Title: Comparison of toluene and cyclohexane as a working fluid of an organic Rankine cycle used for reheat furnace waste heat recovery

Authors: Huseyin Yagli; Ali Koc; Cuma Karakus; Yildiz Koc

Addresses: Faculty of Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iskenderun Technical University, Iskenderun 31200, Hatay, Turkey ' Faculty of Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iskenderun Technical University, Iskenderun 31200, Hatay, Turkey ' Faculty of Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iskenderun Technical University, Iskenderun 31200, Hatay, Turkey ' Faculty of Mechanics, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iskenderun Technical University, Iskenderun 31200, Hatay, Turkey

Abstract: An organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is set up to recover waste heat from the flue gas of a reheat furnace. The calculations show that, under the same conditions, the gross power production, energy and exergy efficiencies are 490.63 kW, 16.62% and 35.64% for ORC with cyclohexane and 457.83 kW, 17.08% and 31.96% for ORC with toluene, respectively. After the comparison of working fluids, the ORC with cyclohexane was optimised at different turbine inlet pressures (from 26 bar to 38 bar) and turbine inlet temperatures (from 260°C to 320°C). The best performance of the cycle is obtained at the turbine inlet pressure of 38 bar and turbine inlet temperature of 280°C. The gross power production, energy and exergy efficiencies were evaluated as 527.67 kW, 17.65% and 37.37%, respectively, for optimised ORC with cyclohexane.

Keywords: waste heat recovery; organic Rankine; ORC; organic Rankine cycle; organic fluids; toluene; cyclohexane; energy efficiency; exergy efficiency; reheat furnaces; flue gas; turbine inlet pressure; turbine inlet temperature.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2016.075677

International Journal of Exergy, 2016 Vol.19 No.3, pp.420 - 438

Received: 02 Dec 2014
Accepted: 07 Apr 2015
Published online: 31 Mar 2016 *

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