Superheating control of an Organic Rankine Cycle for recovering waste heat from an engine cooling system

Abstract

This paper proposes a set of strategies to control the superheat (SH) value of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). This ORC corresponds to an experimental test bench aimed at developing a waste heat recovery system to be connected to the cooling circuit of a light-duty vehicle. Three strategies have been developed and tested experimentally. The first one is a linear control based on a PI controller valid for a given operating point. The second, valid for the same operating point, proposes an LPV (Linear Parameter-Varying) approach, less conservative and more accurate than the first one. Finally, a third strategy also using the LPV framework provides a controller valid in the full operating range of the test bench.