Working Fluid Selection for Simple and Recuperative Organic Rankine Cycle Operating Under Varying Conditions: A Comparative Analysis

The selection of suitable working fluid for simple and recuperative organic Rankine cycle (ORC) operating under subcritical, superheated and supercritical conditions are investigated. 11 fluids with critical temperature above 150 degrees C are considered as potential candidates. Performance screening parameters such as net power output, thermal efficiency, turbine sizing parameter (SP) and volumetric flow ratio (VFR), exegetic parameters like irreversibility rate, fuel depletion ratio, and improvement potential rate of exergy destruction were also evaluated. Results indicate that R600a, R236fa and R1233dz(E) demonstrated the best performance for subcritical, superheated and supercritical simple ORC, respectively. R236fa and R1233dz(E) proved more suitable for subcritical/superheated and supercritical recuperative cycles, respectively. The system exegetic efficiency is reveal to be significantly higher in subcritical/superheated (61-65%) cycles compared to the supercritical (35-45%) cycle, the evaporator seen as the main source of exergy destruction, accounting for 17-37% of inlet exergy destroyed and about 8-24% in the turbine.