Optimal Design Configuration of an Organic Rankine Cycle Using Waste Heat and Solar Energy in Hot Arid Areas

The organic Rankine cycle (ORC) differs from the more common steam turbine in its capability of operating at low temperatures. Although this as a result implies a lower efficiency, the ORC can be used to recover waste heat and hence reduce greenhouse emissions and improve plant efficiency at a minimal capital cost. Moreover, they can be used to generate power from renewable resources such as geothermal and solar energies. There is, however, a variety of working fluids selected for this cycle. The optimization of this cycle in the literature is basically on the selection of working fluid and operation parameters based on the available heat to be recovered while assuming the availability of low temperature sources for condensation. In hot arid areas, a major problem in implementing inland ORC is the lack of cheap sources of cooling. This is a major problem in implementing some of the solar systems such as solar absorption air-conditioners . The proposed work is to study the performance of ORC with heat recovery and solar energy in hot arid areas and establish the optimal configuration and working fluid selection using hourly metrological and solar data. Mathematical models and pinch technology will also be employed in integrating ORC with existing plants. A model will be established and a procedure will be proposed using a number of locations in Oman as case studies.