Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

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Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/seta

Performance assessment and multi-objective optimization of an organic

Rankine cycles and vapor compression cycle based combined cooling,
heating, and power system
Muhammad Tauseef Nasir a, Michael Chukwuemeka Ekwonu a, Javad Abolfazli Esfahani a, b, *,
Kyung Chun Kim a, *
a
School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, South Korea
b
Mechanical Engineering Department & Center of Excellence on Modelling and Control Systems (CEMCS), Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 91775-11111 Mashhad,
Iran

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: In this study, a biomass powered combined cooling, heating, and power system based on the organic Rankine
Organic Rankine Cycle cycles and the vapor compression cycle has been presented for small scale developing and underdevelopment
Vapor compression chillers communities. The system consists of an M− Xylene organic Rankine cycle as the prime mover capable of
Trigeneration
delivering 100 kW of electricity. Meanwhile, Isobutane vapor compression chiller is powered by an R245fa
CCHP
organic Rankine cycle. This organic Rankine cycle is powered by the residual heat from the biomass fuel. The
Biomass
Renewable energy integration cooling and the heating capacities of the system, as well as the overall system exergy destruction rate and the
overall heat capacity of the heat exchangers were evaluated against the boiler and condenser saturation tem­
peratures of the organic Rankine cycles and the vapor compression chiller. The system can deliver as much as 30
kW of cooling and 528 kW of heating at various combinations of parameters. The multi-objective optimization
considering the Genetic Algorithm was also carried out. The system exergy destruction rate and the heat capacity
of the heat exchangers at the optimum point were found to be 177 kW and 15.11 kW/K, respectively.

purposes. Furthermore, the trigeneration systems can provide heating,

Introduction cooling, and electricity in the local district energy systems in a more
efficient manner [5]. Additionally, since the trigeneration is more effi­
The increasing energy demands owing to the rise of human popu­ cient, it significantly reduces the greenhouse gas emissions [6].
lation and the standards of living across the world, and global warming The prime mover of the trigeneration system is considered to be the
propelled several countries around the globe to enter into the Paris most vital part of the system [7]. The most common types of prime
Agreement in December 2015 [1]. To address the stringent conditions of movers for the thermally powered trigeneration systems are the internal
the Paris Agreement, that is to bound the global warming to 1.5 ◦ C in combustion engines, gas turbines, organic Rankine cycles, Stirling en­
comparison with the pre-industrial levels [1], drastic steps need to be gines, fuel cells, micro gas turbines, or steam turbines [8]. From these
taken in authors’ opinion. In such situations, renewable energy sources commonly employed prime movers, ORCs have the ability to use the
can be of great relief in resolving climate change [2]. Amongst the relatively lower temperature renewable energy sources [9]. The ORC is
renewable energy sources, biomass offers stable and relatively high heat just like an ordinary Rankine cycle that uses organic compounds as its
energy content than wind, solar, and hydro sources. However, this also working fluid in place of water. Since most of the organic compounds
does not have location limitations like geothermal energy sources [3,4]. have normal boiling points lesser than that of the water, this technology
Additionally, trigeneration, commonly known as the combined holds the capacity to generate electricity using heat from low temper­
cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) [5], can be used to harness the full ature heat sources [10]. Additionally, the organic compounds can be dry
potential of biomass renewable energy sources. This happens because or isentropic in case if their saturated vapor curve has a positive or an
trigeneration enables capturing the waste heat for heating and cooling infinite slope on the temperature-entropy diagram. Therefore, unlike

* Corresponding authors at: School of Mechanical Engineering, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, South Korea (K.C. Kim); Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, 91775-11111 Mashhad, Iran (J.A. Esfahani).
E-mail addresses: Abolfazl@um.ac.ir (J.A. Esfahani), kckim@pusan.ac.kr (K.C. Kim).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101457
Received 27 February 2021; Received in revised form 11 June 2021; Accepted 6 July 2021
Available online 15 July 2021
2213-1388/© 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Nomenclature LowORC, pump Low ORC pump

