This thesis research aims to develop an improved, efficient, low-capacity heat engine, running on an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to generate power. The ORC is driven by low or moderate temperature heat sources, such as; renewable energy in the form of a hot gas derived from biomass/biogas/biofuel combustion streams, waste heat recovery, process heat recovery, etc. The ORC is more suitable and flexible than a conventional steam Rankine cycle, especially when it is applied to low power range. In this research, an extended surface heat exchanger is used to boil the pressurised working fluid, R134a, using a hot air as heat source. The expander used is a scroll type, coupled to a generator, which is able to produce maximum 1.6 kW output. Experimental data of the heat engine are measured under different operating conditions and utilized in the analysis and comparisons. Power generation under various conditions is investigated in order to determine the optimum performance parameters for the heat engine. The isentropic efficiency of the expander is found to be over 40% and reaches 80% for the improved expansion conditions. For the boiler, it is determined that the overall heat transfer coefficient multiplied with the heat transfer area is around 150 W/K. The energy efficiency of the experimental ORC is around 3% for hot air as the low temperature heat source at about 105oC where exergy efficiency reaches 22%, respectively. / UOIT

Low grade heat (LGH) sources, here defined as below 80ºC, are one group of abundant energy sources that are under-utilised in the production of electricity. Industrial waste heat provides a convenient source of concentrated LGH, while solar ponds and geothermal resources are examples of sustainable sources of this energy. For a number of years RMIT has had two ongoing, parallel heat engine research projects aimed at the conversion of LGH into electricity. The Thermosyphon Rankine Engine (TSR) is a heat engine that uses water under considerable vacuum. The other research stream uses a hydrocarbon based working fluid in a heat engine employing the Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC). The TSR Mk V was designed and built as a low cost heat engine for the conversion of LGH into electricity. Its main design advantages are its cost and the employment of only one moving part. Using the data gained from the experimental rig, deviations from the expected results (those derived theoretically) were explored to gain insight for further development. The results from the TSR rig were well below those expected from the design specifications. Although the experimental apparatus was able to process the required heat energy, the efficiency of conversion fell well below the expected 3% and was approximately 0.2%. The inefficiency was explained by a number of contributing factors, the major being form drag upon the rotor that contributed around 2/3 of the losses. Although this was the major cause of the power loss, other factors such as the interference with the rotor by the condensate on its return path contributed to the overall poor performance of the TSR Mk V. The RMIT TFC project came about from exploration of the available academic literature on the subject of LGH conversion. Early work by researchers into applying Carnot's theory to finite heat sources led them to explore the merits of sensible heat transfer combined with a cycle that passes a liquid (instead of a gas) though an expander. The results showed that it was theoretically possible to extract and convert more energy from a heat source of this type using this method than using any other alternative. This previous research was targeted at heat sources above 80ºC and so exploration of the theoretical and empirical results for sources below this temperature was needed. Computer models and an experimental rig using isopentane (with a 28ºC boiling point at atmospheric pressure) were produced to assess the outcomes of employing low temperature heat sources using a TFC. The experimental results from the TFC research proved promising with the efficiency of conversion ranging from 0.8% to 2.4%. Although s uch figures seem poor in isolation, it should be noted that the 2.4% efficiency represents an achievement of 47% of the theoretical ideal conversion efficiency in a rig that uses mainly off-the-shelf components. It also confirms that the TFC shows promise when applied to heat sources less than 80ºC.

