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Session: Volumetric expanders III
Session starts: Tuesday 08 October, 11:20
Presentation starts: 11:40
Room: Van Beuningen Zaal

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Ilaria Guarracino (Imperial College London)
Richard Mathie (Imperial College London)
Aly Taleb (Imperial Colleg London)
Christos Markides (Imperial College London)

Abstract:
The current trend for ever increasing energy prices acts as an important driver for improved efficiency via novel heat integration and energy generation schemes. An Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) equipped with a low-loss two-stage reciprocating piston expander has been designed and is tested experimentally. The reciprocating expander is a low-cost, low-maintenance, and readily available prime mover option for these engines, with promising performance characteristics (e.g. efficiency). The tested expander is based on a commercially available unit intended for air-compression applications, which was reconditioned for the purposes of the present tests. A novel rotary valve was developed to guarantee a high efficiency and low leakage rate. The test-bed gives a maximum mechanical output of 3 kWe with R245fa as the working fluid at pressure limited to 10 bar. The optimal working-fluid was chosen from 21 possible refrigerants and alkanes based on theoretical efficiency calculations.