LowORC Low ORC
cP Specific heat, kJ/kg.K MedORC Medium ORC
Ed˙ Exergy of destruction, kW MedORC, boil Medium ORC boiler
H Specific Enthalpy, kJ/kg MedORC, cond Medium ORC condenser
LMTD Log Mean Temperature Difference, K MedORC, exp Medium ORC expander
ṁ Mass flowrate, kg/s MedORC, pump Medium ORC pump
Q̇ Heat transfer rate, kW tot Total
s Entropy, kJ/kgK VCC, cond VCC condenser
T Temperature, ◦ C VCC, exp VCC expander
UA Heat capacity of the heat exchangers, kW/K VCC, pump VCC pump
Ẇ Work transfer, kW VCC, throt VCC Throttling value

Subscripts Abbreviations
1, 2, 3, State numbers CCHP Combined Cooling Heating and Power
fg flue gases HTF Heat Transfer Fluid
LowORC, boil Low ORC boiler ORC Organic Rankine Cycle
LowORC, cond Low ORC condenser VCC Vapor Compression Cycle
LowORC, exp Low ORC expander

water, which exhibits a negative temperature-entropy slope on the the biomass was used to generate electricity; meanwhile, the heat
temperature-entropy diagram, these working fluids do not need super­ rejected from its condenser was used to provide heating and run an
heating. This adds to the cost reduction as the superheating heat ex­ R134a/DMF/He absorption chiller. From their evaluation, such a system
changers are reported to have a larger size because of their reduced heat can deliver power, heating, and cooling capacity of 1408 kWh, 3154
transfer coefficients [11]. Moreover, the vapor densities of the organic kWh, and 497 kWh, respectively, for a house having 100 m2 during
compounds are higher than that of the water, thereby resulting in lower summers. The system was declared to save around 3121.40 RMB and
pressure drop in some of the heat exchangers and a smaller expander 0.15 tons of CO2. Apart from it, Bellos et al. [16] carried out thermal,
size [11]. economic, and ecological evaluations of a system that used the parabolic
With such qualities of the ORC, several research studies with ORC as trough collectors and biomass powered ORC system. The system was
the prime mover of the biomass powered CCHP systems have been designed to generate electricity and power the VCC simultaneously.
carried out. In this regard, Jradi and Riffat [12] performed the experi­ From their evaluations considering the climatic conditions of Athens,
mental investigation of micro-scale biomass powered ORC primmed Greece, Toluene was found to be the best candidate for the ORC. At the
trigeneration system that used a liquid desiccant dehumidifier and an optimized point, the electricity production, low-temperature heating at
evaporative cooling system. The working fluid of the ORC was HFE7100, 50 ◦ C, high temperature heating at 150 ◦ C, and cooling capacity were
whereas the potassium formate (HCOOK) was used as the working fluid observed to be 8.20 kW, 7.91 kW, 5 kW, and 5 kW, respectively. The
for the liquid desiccant cooling system. The system was able to deliver yearly exergetic efficiency was reported to be around 21.77%, and the
electricity of 500 W, a cooling capacity of 6.5 kW, and heating of around payback period and yearly CO2 avoidance were around 5.13 years
9.6 kW, with an approximated exergetic efficiency of 84.4%. Addition­ and125 tons, respectively.
ally, Karellas and Braimakis [13] presented a system that used parabolic Furthermore, Huang et al. [17] determined the thermal and eco­
trough collectors and a biomass boiler to power an ORC that was used to nomic performance of a biomass powered regenerative R245fa ORC.
provide electricity and power the compressor of the VCC. The VCC The heat rejected by the ORC condenser in assistance with the biomass
subsystem was used for the cooling as well as the heating. The working boiler was also used to provide heating to the consumers and for running
fluid was shared in the ORC and the VCC unit. Three working fluid an absorption system. The trigeneration system proposed by them
candidates, R245fa, R152, and R134a were selected as the potential offered the thermal efficiency and the breakeven of 103 £/kWh
working fluid candidates. Taking R245fa as the working fluid candidate, respectively, and was reported to provide electricity, heating, and
with a thermal input of 50 kWth and a cooling rate of 5 kWth, the elec­ cooling of around 204 kW, 927 kW, and 226 kW, respectively. Besides,
tricity produced by the system was 1.42 kWe, and the heating output was Amirante et al. [18] conducted a thermal and economic analysis of a
53.5 kWth. The exergetic efficiency was found to be 7%, and for the biomass powered regenerative ORC. The working fluid of the regener­
Greek climatic conditions, the payback period was found to be seven ative ORC is MDM, and its rejected heat was used to power an absorption
years with an internal rate of return of 12%. chiller and provide heat to the users. Their system was reported to
Moreover, Navarro-Esbrí et al. [14] performed the thermal, eco­ deliver electricity, cooling, and heating at certain conditions of around
nomic, and ecological evaluations based on the commercial and exper­ 280 kW, 500 kW, and 1500 kW, respectively. Meanwhile, the energetic
imental evaluations. The working fluid for the ORC was R245fa. Some efficiencies for the combined heat and power and for the combined
part of the heat from the turbine outlet temperature prior to the cooling and power were around 31.2% and 71.8%, respectively.
condensation was used to power an absorption chiller, having the rated Whereas the economic analysis yielded a payback period of 6 years.
COP of 0.75. The heat rejected by the ORC was used for heating pur­ Apart from it, Ahmadi et al. [19] performed the thermal, economic, and
poses. The system was claimed to be capable of delivering 20,000 kWh ecological performance evaluation of a system that used the biomass
of electricity. The heating capacity and the cooling capacity of the sys­ powered n-octane regenerative ORC. In their case, the heat rejected by
tem was found to be 720,000 kWh and 156,000 kWh, respectively. The the ORC condenser was used to power a double effect LiBr-water ab­
economic analysis yielded the net cash flow and the CO2 reduction of sorption chiller. Some part of the electricity produced by the prime
approximately 28,380 € and 285610 kg, respectively. In addition to it, mover and heat rejected by the absorption chiller was used to produce
Wang et al. [15] performed the thermal, economic, and ecological fresh water from the seawater using the reverse osmosis process. In a
evaluation of a small scale CCHP system. The R245fa ORC powered by similar fashion, some part of the electricity produced by the ORC was