A new adhesive bonding method is introduced for microlamination architectures, for producing low-temperature microchannel arrays in a wide variety of metals. Sheet metal embossing and chemical etching processes have been used to produce sealing bosses and flow features, resulting in approximately 50% fewer laminae over traditional methods. These lamina designs are enabled by reduced bonding pressures required for the new method. An assembly process using adhesive dispense and cure is outlined to produce leak-free devices. Feasible fill ratios were determined to be 1.1 in general and 1.25 around fluid headers, largely due to gaps between faying surfaces caused by surface roughness. Bond strength investigation reveals robustness to surface conditions and a bond strength of 5.5-8.5 MPa using a 3X safety factor. Dimensional characterization reveals a two sigma (95%) post-bonded channel height tolerance under 10% (9.6%) after bonding. Patterning tolerance and surface roughness of the faying laminae were found to have a significant influence on the final postbonded channel height. Leakage and burst pressure testing on several samples has established confidence that adhesive bonding can produce leak-free joints. Operating pressures up to 413 kPa have been satisfied, equating to tensile pressure on bond joints of 1.9 MPa. Higher operating pressures can be accommodated by increasing the bond area of devices. A two-fluid counterflow microchannel heat exchanger has been redesigned, fabricated and tested to demonstrate feasibility of the new method. Results show greater effectiveness and higher heat transfer rates, suggesting a smaller device than the original heat exchanger. A maximum effectiveness of 82.5% was achieved with good agreement between theoretical and experimental values. Although thermal performance was improved, higher pressure drops were noted. Pressure drops were predicted with a maximum error of 16% between theoretical and experimental values. Much of the pressure drop was found to be in the device manifolds, which can be improved in subsequent designs. Fluid flow simulation results show a 45-65X reduction in fluid leakage velocity past sealing bosses, thereby mitigating adhesive erosion concerns. Theoretical models indicate that the worst-case adhesive erosion rate is 1/12th the rate of aluminum and 1/7th the rate of stainless steel, implying satisfactory reliability in high fluid velocity applications. Economic comparison indicates an 83% reduction in material cost and 71% reduction in assembly cost with the new adhesive bonding process, when compared to diffusion bonding for the recuperator investigated in this study. Adhesive compatibility with common refrigerants is reviewed through literature references, with no adverse compatibility issues noted. The findings of this research suggest a fairly quick path to commercialization for the new bonding method. Future studies required to pursue commercialization are liquid and gas permeability evaluations, and long term strength and performance testing of adhesives in targeted applications. / Graduation date: 2012 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from Mar. 26, 2012 - Mar. 26, 2013

New technologies to converting heat into usable energy are constantly being developed for renewable use. This means that more interactions between different energy grid will be applied, such as utilizing low thermal waste heat to convert its energy to electricity. With high electricity price, such technology is quite attractive at applications that develop low waste heat. In the case of excess heat in district heating (DH) grid and the electricity price are high, the waste heat can be converted to electricity, which can bring a huge profit for DH companies. Candidate technologies are many and the focus in this degree rapport is on the so-called Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) that belongs to the steam Rankine cycle. Instead of using water as a working fluid, organic working fluid is being used because of its ability to boil at lower temperature. Because this technique is available, it also needs to be optimized, developed, etc. to achieve the highest appropriate efficiency. This can be done, for example, by modeling different layouts, analyzing functionality, performance and / or do a simulation of various suitable working fluids.  