IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v10y2017i4p413-d93816.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Small Scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC): A Techno-Economic Review

Author

Listed:
  • Lorenzo Tocci

    (Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, “La Sapienza” University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Rome, Italy
    Entropea Labs, 2a Greenwood Road, London E81AB, UK)

  • Tamas Pal

    (Entropea Labs, 2a Greenwood Road, London E81AB, UK
    Department of Energy Technology, KTH Industrial and Engineering Management, 100 44 Stockholm, Sweden)

  • Ioannis Pesmazoglou

    (Entropea Labs, 2a Greenwood Road, London E81AB, UK)

  • Benjamin Franchetti

    (Entropea Labs, 2a Greenwood Road, London E81AB, UK)

Abstract

The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is widely considered as a promising technology to produce electrical power output from low-grade thermal sources. In the last decade, several power plants have been installed worldwide in the MW range. However, despite its market potential, the commercialization of ORC power plants in the kW range did not reach a high level of maturity, for several reasons. Firstly, the specific price is still too high to offer an attractive payback period, and secondly, potential costumers for small-scale ORCs are typically SMEs (Small-Medium Enterprises), generally less aware of the potential savings this technology could lead to. When it comes to small-scale plants, additional design issues arise that still limit the widespread availability of the technology. This review paper presents the state of the art of the technology, from a technical and economic perspective. Working fluid selection and expander design are illustrated in detail, as they represent the bottleneck of the ORC technology for small-scale power production. In addition, a European market analysis is presented, which constitutes a useful instrument to understand the future evolution of the technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenzo Tocci & Tamas Pal & Ioannis Pesmazoglou & Benjamin Franchetti, 2017. "Small Scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC): A Techno-Economic Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-26, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:4:p:413-:d:93816
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/4/413/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/4/413/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Saleh, Bahaa & Koglbauer, Gerald & Wendland, Martin & Fischer, Johann, 2007. "Working fluids for low-temperature organic Rankine cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 32(7), pages 1210-1221.
    2. Kang, Seok Hun, 2016. "Design and preliminary tests of ORC (organic Rankine cycle) with two-stage radial turbine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 142-154.
    3. Badr, O. & Probert, S.D. & O'Callaghan, P.W., 1985. "Multi-vane expanders: Internal-leakage losses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-46.
    4. Ziviani, Davide & Beyene, Asfaw & Venturini, Mauro, 2014. "Advances and challenges in ORC systems modeling for low grade thermal energy recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 79-95.
    5. Ziviani, D. & Gusev, S. & Lecompte, S. & Groll, E.A. & Braun, J.E. & Horton, W.T. & van den Broek, M. & De Paepe, M., 2016. "Characterizing the performance of a single-screw expander in a small-scale organic Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 155-170.
    6. Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi & Christos N. Markides, 2016. "Thermo-Economic and Heat Transfer Optimization of Working-Fluid Mixtures in a Low-Temperature Organic Rankine Cycle System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-21, June.
    7. Vélez, Fredy & Segovia, José J. & Martín, M. Carmen & Antolín, Gregorio & Chejne, Farid & Quijano, Ana, 2012. "A technical, economical and market review of organic Rankine cycles for the conversion of low-grade heat for power generation," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 4175-4189.
    8. Steven Lecompte & Sanne Lemmens & Henk Huisseune & Martijn Van den Broek & Michel De Paepe, 2015. "Multi-Objective Thermo-Economic Optimization Strategy for ORCs Applied to Subcritical and Transcritical Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-28, April.
    9. Alanne, Kari & Saari, Arto, 2006. "Distributed energy generation and sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 10(6), pages 539-558, December.
    10. Astolfi, Marco & Romano, Matteo C. & Bombarda, Paola & Macchi, Ennio, 2014. "Binary ORC (organic Rankine cycles) power plants for the exploitation of medium–low temperature geothermal sources – Part A: Thermodynamic optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 423-434.
    11. Adriano Desideri & Bertrand Dechesne & Jorrit Wronski & Martijn Van den Broek & Sergei Gusev & Vincent Lemort & Sylvain Quoilin, 2016. "Comparison of Moving Boundary and Finite-Volume Heat Exchanger Models in the Modelica Language," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(5), pages 1-18, May.
    12. Hung, T.C. & Shai, T.Y. & Wang, S.K., 1997. "A review of organic rankine cycles (ORCs) for the recovery of low-grade waste heat," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 22(7), pages 661-667.
