Performance assessment of different Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) configurations driven by solar energy

This paper deals with the comparison of three Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) configurations specifically Basic, Recuperative and Regenerative from the energy and economic prospective. Four different organic working fluids (Toluene, Nonane, Decane and Dodecane) are flown individually in all the three configurations. For simulation purpose of various configurations Aspen plus is used, along with energy analysis is done on all the configurations to evaluate the net work done, power and efficiency of ORC systems. As Toluene has zero ozone depletion potential and a low global warming potential, the worry about climatic changes is somehow offset by these beneficial environmental traits. Study shows that the maximum net work done of 1364 kW is given by Regenerative ORC which shows an enhancement of 36.60 % and 25.23 % from Basic and Recuperative ones. Among all the selected configurations and working fluid, Regenerative with Toluene shows the most efficient configuration and gives 37.01 % of maximized efficiency. Along with that the thermo-economic analysis is also performed on all the three configurations out of which Regenerative shows an operating cost of 211.65 $/hr. It is observed that under ideal circumstances the Regenerative ORC along with Toluene working fluid outperforms the other two configurations.’