This is the purpose of this degree project and the research parts are to select working fluids suitable at low temperatures (70-120) °C, the difference analysis between the selected fluids and identification of the parameters that most affect the performance. There are many suitable methods to apply to achieve desired results. The method used in this rapport degree is commercial software such as Mini REFPROP, CoolPack, Excel but the most important part is simulation with AspenPlus. The selected and suitable working fluids between the chosen temperature interval are R236ea, R600, R245fa and n-hexane. Three common layouts were investigated, and they are The Basic ORC, ORC with an internal heat exchanger (IHE) and regenerative ORC. The results show that in comparison between 120°C and 70°C as a temperature source and without an internal heat exchanger (IHE), R600 at 70°C, has the highest efficiency about 13.55%. At 110°C n-hexane has the highest efficiency about 18.10%. R236ea has the lowest efficiency 13.16% at 70°C and 16.29% at 110°C. R236ea kept its low efficiency through all results. Without an IHE and a source range from 70 °C up to almost 90 °C, R600 has the highest efficiency and at 90°C n-hexane has the highest efficiency. With an IHE and between (70-90) °C R245fa still has the highest efficiency. With or without IHE and a heat source of 110 °C n-hexane has the highest efficiency 18.10% and 18.40%. R236ea gets the greatest increase 5.2% in efficiency but remains with the lowest efficiency. With Regenerative ORC, n-hexane had an optimal middle pressure about 0.76 bar. The optimal pressure corresponds to a thermal efficiency of 17.52%. The most important identified parameters are the fluid characteristics such as higher critical temperature, temperature source, heat sink, application placement and component performance.         The current simulations have been run at some fixed data input such as isentropic efficiencies, no pressure drops, adiabatic conditions etc. It was therefore expected that the same efficiency curve would repeat itself. This efficiency pattern would differ with less or higher values depending on the layout performance. However, this pattern was up to 90 degrees Celsius and gets a very noticeable change by the change of the efficiency for n-hexane. Therefore n-hexane is chosen with Regenerative ORC because it had the highest efficiency at the highest temperature source tested. This is due definitive to the fluid properties like its high critical temperature compared to the other selected fluids. R236ea remains the worst and that’s also related to the fluid properties. It is also important to note that these efficiencies are only from a thermodynamic perspective and may differ when combining both thermal and economic perspectives as well as application placement. These high efficiencies will certainly be lower at more advanced or real processes due to various factors that affect performance. Factors such as component´s efficiency and selection, pipe type and size, etc. To maintain a constant temperature when it’s not, flow regulation is then necessary and that’s also affects the performance.   The conclusion is that the basic ORC which does not have an IHE and from 70 up to 90 degrees Celsius, R600 has the highest efficiency. Higher temperature gives n-hexane the highest efficiency. With an IHE and between (70-90) °C R254fa has the highest efficiency. At higher temperature source n-hexane has the highest efficiency. ORC with an IHE has the best performance. The R236ea has the worst performance through all results. With regenerative ORC, an optimal meddle-pressure for n-hexane is 0.76 bar. Important parameters are The properties of the fluid, temperature source, heatsink, Application placement and component performance. / Nej

4th generation district heating (4GDH) and varying the indoor temperature to store heat are both important concepts that can make it easier to implement more renewable energy and reduce costs of heating. This study looks at these concepts from a customer perspective using one building and looking at how energy can be stored and the performance of 4GDH. Low temperature heat sources from industry, supermarkets, and datacentres are used in combination with heat from a combined heat and power plant to get the required heating. A heat pump has also been modelled as a part of the 4GDH structure. In addition to looking at heat storage in 4GDH a scenario with direct electric heating has also been evaluated. In conclusion 4GDH has lower operating costs than 3rd generation district heating, but it is not worth varying the indoor temperature to store energy when using 4GDH. It is, however, profitable to vary indoor temperature if direct electric heating is used.

