Abstract
The trilateral cycle (TLC) has been viewed as a promising technology for low grade heat to power conversion, while its application in reality is greatly limited by the low efficiency of two-phase expander and high volume flow rate at the expander outlet. This paper suggests a novel thermosyphon based trilateral cycle (TTLC), which uses hydraulic turbine for power generation instead of two-phase expander, avoiding problems in traditional TLC systems and also providing a chance for utilization of pump-as-turbine (PAT) technologies. The system performance of TTLC is theoretically investigated, and the results are compared with those of traditional TLC and ORC. It is found that the slip loss is the main contributor to the riser efficiency. The working fluids with smaller density ratio and specific heat are more suitable for TTLC. TTLC generates more power than TLC when the heat source temperature is less than 50 °C, and less power than TLC within the deviation of 10% for the heat source temperature in the range of 50-75 °C. Moreover, the volume flow rate at the turbine outlet of TTLC is only 2-17% of those for TLC and ORC, indicating a much smaller turbine size.
Published Version
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