    13. Kang, Seok Hun, 2012. "Design and experimental study of ORC (organic Rankine cycle) and radial turbine using R245fa working fluid," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 514-524.
    14. Patrick Linke & Athanasios I. Papadopoulos & Panos Seferlis, 2015. "Systematic Methods for Working Fluid Selection and the Design, Integration and Control of Organic Rankine Cycles—A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-47, May.
    15. Yodha Y. Nusiaputra & Hans-Joachim Wiemer & Dietmar Kuhn, 2014. "Thermal-Economic Modularization of Small, Organic Rankine Cycle Power Plants for Mid-Enthalpy Geothermal Fields," Energies, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-20, July.
    16. Astolfi, Marco & Romano, Matteo C. & Bombarda, Paola & Macchi, Ennio, 2014. "Binary ORC (Organic Rankine Cycles) power plants for the exploitation of medium–low temperature geothermal sources – Part B: Techno-economic optimization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 435-446.
    17. Wang, Dongxiang & Ling, Xiang & Peng, Hao & Liu, Lin & Tao, LanLan, 2013. "Efficiency and optimal performance evaluation of organic Rankine cycle for low grade waste heat power generation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 343-352.
    18. Bao, Junjiang & Zhao, Li, 2013. "A review of working fluid and expander selections for organic Rankine cycle," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 325-342.
    19. Quoilin, Sylvain & Aumann, Richard & Grill, Andreas & Schuster, Andreas & Lemort, Vincent & Spliethoff, Hartmut, 2011. "Dynamic modeling and optimal control strategy of waste heat recovery Organic Rankine Cycles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(6), pages 2183-2190, June.
    20. Imran, Muhammad & Usman, Muhammad & Park, Byung-Sik & Lee, Dong-Hyun, 2016. "Volumetric expanders for low grade heat and waste heat recovery applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 1090-1109.
    21. Yun, Eunkoo & Kim, Dokyun & Yoon, Sang Youl & Kim, Kyung Chun, 2015. "Experimental investigation of an organic Rankine cycle with multiple expanders used in parallel," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 246-254.
    22. Marija Lazova & Henk Huisseune & Alihan Kaya & Steven Lecompte & George Kosmadakis & Michel De Paepe, 2016. "Performance Evaluation of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Working under Supercritical Conditions in a Solar Organic Rankine Cycle Installation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-20, June.
    23. Fiaschi, Daniele & Manfrida, Giampaolo & Maraschiello, Francesco, 2015. "Design and performance prediction of radial ORC turboexpanders," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 517-532.
    24. Badr, O. & O'Callaghan, P.W. & Probert, S.D., 1985. "Multi-vane expanders: Geometry and vane kinematics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 159-182.
    25. White, Martin & Sayma, Abdulnaser I., 2016. "Improving the economy-of-scale of small organic rankine cycle systems through appropriate working fluid selection," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1227-1239.
    26. Quoilin, Sylvain & Broek, Martijn Van Den & Declaye, Sébastien & Dewallef, Pierre & Lemort, Vincent, 2013. "Techno-economic survey of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 168-186.
    27. Gaosheng Li & Hongguang Zhang & Fubin Yang & Songsong Song & Ying Chang & Fei Yu & Jingfu Wang & Baofeng Yao, 2016. "Preliminary Development of a Free Piston Expander–Linear Generator for Small-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Waste Heat Recovery System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, April.
    28. Da Lio, Luca & Manente, Giovanni & Lazzaretto, Andrea, 2016. "Predicting the optimum design of single stage axial expanders in ORC systems: Is there a single efficiency map for different working fluids?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 44-58.
    29. Tobias G. Erhart & Jürgen Gölz & Ursula Eicker & Martijn Van den Broek, 2016. "Working Fluid Stability in Large-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle-Units Using Siloxanes—Long-Term Experiences and Fluid Recycling," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-16, May.
    30. Di Battista, D. & Mauriello, M. & Cipollone, R., 2015. "Waste heat recovery of an ORC-based power unit in a turbocharged diesel engine propelling a light duty vehicle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 109-120.
    31. Rayegan, R. & Tao, Y.X., 2011. "A procedure to select working fluids for Solar Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs)," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 659-670.
    32. Fiaschi, Daniele & Manfrida, Giampaolo & Maraschiello, Francesco, 2012. "Thermo-fluid dynamics preliminary design of turbo-expanders for ORC cycles," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 601-608.
    33. Badr, O. & O'Callaghan, P.W. & Probert, S.D., 1985. "Multi-vane expander performance: Breathing characteristics," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 241-271.
    34. Qiu, Guoquan, 2012. "Selection of working fluids for micro-CHP systems with ORC," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 565-570.
    35. Angelino, Gianfranco & Colonna di Paliano, Piero, 1998. "Multicomponent Working Fluids For Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 449-463.