Les fumées à basse température (<120-150 °C) sortant des procédés industriels pourraient être récupérées pour la production d'électricité et constituent un moyen efficace de réduction de la consommation d'énergie primaire et des émissions de dioxyde de carbone. Cependant, des barrières techniques tels que la faible efficacité de conversion, la nécessité d'une grande zone de transfert de chaleur, et la présence de substances chimiques corrosives liées à une forte teneur en humidité lors du fonctionnement en environnement sévère entravent leur application plus large. Cette thèse porte particulièrement sur les secteurs industriels les plus énergivores rencontrant actuellement des difficultés à récupérer l'énergie des sources de chaleur à basse température dans des environnements hostiles. Des cycles thermodynamiques existants basés sur le Cycle de Rankine Organique (ORC) sont adaptés et optimisés pour ce niveau de température. Deux méthodes de récupération de chaleur classiques sont étudiées plus particulièrement : les déshumidifications à contact direct et indirect. Des méthodes de conception optimisées pour les échangeurs de chaleur sont élaborées et validées expérimentalement. Pour la déshumidification à contact indirect, des matériaux à revêtement anticorrosifs sont proposés et testés. Pour la déshumidification à contact direct, les effets du type et de la géométrie des garnissages sur les performances hydrauliques sont étudiés. Des cycles thermodynamiques innovants basés sur la technologie de déshydratation liquide sont proposés. Un cycle de régénération amélioré (IRC) est développé. Comparé aux technologies de récupération de chaleur classiques, l'IRC proposé améliore à la fois la puissance nette et le taux de détente de la turbine en prévenant par ailleurs les problèmes de corrosion. / Low-temperature waste-gas heat sources (< 120-150°C) exiting several industrial processes could be recovered for electricity production and constitute an effective mean to reduce primary energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. However, technical barriers such as low conversion efficiency, large needed heat transfer area, and the presence of chemically corrosive substances associated with high moisture content when operating in harsh environment impede their wider application. This thesis focuses on particularly energy-hungry industrial sectors characterized by presently unsolved challenges in terms of environmentally hostile low-temperature heat sources. Existing thermodynamic cycles based on Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) are adapted and optimized for this temperature level. Two conventional heat recovery methods are studied more particularly: indirect and direct contact dehumidification. Optimized design methods for heat exchangers are elaborated and experimentally validated. For the indirect contact dehumidification, advanced anti-corrosion coated materials are proposed and laboratory tested. For the direct contact dehumidification, the effects of packing material and geometry on the corresponding hydraulic performances are underlined. Innovative thermodynamic cycles based on the liquid desiccant technology are investigated. An improved regeneration cycle (IRC) is developed. Compared to the conventional heat recovery technologies, the proposed “IRC” improves both net power and turbine expansion ratio besides preventing faced corrosions problems.

Le travail présenté ici a pour objectifs d’étudier et d’optimiser les performances énergétiques d’un chauffe-eau thermodynamique couplé à un stockage par chaleur sensible. La ressource utilisée consiste en la récupération de chaleur sur l’air extrait d’un logement de type collectif. L’enjeu est de caractériser les conditions dans lesquelles le système est capable d’assurer les besoins avec des performances requises lorsque les conditions aux limites sont très fluctuantes. Sur le plan fonctionnel, le système doit être le plus simple possible du point de vue de sa configuration hydraulique et de sa stratégie de régulation.Pour cette étude, nous avons développé un modèle physico-corrélatif sur TRNSYS pour simuler et analyser les différents scenarios et les couplages thermohydrauliques entre les composants du système. En parallèle de cette démarche de modélisation, nous avons conçu et mis en œuvre un dispositif expérimental à l’échelle 1 à des fins de validation du modèle sur une large plage de conditions opératoires.L’analyse des résultats, notamment sur la nature des écoulements au sein du ballon de stockage, a mis en évidence l’influence majeure d’un certain nombre de paramètres sur les performances du système. En particulier, la robustesse des performances face à des fluctuations importantes des conditions aux limites peut être assurée grâce à une stratégie de régulation adaptée.Cette étude a finalement conduit à proposer un modèle réduit pour le dimensionnement du système qui prend en compte les paramètres le plus pertinents pour la stratégie de régulation. / The work presented here aims to study and optimize the energy efficiency of a heat pump water heater coupled with a sensible heat storage. The resource used consists of heat recovery from exhaust air of a collective type of housing. The challenge is to characterize the conditions in which the system is capable of ensuring the needs with performance required when the boundary conditions are very volatile. Functionally, the system should be as simple as possible from the viewpoint of its hydraulic configuration and its control strategy.For this study, we developed a TRNSYS numerical model to simulate and analyze different scenarios and thermal hydraulic couplings between the system components. In parallel with this modeling approach, we designed and implemented an experimental set up with realistic scale to validate the model over a wide range of operating conditions.The analysis of the results, including the nature of flows within the storage tank, highlighted the major influence on a number of parameters on the system performance. In particular, the robust performance in the face of significant fluctuations of the boundary conditions can be ensured through appropriate control strategy.This study eventually led to propose a model for the design of the system that takes into account the most relevant parameters for the control strategy.

