Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Industrial waste heat recovery and cogeneration involving organic Rankine cycles

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper proposes a systematic approach for energy integration involving waste heat recovery through an organic Rankine cycle (ORC). The proposed approach is based on a two-stage procedure. In the first stage, heating and cooling targets are determined through heat integration. This enables the identification of the excess process heat available for use in the ORC. The optimization of the operating conditions and design of the cogeneration system are carried out in the second stage using genetic algorithms. A modular sequential simulation approach is proposed including several correlations to determine the properties for the streams in the ORC. The proposed approach is applied to a case study which addresses the tradeoffs among the different forms of energy and associated costs. The results show that the optimal selection of the operating conditions and working fluid is very important to reduce the costs associated to the process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

AR:

Absorption refrigeration

CW:

Cooling water

CPS:

Cold process streams

GCC:

Grand composite curve

HPS:

Hot process streams

H :

Enthalpy

Max:

Maximization

NU:

Number of units

ORC:

Organic Rankine cycle

P :

Pressure

Ref:

Refrigerant

R245fa:

Coolant R245fa

R123:

Coolant R123

S :

Entropy

T in :

Inlet temperature

T out :

Outlet temperature

T Sat :

Saturation temperature

T :

Temperature

C E :

Unit electric power cost

FC p :

Heat capacity flow rate

\(C_{\text{cw}}^{\text{ORC}}\) :

Unit cost for the cooling water used in the ORC

H Y :

Operating hours for the plant per year

K F :

Factor used to annualize the capital costs

η turbine :

Turbine efficiency

η pump :

Pump efficiency

N pop :

Number of individuals

PWCost :

Price of electric power

RCrefrigerant :

Unit refrigerant cost

t filling :

Time required to fill the ORC

CAP:

Installed capital cost

CAPcond :

Capital cost for the condenser

CAPboiler :

Capital cost for the boiler

CAPturb :

Capital cost for the turbine

CAPpump :

Capital cost for the centrifugal pump

CAP u :

Capital cost for each unit of the cycle

COPA:

Total annual operating cost

\({\text{Cost}}_{\text{coolingwater}}^{\text{ORC}}\) :

Cost for the cooling water used in the condenser of the ORC

Costrefrigerant :

Cost for the selected refrigerant in the system

Density:

Density for the working fluid

F refrigerant :

Flow rate for the refrigerant in the ORC

GROSS PROFIT:

Annual gross profit

PROFIT:

Profit for the electric power produced in the ORC

Q C :

Minimum cooling through cooling water for hot process streams

Q H :

Minimum heating for cold process streams

Q L :

Heat removed from the condenser in the ORC

\(Q_{\text{Cost}}^{\text{CW}} \,\) :

Cost for cooling using cooling water for process streams

\(Q_{\text{Cost}}^{\text{Ref}} \,\) :

Cost for refrigeration for process streams

Q ORC :

Heat inlet to the boiler of the ORC

Q Ref :

Heat sent to the refrigeration

Q CW :

Cooling of the process streams using water as the cooling medium

\({\text{Total}}_{\text{Cost}}^{\text{ORC}}\) :

Total cost for the ORC

v :

Volume for the stream inlet to the pump

W P :

Pump power

W T :

Power produced in the turbine of the ORC

W u :

Consumed electric power of unit u

References

  • Barber R (1978) Current costs of solar powered organic Rankine cycle engines. Sol Energy 20:1–6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruno JC, Fernandez F, Castells F, Grossmann IE (1998) A rigorous MINLP model for the optimal synthesis and operation of utility plants. Chem Eng Res Des 76:246–258

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Chouinard-Dussault P, Bradt L, Ponce-Ortega JM, El-Halwagi MM (2011) Incorporation of process integration into life cycle analysis for the production of biofuels. Clean Technol Environ Policy 13:673–685

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Desai NB, Bandyopadhyay S (2009) Process integration of organic Rankine cycle. Energy 34:1674–1686

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • El-Halwagi MM (2012) Sustainable design through process integration: fundamentals and applications to industrial pollution prevention, resource conservation, and profitability enhancement. Butterworth-Heinemann, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Farhad S, Saffar-Avval M, Younessi-Sinaki M (2008) Efficient design of feedwater heaters network in steam power plants using pinch technology and exergy analysis. Int J Energy Res 32:1–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebreslassie BH, Guillén-Gosálvez G, Jiménez L, Boer D (2009a) Design of environmentally conscious absorption cooling systems via multi-objective optimization and life cycle assessment. Appl Energy 86:1712–1722

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebreslassie BH, Guillén-Gosálvez G, Jiménez L, Boer D (2009b) Economic performance optimization of an absorption cooling system under uncertainty. Appl Therm Eng 29:3491–3500

