Title: Exergy analysis of a solar organic Rankine cycle with square prismatic cavity receiver

Authors: Reyhaneh Loni; Alibakhsh Kasaeian; Omid Mahian; Ahmet Z. Sahin; Somchai Wongwises

Addresses: Young Researchers and Elites Club, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, 3818835999, Iran ' Faculty of New Sciences and Technologies, Department of Renewable Energies, University of Tehran, Tehran, 1439957131, Iran ' Young Researchers and Elite Club, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, 9187147578, Iran ' Mechanical Engineering Department, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi Arabia ' Fluid Mechanics, Thermal Engineering and Multiphase Flow Research Lab. (FUTURE), Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Bangmod, Bangkok 10140, Thailand

Abstract: In this study, a solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) was empirically modelled. A solar dish collector with a tubular cavity receiver was used as the ORC heat source. The effects of the solar irradiation, the depths of the cavity receiver, and the diameter of the inner cavity tube on the exergetic performance of the tubular cavity receiver were investigated. The exergy parameters such as the receiver exergy rate, the thermal exergy efficiency, the receiver exergy factor, and the electrical exergy efficiency were analysed. The results revealed that the optimum structure of the tubular cavity receiver for achieving the highest receiver exergy rate, thermal exergy efficiency, receiver exergy factor, and electrical exergy efficiency, was the cubical cavity (i.e., cavity depth equal to the side length of the cavity) with the smallest tube diameter.

Keywords: exergy analysis; tubular cavity receivers; solar ORC; organic Rankine cycle; solar energy; solar power; modelling; solar irradiation; cavity receiver depth; inner cavity tube diameter; exergetic performance; receiver exergy rate; thermal exergy efficiency; receiver exergy factor; electrical exergy efficiency.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2017.083011

International Journal of Exergy, 2017 Vol.22 No.2, pp.103 - 124

Received: 23 Jul 2016
Accepted: 03 Oct 2016
Published online: 17 Mar 2017 *

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