2
M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Fig. 1. Schematic of the proposed trigeneration system.

used for generating hydrogen electricity by the proton exchange elec­ conducted a thermal, economic, and environmental evaluation of a
trolyzer. At optimized conditions, the system was said to be able to system that contained an ejector cycle within an ORC, that used heat
provide electricity, cooling, and heating of approximately 307.1 kW, from solar and geothermal sources. From their multi-objective evalua­
1543 kW, and 1741 kW, respectively. Additionally, their system dis­ tion, R1234ze was reported to be the best in terms of environmental
played the exergetic efficiency, total cost rate of the system, and the CO2 impact rate, which was reported to be 36.82 Pts/h. Meanwhile, R423A
reduction at the optimized point, having the values of 32%, 362 $/h, and and R134a were reported to be the superior candidates from economic
364 kg/kWh, respectively. and thermal perspectives, respectively. With R423A showing a mini­
Al-Sulaiman et al. [20] performed the thermal evaluation of a mum total product cost rate of 4496 $/year, and R134a displaying the
biomass powered n-octane regenerative ORC. The heat at the expander exergetic efficiency of 4.194%. In another research on the same system,
outlet was used for providing the heat to the users and to power a single- Boyaghchi et al. [27] recommended R1234yf to give the minimum
effect LiBr-water absorption chiller. At the optimized point, the system product cost rate of 5267.91 $/year. Moreover, Bellos and Tzivanidis
was capable of delivering electricity, heating, and cooling of around 600 [28] reported for a similar system as mentioned in Refs. [26,27] re­
kW, 3750 kW, and 300 kW, respectively, with an exergetic efficiency of ported that such a system could provide the electrical power of around
27%. Additionally, Moukay and Rachek [21] conducted thermoeco­ 4.6 kW and cooling and heating provisions of approximately 7.1 kW and
nomic analysis of a concentrated parabolic collector and biomass pow­ 59.4 kW, respectively. In parallel, the energetic efficiency was found to
ered ORC primmed system. The heat rejected from the ORC condenser be around 11.26%, and the exergetic efficiency was found to be 87.39%.
was used for providing the domestic hot water and for the reverse Other than this, ORC powered vapor compression chiller (ORC-VCC)
osmosis process. The electricity from the prime mover was also used for was also used, as indicated in Refs. [13,16,29].
the reverse osmosis process and by the VCC. Considering the climatic Additionally, it was observed by the authors from the literature re­
conditions of Benguerir and Morocco and the needs of 40 households, view that there have been limited studies considering ORC as the prime
the exergetic efficiency was found to be 3.89%. While the maximum mover for a CCHP system for a relatively small-scale community.
electricity, cooling, and heating for the system was found to be 4.65 Furthermore, the studies performed to evaluate the trigeneration sys­
MWh/week, 1250 kWh/week, and 38 MWh, respectively. Other than tems considering the ORC-VCC in comparison to the absorption chiller
this, Nasir et al. [22] performed the thermal evaluation of a biomass are also very limited in authors’ knowledge. One of the major advan­
powered M− Xylene ORC system. The residual heat from the evaporator tages of using the ORC-VCC in comparison to the absorption chiller is
of the prime mover was used to power R245fa ORC-isobutane VCC. The that they can be used for electricity production when there exists lower
system could deliver maximum electricity, cooling, and heating of 250 cooling demand [10,30]. The research in this article is a push forward of
kW, 22 kW, and 1255 kW, respectively, displaying the exergetic effi­ one of the authors’ research [22]. To present the larger picture, the
ciency of 64.1%. Similarly, the application of the ORC as the prime overall exergy destruction and the total heat transfer capacity of all heat
mover for the only solar powered CCHP system can be sought from exchangers (UAtot) as the costing indicator were selected. The UAtot has
references [23–25]. been considered in the open literature [31,32] to represent the cost of
From the conducted literature review, it was noticed by the authors the heat exchangers, especially in the case when reliable correlations are
that usually the absorption refrigeration technologies were used in the not available. Additionally, the multi-objective optimization consid­
trigeneration system for providing the cooling utilities. Apart from it, in ering the overall exergy destruction and the UAtot as the objective
some instances, ejector refrigeration technologies have also been used functions has been performed in the present article. The scale selected
for cooling applications. In this regard, Boyaghchi and Chavoshi [26] for the analysis in this research is 100 kW. According to the works of Uris