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gebreslassie BH, Guillén-Gosálvez G, Jiménez L, Boer D (2009c) A systematic tool for the minimization of the life cycle impact of solar assisted absorption cooling systems. Energy 35:3849–3862

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipólito-Valencia BJ, Rubio-Castro E, Ponce-Ortega JM, Serna-González M, Nápoles-Rivera F, El-Halwagi MM (2013) Optimal integration of organic Rankine cycles with industrial processes. Energy Convers Manage 73:285–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipólito-Valencia BJ, Lira-Barragán LF, Ponce-Ortega JM, Serna-González M, El-Halwagi MM (2014a) Multiobjective design of interplant trigeneration systems. AIChE J 60:213–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hipólito-Valencia BJ, Vázquez-Ojeda M, Segovia-Hernández JG, Ponce-Ortega JM (2014b) Waste heat recovery through organic Rankine cycles in the bioethanol separation process. Ind Eng Chem Res 53:6773–6788

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • IEA (2013) Key world energy statistics 2011. IEA, Paris. http://www.iea.org/

  • Lemmon EW, Huber M, McLinden M (2014) REFPROP-reference fluid thermodynamic and transport properties. Thermophysical Properties Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, CO, USA. http://www.nist.gov/srd/nist23.cfm

  • Lira-Barragán LF, Ponce-Ortega JM, Serna-González M, El-Halwagi MM (2014) Sustainable integration of trigeneration systems with heat exchanger networks. Ind Eng Chem Res 53:2732–2750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Madhawahettiarachchi H, Golubovic M, Worek W, Ikegami Y (2007) Optimum design criteria for an organic Rankine cycle using low-temperature geothermal heat sources. Energy 32:1698–1706

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peters MS, Timmerhaus KD, West RE (2003) Plant design and economics for chemical engineers. McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponce-Ortega JM, Serna-Gonzalez M, Jimenez-Gutierrez A (2010) Optimization model for re-circulating cooling water systems. Comput Chem Eng 34:177–195

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ponce-Ortega JM, Tora EA, González-Campos JB, El-Halwagi MM (2011) Integration of renewable energy with industrial absorption refrigeration systems: systematic design and operation with technical, economic, and environmental objectives. Ind Eng Chem Res 50:9667–9684

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prigmore D, Barber R (1975) Cooling with the sun’s heat design considerations and test data for a Rankine cycle prototype. Sol Energy 17:185–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Quin X, Mohan T, El-Halwagi MM, Cornforth G, McCarl BA (2006) Switchgrass as an alternate feedstock for power generation: an integrated environmental, energy and economic life-cycle assessment. Clean Technol Environ Policy 8:233–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith R (2005) Chemical process design and integration. Wiley, Chichester

    Google Scholar 

  • Stijepovic MZ, Papadopoulos AI, Linke P, Grujic AS, Seferlis P (2014) An exergy composite curves approach for the design of optimum multi-pressure organic Rankine cycle processes. Energy 69:285–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tora EA, El-Halwagi MM (2009) Optimal design and integration of solar systems and fossil fuels for sustainable and stable power outlet. Clean Technol Environ Policy 11:401–407

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tora EA, El-Halwagi MM (2010) Integration of solar energy into absorption refrigerators and industrial process. Chem Eng Technol 33:1495–1505

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the financial support from the Mexican Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT) and the Scientific Research Council of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo in Mexico. Also, this work was founded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, under grand No. 3-34/RG. The authors, therefore, acknowledge with thanks DSR technical and financial support.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to José María Ponce-Ortega.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOC 461 kb)

Appendix 1: Correlations for the thermodynamic properties

Appendix 1: Correlations for the thermodynamic properties

In this section, representative correlations for the properties of the refrigerant R245fa are described. Additional relationships for other refrigerants are presented in the Electronic Supplementary Material. The correlation coefficients for these relationships are greater than 0.99 with respect to REFPROP (Lemmon et al. 2014), which is software dedicated to determine refrigerant properties. The streams involved are identified in Fig. 2.

The saturation temperature, T Sat1 (°C), for stream 1 at the output of the boiler is a function of the pressure P 1 (bar) as follows.

