Efficiency Optimization Thermal Analysis and Power Output of a Modified Incinerator Plant Using Organic Rankine Cycle

A compound of a modified incinerator system with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) was analyzed and optimized regarding exergy and energy. This paper provides an overview of system performance considering thermal aspects in a conceptual design to understand the technical effects of the system on future energy systems; it also provides a way to increase efficiency up to an amount that did not exist before in practice by using optimization. The conceptual design uses multiple flue gas regeneration units, and R124 is used as ORC working fluid. The power plant is modeled and optimized for its thermal performance. An innovative cycle is designed to reuse the wasted heat, which makes the evaporator more efficient and increases the overall exergy efficiency of the power plant. Then, the exergy destructions and systems efficiency are observed. The results indicate that 3.19 MW output power could be generated from municipal wastes with capacity of 400 tons/day. The highest destruction of exergy for the incinerator unit and boiler were approximately 8 kW and 6.4 kW, respectively. For the primary cycle the power output capacity was almost 2.8 MW. Also, this research increased their exergy efficiency by using heating flow streams. The ORC cycle could not produce high power but generally improve the exergy and energy efficiency. The proposed combined cycle with flue gas reheating units and optimization increases the system output power from 3.02 to 3.19 MW. Furthermore, energy and exergy efficiency increased by 10% and 9%, respectively.