Design and optimization of standardized organic Rankine cycle power plant for European conditions

RES Master´s Thesis Verkefnið er unnið í tengslum við Háskóla Íslands og Háskólann á AkureyriThis paper investigates the possibility of introducing universally designed binary power plants into European energy markets. ORC cycles are found to be particularly useful not only for the production of electricity from geothermal water, but also for the recovery of waste heat from engine exhaust gasses, furnaces and drying ovens. In this dissertation, an analysis of market demand and thermodynamic characteristics of different heat sources is performed in order to find an optimal set of design boundary conditions maximizing unit performance for the most promising types of applications. A thermodynamic model of a power plant using a wet mechanical-draft cooling tower is created in EES software and a detailed analysis of component configuration and parameters of working fluids is carried out. Optimal plant configuration and size of components is found by thermoeconomic optimization. Exergy flow rates of all streams in the system as well as rates of exergy destruction and loss are quantified. Detailed economic analysis of the unit is made for four different applications: geothermal plants using water from conventional hydrothermal wells, former oil and gas boreholes, waste heat recovery plants coupled with diesel engines, and a clinker cooler in a cement plant. Finally, a sensitivity analysis shows the impact that changes in heat source characteristics and macroeconomic variables have on levelized cost of power