For pressures from 0.6 to 5 bars:

$$\begin{aligned} T_{\text{Sat1}} & = 0.066568672192 \times P_{1}^{5} - 1.108775860189 \times P_{1}^{4} + 7.363209229763 \times P_{1}^{3} \\ & - 25.624800698713 \times P_{1}^{2} + 58.471405699693 \times P_{1} - 24.406058535636. \\ \end{aligned}$$
(12)

For pressures from 5 to 10 bars:

$$T_{\text{Sat1}} = \,0.022355866356 \times P_{1}^{3} - 0.778937062934 \times P_{1}^{2} + 13.169856254828 \times P_{1} + 13.590459207549.$$
(12)

For pressures from 10 to 36 bars:

$$T_{\text{Sat1}} = \,0.001083730652 \times P_{1}^{3} - 0.119432214832 \times P_{1}^{2} + 6.034814366651 \times P_{1} + 40.332775394524.$$
(14)

The enthalpy for stream 1, H 1 (kJ/kg), is a function of the inlet pressure to the turbine, and for pressures between 1 and 10 bars, this is given as follows:

$$H_{ 1} = \, - 0.011040 \times P_{1}^{4} + 0.309896 \times P_{1}^{3} - 3.404426 \times P_{1}^{2} + 21.106078 \times P_{1} + 397.735358.$$
(15)

For pressures between 10 and 30 bars:

$$\begin{aligned} H_{ 1} = & - 8.69711 \times 10^{ - 5} \times P_{1}^{4} + 0.0072280959 \times P_{1}^{3} - 0.2875158903 \times P_{1}^{2} + 6.577807603 \times P_{1} . \\ & + 424.6546520126. \\ \end{aligned}$$
(16)

For pressures between 30 and 36 bars:

$$\begin{aligned} H_{ 1} = & - 0.0047916667 \times P_{1}^{5} + 0.7708522735 \times P_{1}^{4} - 49.5997917182 \times P_{1}^{3} + 1595.3600584406 \times P_{1}^{2} . \\ & - 25648.7329419049 \times P_{1} + 165367.4014206060. \\ \end{aligned}$$
(17)

The entropy for stream 1 (S 1 (kJ/kg °C)) is a function of the inlet pressure to the turbine. For pressures between 1 and 25 bars, this is given as follows:

$$\begin{aligned} S_{1} & = - 1.464 \times 10^{ - 6} \times P_{1}^{5} + 0.0002145718 \times P_{1}^{4} - 0.0125588231 \times P_{1}^{3} + 0.3666710619 \times P_{1}^{2} \\ & - 5.3386278379 \times P_{1} + 32.8066383969 \\ \end{aligned}$$
(18)

For pressures between 25 and 36 bars:

$$\begin{aligned} S_{ 1} = & - 1.464 \times 10^{ - 6} \times P_{1}^{5} + 0.0002145718 \times P_{1}^{4} - 0.0125588231 \times P_{1}^{3} + 0.3666710619 \times P_{1}^{2} \\ & \quad- 5.3386278379 \times P_{1} + 32.8066383969. \\ \end{aligned}$$
(19)

The isentropic temperature at the exit of the turbine for stream 2 (T 2S (°C)) is calculated in terms of the inlet entropy S 1 (kJ/kg °C) as follows:

$$T_{{ 2 {\text{S}}}} = \, 3 6 2. 0 0 2 6 7 9\times S_{ 1} - 6 2 1. 3 1 4 2 8 3.$$
(20)

The isentropic enthalpy at the exit of the turbine (H 2S (kJ/kg)) is given in terms of the outlet temperature (T 2S (°C)) as follows:

$$H_{{ 2 {\text{S}}}} = \, 0. 9 8 9 9 4 1\times T_{{ 2 {\text{S}}}} { + 398} . 5 4 9 9 6 0.$$
(21)

The enthalpy at the exit of the turbine (H 2 (kJ/kg)) is given in terms of the efficiency of the turbine (η turbine), the isentropic enthalpy H 2S (kJ/kg), and the inlet enthalpy H 1 (kJ/kg) as follows:

$$H_{ 2} = H_{ 1} - \eta_{\text{turbine}} \left( {H_{ 1} - H_{{ 2 {\text{S}}}} } \right).$$
(22)

The temperature at the exit of the turbine (T 2 (°C)) is obtained in terms of the enthalpy H 2 (kJ/kg) at a pressure P 2 (bar) as follows:

$$T_{ 2} = 1. 0 0 9 4 7 2\times H_{ 2} - 4 0 2. 2 6 5 8 4 7.$$
(23)

The entropy at the exit of the turbine (S 2 (kJ/kg °C)) is given in terms of the enthalpy H 2 (kJ/kg) as follows:

$$S_{ 2} = - 4 \times 10^{ - 6} \times H_{ 2}^{2} + 0.006602 \times H_{ 2} - 0.314007.$$
(24)

The saturation temperature T Sat3 (°C) at the outlet of the condenser (stream 3) is the function of the pressure P 2 (bar) as follows. For pressures from 0.6 to 5 bars, the correlation is

$$\begin{aligned} T_{\text{Sat3}} = & 0.066568672192 \times P_{2}^{5} - 1.108775860189 \times P_{2}^{4} + 7.363209229763 \times P_{2}^{3} \\ & - 25.624800698713 \times P_{2}^{2} + 58.471405699693 \times P_{2} - 24.406058535636. \\ \end{aligned}$$
(25)