Le Cycle Organique de Rankine (abrégé ORC de l’anglais Organic Rankine Cycle) est une technologie permettant la conversion de chaleur basse température en électricité. L’ORC transcritique a été identifié comme une solution prometteuse pour la valorisation de la chaleur fatale. Cependant, peu d’installations expérimentales ont permis de confirmer ces performances. Ce travail de thèse présente le fonctionnement et l’optimisation d’ORC sous-critique et transcritique pour la conversion de chaleur basse température en électricité à partir de différentes sources. Premièrement, les contextes thermodynamique et technologique de l’ORC sont présentés. Des critères de performance énergétiques et exergétiques sont définis et appliqués à une base de données d’installations expérimentales afin d’exposer l’état de l’art actuel des ORC. Deuxièmement, les outils numériques et expérimentaux, spécifiquement développés ou utilisé pour ces travaux, sont présentés. Trois installations expérimentales d’ORC transcritique complet ou incomplet fournissent les données expérimentales. Différents modèles numériques sont utilisés : sous l’environnement Matlab pour la modélisation en permanent, l’analyse des données expérimentales et l’analyse énergétique/exergétique ; L’environnement Modelica/Dymola pour l’analyse des transitoires et de la dynamique du système. Dans un troisième temps, ces différents outils sont utilisés pour étudier quatre différentes problématiques : - Le fonctionnement de la pompe de circulation est étudié, d’un point de vue énergétique et volumétrique. Des modèles semi-empiriques et des corrélations de performance sont présentés. - Les transferts thermiques en supercritique sont examinés, en local et en global. Les coefficients de transfert thermique sont comparés avec différentes corrélations de la littérature. - L’influence de la charge de réfrigérant sur les performances et le comportement de l’ORC est analysée. La charge optimale est estimée pour différentes conditions de fonctionnement et des mécanismes de régulation de la charge sont présentés. - Les performances énergétiques et exergétiques de l’ORC sont comparées avec la base de données. Une analyse exergétique du procédé a permis d’identifier des voies d’amélioration. / The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a technology used for low-grade thermal energy conversion into electricity. Transcritical ORC has been identified as a solution for efficient waste heat recovery. However, few experimental tests have been conducted to confirm the interest of transcritical ORC and investigate its operational behaviors. The work presented focuses on the operation and the optimization of subcritical and transcritical Organic Rankine Cycles for low-grade heat conversion into electricity from various heat sources (solar, industrial waste heat). First, the thermodynamic framework of ORC technology is presented. Energetic and exergetic performance criteria, appropriate to each type of input source, are introduced and selected. The criteria are later applied to a database of ORC prototypes, in order to objectively analyze the state-of-the-art. In a second step, the experimental and numerical tools, specifically developed or used in the present thesis, are presented. Three subcritical and transcritical ORC test benches (hosted by CEA and AUA) provided experimental data. Numerical models were developed under different environments: Matlab for steady-state modeling, data processing and energy/exergy analysis. The Modelica/Dymola environment for system dynamics and transient operations. Lastly, the different tools are exploited to investigate four different topics: - The ORC pump operation is investigated, both under an energetic and volumetric standpoint, while semi-empirical models and correlations are exposed. - Supercritical heat transfers are explored. Global and local heat transfer coefficients are estimated and analyzed under supercritical conditions, while literature correlations are introduced for comparison. - Working fluid charge influence over the ORC performance and behavior is investigated. Optimal fluid charge is estimated under various operating conditions and mechanisms for charge active regulation are exposed. - ORC system performances and behavior are discussed. Through both an energetic and exergetic standpoint, performances are compared with the state-of-the-art, while optimization opportunities are identified through an exergetic analysis.