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Volumetric Expanders for Energy Recovery and ORC Cycles

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Mechanical Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 October 2022) | Viewed by 6089

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Marco Francesconi

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Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Constructions Engineering (D.E.S.T.eC), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: fluid machinery; internal combustion engine; solar energy
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Dr. Marco Antonelli

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Guest Editor

Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering (D.E.S.T.eC), University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Interests: solar energy conversion; thermal engines; CSP
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The need to ensure sustainable development and make electrical production independent from fossil fuels suggests developing other conversion technologies.

Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs) are attractive since they produce heat and power from renewable energies and waste heat for microgeneration purposes. The expander is a critical component in the ORCs power plant since it is responsible for the power production, and its cost affects the technical feasibility of the whole plant. The isentropic efficiency and the filling factor are the main parameters that characterize the performances of the machine. The expanders can be volumetric or dynamic machines. The choice of one instead of another technology entails some advantages and disadvantages. In both cases, the expander design relies on mechanical, thermal, fluid-dynamic considerations that are related to the operating conditions of the cycle. For these reasons, various developments in the analysis of ORC expanders are expected.

This Special Issue aims to provide an overview focused on the fluid dynamic and thermal aspects that the design of the expanders for ORC applications requires. We expect contributions about numerical and experimental studies.

Dr. Marco Francesconi
Dr. M. Antonelli
Guest Editors

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Keywords

volumetric expanders
turbines
CFD techniques
experimental analysis
numerical modeling
performance analysis
single-phase flows
two-phase flows

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 2433 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Research on the Effects of Suction Ports on Twin Screw Expander Performance

by Yongning He, Huihong Wu, Yeqiang Zhang, Tingxiang Jin and Ziwen Xing

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(8), 3979; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12083979 - 14 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1165

Abstract

An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system is an efficient technology for generating power from low-grade thermal sources. Twin screw expanders are widely used in ORC systems. Pressure loss caused by a suction port influences the suction process and the system performance. In this paper, the effects of suction ports on twin screw expander performance are experimentally investigated. The pressure loss value of R245fa is measured under different working conditions, and its effects on the suction coefficient are discussed. Results show that a lower rotation speed results in a lower pressure loss value and a higher suction coefficient under certain working conditions. Increasing the suction pressure leads to a higher pressure loss value but a lower pressure loss ratio. Discharge pressure has little effect on the suction process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volumetric Expanders for Energy Recovery and ORC Cycles)

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17 pages, 2862 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Preliminary Design and Modeling Analysis of Two-Phase Volumetric Expanders for a Novel Reversible Organic Rankine-Based Cycle for Carnot Battery Technology

by Sindu Daniarta, Piotr Kolasiński and Attila R. Imre

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(7), 3557; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073557 - 31 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1635

Abstract

Carnot battery technology appears to be a promising solution to increase the development of power generation and offers a good solution for high-capacity, day-to-day energy storage. This technology may utilize the waste heat and store the electricity to recover it later. This article reports the preliminary analysis of a specially designed Carnot battery configuration employing a novel reversible Rankine-based thermodynamic cycle (RRTC). In this case, one volumetric expander is not only installed to generate power from a heat engine, but also to recover power during heat pump operating mode. The preliminary design and modeling results were obtained based on calculations taken from working fluid thermal properties of propane with some specific boundary conditions (i.e., secondary fluid hot temperature of 348.15 K, cooling temperature of 228.15 K, and waste heat temperature of 338.15 K). The results show that isentropic efficiency, pressure, and volumetric expansion ratio from both heat engine and heat pump operating modes are important parameters that must be taken into account when designing the two-phase expander for RRTC. The obtained results show that a designed two-phase volumetric expander in RRTC features a pressure ratio of 2.55 ± 1.15 and a volumetric ratio of 0.21 ± 0.105, and the Carnot battery may achieve the performance of 0.50–0.98. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volumetric Expanders for Energy Recovery and ORC Cycles)

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Review

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36 pages, 8084 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Review on Two-Phase Volumetric Expanders and Their Applications

by Marco Francesconi, Stefano Briola and Marco Antonelli

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(20), 10328; https://doi.org/10.3390/app122010328 - 13 Oct 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2308

Abstract

The importance of volumetric expanders has been increasing in the last decades because several studies confirmed that they lead to improved energy savings, limit the environmental impact, and reduce the energy intensity of industrial and domestic applications. In particular, several applications of the two-phase volumetric expanders, in which the operating fluid consists of liquid and vapor phases, were recently proposed. Nevertheless, the contributions in the scientific literature related to the overview of the state-of-the-art aspects of this technology are rare. For this reason, the present work discussed the potentialities and drawbacks of the available typologies of volumetric expanders that process a two-phase pure working fluid by analyzing a summary of leading studies in this field to go beyond previous efforts in the literature. The analysis revealed that twin-screw machines represent the best candidates, while reciprocating piston devices seemed the least well-adapted because of their reduced tolerance to droplets and high friction losses. Flash evaporation appeared to have the most significant impact on the expander because it affects both inlet and expansion phases, thus, determining the shape of the indicated cycle and the isentropic efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Volumetric Expanders for Energy Recovery and ORC Cycles)

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