Renewable energy powered organic ranking cycle

This project studies the feasibility of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) driven by solar thermal energy for sustainable power generation for small and medium sized commercial usage. An experimental study on a solar parabolic trough collector(PTC) for the use in the Organic Rankine Cycle, (ORC) is also focused here. ORC is principally a conventional Rankine Cycle that uses organic compound as the working fluid instead of water and it is particularly suitable for low temperature applications. Appropriate organic compound includes refrigerants and azeotropes. The ORC and the solar collector are sized according to the solar flux distribution in Malaysia. The location of study is Kota Kinabalu, highest yearly average of solar radiation, and Chuping, longest yearly average solar duration in the country for year 2003. The power generation system consists of two cycles, the solar thermal cycle that harness solar energy and the power cycle, which is the ORC that generates electricity. The solar thermal cycle circulates heat transfer fluid (HTF) in the cycle and harness thermal energy from the sun and transfers it to the organic compound in the ORC via a heat exchanger. The parabolic trough collector in this study is 1 meter in length and it consists of a curved mirror that concentrates sunlight on a tube with a heat transfer fluid (HTF) inside that runs parallel in the focal line of the mirror. The HTF selected in this analysis is water which is done during the experimental study also Therminol 55 and Therminol VP3 for the parametric study which is currently used for commercial thermal applications. For this research, 2 organic compounds were analyzed, R123 and Isobutene. These two compounds are optimized for selection. The results produced from the experimental study on the parabolic trough collector, (PTC), showing the variation of absorber temperatures and the value of power generated in terms of the solar collector designed is presented

Solar thermal organic Rankine cycle as a renewable energy option

collector are sized according to the solar flux distribution in Malaysia. According to Malaysia Metrological Department, Kota Kinabalu has the highest yearly average of solar radiation in the country for year 2003, for this reason it is chosen for the location of study. The power generation system consists of two cycles, the solar thermal cycle that harness solar energy and the power cycle, which is the ORC that generates electricity. The solar thermal cycle circulates heat transfer fluid (HTF) in the cycle and harness thermal energy from the sun and transfers it to the organic compound in the ORC via a heat exchanger. Components in the power cycle or ORC include an ORC turbine for power generation, a condenser for heat rejection, a pump to increase the pressure and a heat exchanger. The HTF selected in this analysis is Therminol VP3, which is currently used for commercial solar thermal applications. For this research, 2 organic compounds were analyzed, R123 and isobutane. These two compounds are optimized for selection

Exergetic optimization of a flat plate solar collector design

It has been established that energy efficiency of a flat plate solar collector increases without extremum points with the flow rate and likewise the fluid outlet temperature increases with the collecting area. Thus, it provides no maximum points for the purpose of optimization of solar collector design. In contrast, exergy analysis presents various local points forhex = f(m,Ac), and with a global maximum point. Based on these findings, this paper further develops the exergy analysis of a flat plate solar collector by outlining the correlation between the exergy efficiency of a flat plate solar collector, hex ,with the outlet and inlet fluid temperature variation, ∆T, with respect to the influence of fluid flow rate, m , and collector area, Ac. In addition, the inter-relation between the fluid flow rate and the collector area is also examined as a ratio, R, where R = m/Ac , thus, giving hex = f(R) and DT = f(R) . From these evaluations, it seems that there is a precise value of R which will give the optimum operating mode for the solar collector, either with maximum exergy efficiency or maximum temperature variation, or both, for a fixed design specification. The value of R and the corresponding values of exergy efficiency and temperature variation are evaluated in this paper for Malaysia meteorological conditions

UTM-international networking in open learning unit development

In view of the identifiable need to provide focused support for education and training in sustainable development, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is collaborating with four other international institutions of higher learning on a project entitled Open Learning Provision for Postgraduate and Industrial training in Sustainable Technology. In Malaysia published policies for education and training on sustainability are still weak with most attention given to school curricula. The Dow Jones Sustainability Group index in 2004 gave a value of 5 for Malaysia as compared to 68 for the UK and 57 for Sweden. UTM is collaborating with institutions from the UK, Sweden, and the North and South of Philippines to address the lack of engineering curriculum development in sustainable technology. Funded by the European Commission under the Asia-Link Program, three open learning units are being developed which can support post-graduate courses in the engineering discipline as well as industrial training. This paper reports the planning and implementation involved, strengths and weaknesses, needs and constraints within the UTM systems