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Thermo-economic evaluation of R1233zd(E) as an R245fa alternative in organic Rankine cycle for geothermal applications

  • Process Systems Engineering, Process Safety
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Abstract

To quicken the process for high global warming potential (GWP) working fluid replacement for organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems, a thermo-economic evaluation of low GWP fluid R1233zd(E) as an R245fa alternative has been performed in comparison with other natural fluids n-Pentane, Isopentane, and Isobutane for geothermal applications. The heat source water mass flow rate remains constant and 5 K pinch point is set for both evaporator side and condenser side. All working fluids have a close net thermal efficiency within 2%. Increasing the heat source from 120 °C to 160 °C gives a more than 20% efficiency rise. The low critical temperature of Isobutane limits its application for 160 °C heat source. R1233zd(E) displays a close mass flow rate (within 2%) from R245fa and others exhibit more than 40% flow rate reduction. The component level performance has also been investigated in this study. All alternatives exhibit a lower evaporator side (evaporator and preheater) heat transfer area than baseline R245fa, and a slightly higher condenser side (condenser and desuperheater) heat transfer area. For turbine performance, R245fa displays the highest volume flow ratio, indicating a significant change of the rotor blade height should be made between the inlet and outlet point for the expansion process. R1233zd(E) displays ∼10% increase for turbine size parameter from baseline, n-Pentane shows ∼22% rise, Isopentane exhibits ∼11% rise, while Isobutane presents 32% decrease, respectively. In general, R1233zd(E) only exhibits ∼2.3% higher specific investment cost than R245fa, while n-Pentane and Isopentane exhibit more than 15% cost rise. Thus, from the thermo-economic scale with an extended application range, R1233zd(E) exhibits a better overall performance index when compared with other R245fa alternatives and can be serviced as promising candidate to replace R245fa.

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Abbreviations

CEPEI:

chemical engineering plant cost index

EORC:

organic Rankine cycle with a vapor-liquid ejector

EU:

european union

GHG:

greenhouse gas

GWP:

global warming potential

HC:

hydrocarbon

HCFC:

hydrochlorofluorocarbon

HFC:

hydrofluorocarbon

HFO:

hydrofluoroolefin

HP:

heat pump

LMTD:

logarithmic mean temperature difference

NBP:

normal boiling point

ODP:

ozone depletion potential

ORC:

organic Rankine cycle

RORC:

regenerative organic Rankine cycle

SIC:

specific investment cost

A:

area [m2]

C:

cost [$] or coefficient for the component cost functions [−]

d:

tube diameter [m]

Ds :

shell diameter [m]

f:

friction factor

G:

mass velocity [kg/m2s]

h:

enthalpy per unit mass of the state [kJ/kg] or heat transfer coefficient [W/m2·K]

k:

thermal conductivity [W/m·K]

K:

coefficient related to the component or coefficient related to the shell-and-tube geometry

L:

length [m]

LMTD:

log-mean temperature difference [°C]

M:

refrigerant charge amount [kg]

m:

refrigerant mass flow rate [kg/s]

P:

pressure of the state [kPa or bar]

Pr :

Prandtl number

PT :

tube pitch [mm]

\(\mathop {\rm{Q}}\limits^ \cdot \) :

heat delivery/flow [kW]

Re:

Reynold number

SP:

turbine size indicator [m2]

SIC:

specific investment cost [$/kW]

U:

heat transfer coefficient [W/m2·K]

V:

volume flow rate [m3/s]

W:

power consumption/generation [kW]

ω :

flammability factor, for non-flammable refrigerants, it is 1 and for flammable refrigerants, it is pre-set as 1.1

Y2 :

Chisholm parameter [−]

ϕ :

the turbine size ratio [−]

α :

void fraction[−] x:quality [kg/kg]

ρ :

density [kg/m3] η

δ :

relative area ratio [−]

p:

pump

s:

shell

t:

turbine or tube

g:

gas

HX:

heat exchanger

in:

inlet

l:

liquid

v:

vapor

out:

outlet

ref:

refrigerant

tp:

two phase

1–4:

state point

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ingersoll Rand Residential Solutions, 6200 Troup Highway, Tyler, TX, 75707, USA

    Gang Li

  2. Ingersoll Rand Engineering and Technology Center-Asia Pacific, Shanghai, 200051, PR China

    Gang Li

  3. School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China

    Gang Li

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Li, G. Thermo-economic evaluation of R1233zd(E) as an R245fa alternative in organic Rankine cycle for geothermal applications. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 38, 2195–2207 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-021-0936-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11814-021-0936-8

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