For pressures from 5 to 10 bars:

$$T_{\text{Sat3}} = 0.022355866356 \times P_{2}^{3} - 0.778937062934 \times P_{2}^{2} + 13.169856254828 \times P_{2} + 13.590459207549.$$
(26)

For pressures from 10 to 36 bars:

$$T_{\text{Sat3}} = 0.001083730652 \times P_{2}^{3} - 0.119432214832 \times P_{2}^{2} + 6.034814366651 \times P_{2} + 40.332775394524.$$
(27)

In addition, the enthalpy H 3 (kJ/kg) for the stream 3 at the inlet to the pump is function of the saturation temperature T Sat3 (°C):

$$H_{ 3} = 0.000031 \times T_{\text{Sat3}}^{3} - 0.004074 \times T_{\text{Sat3}}^{2} + 1.493974 \times T_{\text{Sat3}} + 198.439968,$$
(28)

while the entropy S 3 (kJ/kg) is given in terms of the saturation temperature T Sat3 (°C), which is as follows,

$$S_{ 3} = 0. 0 0 4 3 7 7\times T_{\text{Sat3}} { + 1} . 0 0 0 2 6 6.$$
(29)

The power consumed by the pump is obtained through the following equation:

$$W_{P} = \frac{{v\left( {P_{1} - P_{2} } \right)}}{{\eta_{\text{pump}} }},$$
(30)

where \(\eta_{\text{pump}}\) is the efficiency for the pump, and \(v\) (m3/kg) is the volume of the stream inlet to the pump, which is determined by the inverse of the density of this fluid that is calculated as follows:

$${\text{Density}} = - 0.006593 \times T_{\text{Sat3}}^{2} - 2.388728 \times T_{\text{Sat3}} + 1403.123984.$$
(31)

The enthalpy H 4 (kJ/kg) for the stream at the outlet of the pump is calculated with the following relationship:

$$H_{ 4} = H_{ 3} + W_{\text{P}} .$$
(32)

The entropy for the stream 4 at the exit of the pump (S 4 (kJ/kg °C)) is given in terms of the enthalpy H 4 (kJ/kg) at a pressure P 1 (bar) as follows:

$$S_{ 4} = - 4.2844 \times 10^{ - 6} \times H_{ 4}^{2} + 0.0053489173 \times H_{ 4} + 0.1012742328.$$
(33)

The temperature for stream 4 at the exit of the pump (T 4 (°C)) is obtained in terms of the enthalpy H 4 (kJ/kg) at a pressure P 1 (bar) as follows:

$$T_{ 4} = - 4.698168 \times 10^{ - 4} \times H_{ 4}^{2} + 0.9749078129 \times H_{ 4} - 176.2592280050.$$
(34)

The isentropic enthalpy for stream 4 at the exit of the pump (H 4S (kJ/kg)) is given in terms of the following expression:

$$H_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}} = \eta_{\text{pump}} \left( {H_{ 4} - H_{ 3} } \right) + H_{ 3} .$$
(35)

The isentropic entropy for stream 4 at the exit of the pump (S 4S (kJ/kg °C)) is given in terms of the enthalpy H 4S (kJ/kg) at a pressure P 1 (bar) as follows:

$$S_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}} = - 4.2844 \times 10^{ - 6} \times H_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}}^{2} + 0.0053489173 \times H_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}} + 0.1012742328.$$
(36)

The isentropic temperature for stream 4 at the exit of the pump (T 4S (°C)) is obtained in terms of the isentropic enthalpy H 4S (kJ/kg) at a pressure P 1 (bar) as follows:

$$T_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}} = - 4.698168 \times 10^{ - 4} \times H_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}}^{2} + 0.9749078129 \times H_{{ 4 {\text{S}}}} - 176.2592280050.$$
(37)

The produced power in the turbine is calculated using the following expression:

$$W_{\text{T}} = \left( {H_{ 1} - H_{{ 2 {\text{S}}}} } \right)\eta_{\text{turbine}} .$$
(38)

The needed cooling in the ORC is calculated from the following relationship:

$$F_{\text{refrigerant}} = \frac{{Q^{\text{ORC}} }}{{\left( {H_{ 1} - H_{ 4} } \right)}},$$
(39)

where Q ORC is the heat required in the boiler (kJ/s) and F refrigerant is the flow rate for the refrigerant (kg/s) in the ORC.

The proposed correlations to determine the thermodynamic properties for refrigerants R123 and n-butane are shown in Tables 5 and 6, respectively. These tables are in the Electronic Supplementary Material available in the WEB.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Gutiérrez-Arriaga, C.G., Abdelhady, F., Bamufleh, H.S. et al. Industrial waste heat recovery and cogeneration involving organic Rankine cycles. Clean Techn Environ Policy 17, 767–779 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-014-0833-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-014-0833-5

Keywords

Navigation