Experimental Investigation on the Performance of the Organic Working Fluid Scroll Expander Under the Variable Conditions

Abstract

The expander is a key component of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power generation system, which has great influence on the system performance. Based on an experiment on a ORC system using the dry working fluid R600a, the thermodynamic parameters at the inlet and outlet of the scroll expander, and the output power under the experimental conditions were obtained. The performance of the scroll expander under variable operating conditions was studied. The effect of the superheat amount, inlet temperature, and inlet pressure on the performance of the scroll expander was analyzed. The results show that the scroll expander has good performance under variable operating conditions. The inlet pressure has the greatest influence on the performance of the scroll expander, followed by the inlet temperature, while the working fluid superheat has the least effect. A change in inlet pressure of about 50kPa results in about 20W of output power at the same inlet temperature variation range. While a change in inlet temperature of about 20 ° C can result in about 15W of output power at the same inlet pressure variation range. The results can provide a reference for the design and operation of the scroll expander. (CSPE)