Thermodynamic Analysis of Basic and Regenerative Organic Rankine Cycle Configurations Using Six Working Fluids: A Parametric Study With CoolProp in MATLAB

Abstract

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a promising solution for reducing the environmental impact of electricity production. It operates with waste heat from industrial processes and uses low and medium-temperature heat sources. The originality of this work lies not only in conducting an energy analysis of basic and regenerative ORC but also in performing exergy analysis to identify the processes responsible for exergy destruction and losses. It also compares both configurations regarding energy efficiency, exergy efficiency, network, heat required, and exergy destruction rate. Matlab Software runs the simulation using the Coolprop open-source library. These parametric investigations and thermodynamic modelings were undertaken on six working fluids (R113, R134a, R600, R290, R1234yf, and HFE-143 m). Results show a maximum improvement of 17.8% in thermal efficiency and 17.6% in exergy efficiency when transitioning from the basic to the regenerative configuration. Furthermore, the regenerative configuration has about 43% less exergy destruction compared to the basic configuration.