Thermodynamic performance analysis of a coupled transcritical and subcritical organic Rankine cycle system for waste heat recovery

We present a novel coupled organic Rankine cycle (CORC) system driven by the low-grade waste heat, which couples a transcritical organic Rankine cycle with a subcritical organic Rankine cycle. Based on classical thermodynamic theory, a detailed performance analysis on the novel CORC system was performed. The results show that the pressure ratio of the expander is decreased in the CORC and the selection of the working fluids becomes more flexible and abundant. With the increase of the pinch point temperature difference of the internal heat exchanger, the net power output and thermal efficiency of the CORC all decrease. With the increase of the critical temperature of the working fluid, the system performance of the CORC is improved. The net power output and thermal efficiency of the CORC with isentropic working fluids are higher than those with dry working fluids.