can be employed to investigate the effects of recuperators at inlet expander temperatures (Texp,in) of 150–200°C and inlet expander pressures (Pexp,in) of 3.7–6.9 MPa. The ratio of change (ROC) of the first‐ and second‐law efficiencies (ηI and ηII) was positively correlated with the heat transfer rate of the recuperator and exhibited an opposite trend for a specific volume ratio. ROC was substantially affected by operating parameters and working fluid. However, the recuperator heat transfer rate was negligibly affected by the mixture temperature glide (Tglide). A universal empirical equation of ηI,II was proposed for both TRC configurations. The equation, a function of the specific volume ratio, can predict the system efficiencies for pure and mixed fluids, even if a mixture has an arbitrary mole fraction. As Tglide of R600a‐base mixture and R245fa/R134a was lower than 16 K, they had low error rates and low standard deviations. Finally, the equation was highly accurate in ηII prediction, particularly at a Texp,in of 160°C and 170°C and a Pexp,in of 4.9–5.8 MPa.