Thermal and Exergy Analysis of an Organic Rankine Cycle Power Generation System with Refrigerant R245fa

Abstract

In this paper, the performance of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power generating system operating with refrigerant R245fa was investigated when heat source temperature was below 200 °C. It was found the system thermal efficiency increased but the exergy efficiency of the evaporator decreased with the increase of the heat source temperature. It was also obtained that the exergy efficiency of the evaporator could reach70% when the heat source temperature was 80 °C, which was high enough to prove that the transformation efficiency between the waste heat and the electricity power was ideal. In the simulation model, the area of different parts of the heat exchanger were considered to be varied, flow rate of the waste heat and working medium, the system thermal and exergy efficiency of the evaporator were respectively calculated, the different parameter change regarding the performance influences of the ORC system were simulated. The results can be considered as a reference to research on the design of ORC power generating systems and heat exchangers.