A new experimentally developed integrated organic Rankine cycle plant

Abstract

In this study, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) integrated with a combustion subsystem and a horizontal belt-type drying unit is developed, built, and tested at a pilot scale for organic wastes to energy applications. The organic wastes used for experimental investigation are chicken manure collected from the respective food sector. A novel drying unit is also employed to dry out the chicken manure to the desired moisture level for more efficient and effective combustion. The heat generated is further supplied to the ORC for power generation. Finally, the heat rejected from ORC is used for chicken manure drying purposes. This way, the ORC generates two useful commodities like electricity and heat. An amount of 400 ton/day chicken manure from almost 4 million chickens is burned to obtain heat. The heat obtained from the combustor is utilized in an organic Rankine cycle with a capacity of 2.3 MW net power. The integrated ORC system is analyzed comprehensively through energy and exergy approaches, and its environmental impact assessment is performed. A detailed efficiency evaluation is carried out by considering energy and exergy efficiency approaches. The overall energy and exergy efficiencies of the integrated system are determined as 29.45% and 28.05%, respectively. For the ORC specifically, the energy and exergy efficiencies are calculated as 90.58% and 62.60% by considering the cycle as a cogeneration unit.