    36. Chen, Huijuan & Goswami, D. Yogi & Stefanakos, Elias K., 2010. "A review of thermodynamic cycles and working fluids for the conversion of low-grade heat," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(9), pages 3059-3067, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Braimakis, Konstantinos & Karellas, Sotirios, 2017. "Integrated thermoeconomic optimization of standard and regenerative ORC for different heat source types and capacities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 570-598.
    2. Mondejar, M.E. & Andreasen, J.G. & Pierobon, L. & Larsen, U. & Thern, M. & Haglind, F., 2018. "A review of the use of organic Rankine cycle power systems for maritime applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 126-151.
    3. Lecompte, Steven & Huisseune, Henk & van den Broek, Martijn & Vanslambrouck, Bruno & De Paepe, Michel, 2015. "Review of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) architectures for waste heat recovery," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 448-461.
    4. Meroni, Andrea & Andreasen, Jesper Graa & Persico, Giacomo & Haglind, Fredrik, 2018. "Optimization of organic Rankine cycle power systems considering multistage axial turbine design," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 339-354.
    5. Bao, Junjiang & Zhao, Li, 2013. "A review of working fluid and expander selections for organic Rankine cycle," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 325-342.
    6. Landelle, Arnaud & Tauveron, Nicolas & Haberschill, Philippe & Revellin, Rémi & Colasson, Stéphane, 2017. "Organic Rankine cycle design and performance comparison based on experimental database," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 1172-1187.
    7. Kermani, Maziar & Wallerand, Anna S. & Kantor, Ivan D. & Maréchal, François, 2018. "Generic superstructure synthesis of organic Rankine cycles for waste heat recovery in industrial processes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1203-1225.
    8. Cavazzini, G. & Bari, S. & Pavesi, G. & Ardizzon, G., 2017. "A multi-fluid PSO-based algorithm for the search of the best performance of sub-critical Organic Rankine Cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 42-58.
    9. Schilling, J. & Entrup, M. & Hopp, M. & Gross, J. & Bardow, A., 2021. "Towards optimal mixtures of working fluids: Integrated design of processes and mixtures for Organic Rankine Cycles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    10. Steven Lecompte & Sanne Lemmens & Henk Huisseune & Martijn Van den Broek & Michel De Paepe, 2015. "Multi-Objective Thermo-Economic Optimization Strategy for ORCs Applied to Subcritical and Transcritical Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-28, April.
    11. Hoang, Anh Tuan, 2018. "Waste heat recovery from diesel engines based on Organic Rankine Cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 138-166.
    12. Pezzuolo, Alex & Benato, Alberto & Stoppato, Anna & Mirandola, Alberto, 2016. "The ORC-PD: A versatile tool for fluid selection and Organic Rankine Cycle unit design," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 605-620.
    13. Magdalena Santos-Rodriguez, M. & Flores-Tlacuahuac, Antonio & Zavala, Victor M., 2017. "A stochastic optimization approach for the design of organic fluid mixtures for low-temperature heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 145-159.
    14. van Kleef, Luuk M.T. & Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Multi-objective thermo-economic optimization of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power systems in waste-heat recovery applications using computer-aided molecular design techniques," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    15. Peris, Bernardo & Navarro-Esbrí, Joaquín & Mateu-Royo, Carlos & Mota-Babiloni, Adrián & Molés, Francisco & Gutiérrez-Trashorras, Antonio J. & Amat-Albuixech, Marta, 2020. "Thermo-economic optimization of small-scale Organic Rankine Cycle: A case study for low-grade industrial waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    16. Fuhaid Alshammari & Apostolos Karvountzis-Kontakiotis & Apostolos Pesyridis & Muhammad Usman, 2018. "Expander Technologies for Automotive Engine Organic Rankine Cycle Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-36, July.
    17. Roberto Pili & Hartmut Spliethoff & Christoph Wieland, 2017. "Dynamic Simulation of an Organic Rankine Cycle—Detailed Model of a Kettle Boiler," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-28, April.
    18. Francesco Calise & Davide Capuano & Laura Vanoli, 2015. "Dynamic Simulation and Exergo-Economic Optimization of a Hybrid Solar–Geothermal Cogeneration Plant," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-41, April.
    19. Shao, Long & Ma, Xinling & Wei, Xinli & Hou, Zhonglan & Meng, Xiangrui, 2017. "Design and experimental study of a small-sized organic Rankine cycle system under various cooling conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 236-245.
    20. Xu, Weicong & Zhao, Li & Mao, Samuel S. & Deng, Shuai, 2020. "Towards novel low temperature thermodynamic cycle: A critical review originated from organic Rankine cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:10:y:2017:i:4:p:413-:d:93816. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.