performance assessment of an organic rankine cycle and a trilateral flash cycle in utilizing low grande heat

This paper presents the comparison of the performance assessment of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and a trilateral flash cycle (TFC). These cycles can generate power from low temperature heat sources. In this study isopentane was used as the working fluid for both ORC and TFC. Simulation of the process was carried out with the aid of Aspen Hysys software. The performance ssessment was performed at different heat source temperatures ranging from 65°C to 90°C. The simulation results showed that the thermal efficiency and net power output increases with the increase of heat source temperature for both ORC and TFC. Moreover, when a constant heating energy is available for the power generation system, an ORC machine exhibits a better performance than its corresponding TFC engine. It yields a higher thermal efficiency.

Keywords:

ORC/TFC/Efficiency , low grade heat/isopentane