Waste heat recovery of organic Rankine cycle using dry fluids

A Rankine cycle using organic fluids as working fluids, called organic Rank ine cycle (ORC), is potentially feasible in recovering low enthalpy contain ing heat sources. Efficient operation of the ORC depends heavily on two fac tors: working conditions of the cycle and the thermodynamic properties of t he working fluids. The working fluids under investigation are Benzene (C6H6 ), Toluene (C7H8), p-Xylene (C8H10), R113 and R123. Among the working fluid s under investigation, p-Xylene shows the highest efficiency while Benzene shows the lowest. The study also shows that the irreversibility depends on the type of heat source. Generally speaking, p-Xylene has the lowest irreve rsibility in recovering a high temperature waste heat, while R113 and R123 have a better performance in recovering a low temperature waste heat. (C) 2 000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.