3
M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Table 1 at state a, and exit at state b. Meanwhile, the hot gases raise the tem­
Properties of the working fluids [10,22,31,41]. perature of the HTF from the state d to state e. The HTF afterwards, boils
Working Critical Pressure Critical Temperature ODP GWP the ORC working fluid from state 1 to state 2 in the boiler of the medium
Fluid (kPa) (◦ C) temperature ORC. The vapor working fluid then expands through the
M− Xylene 3534.6 343.74 0 Very expander from state 2 to state 3, for generating electricity. Followed by
low which, the vapor enters the condenser and condenses from state 3 to
R245fa 3651.0 154.01 0 820 state 4. The working fluid then enters the pump at state 4, where its
Isobutane 3629.0 134.66 0 20 pressure is raised to state 1. At the same time, the district hot water
(DHW) stream coming from the district goes into the condenser at state f
and leaves it at the elevated temperature at state g.
The hot combustion gases of the biomass, after leaving the medium
ORC evaporator, enters the boiler of the lower ORC at state a, and leaves
it at state c. Meanwhile, in doing so, the flue gases boil the working fluid
from state 5 to the saturated vapor state at state 6. The working fluid
then enters the expander at state 6 and exit it at state 7. The working
fluid, exiting the expander at state 7 in a superheated state, then enters
the condenser at state 8. The heat given off by the condenser of the ORC
is used for raising the temperature of the DHW from the temperature at
state h to state i. The working fluid afterwards enters the pump at state 8,
where its pressure is raised as it leaves the pump at state 5.
The work from the R245fa ORC is used to power the VCC. The
cooling water from the district enters the evaporator of the VCC at state l
and exits from there at state m. In doing so, the working fluid in the
evaporator of the VCC vaporizes from state 9 to state 10. From there
onwards, the working fluid enters the compressor of the VCC from state
10 and leaves from there at state 11. The VCC working fluid then enters
the condenser, where it gets condensed to a saturated liquid state at state
12. During this condensation process, the rejected heat is used to elevate
the temperature of the DHW from the temperature at state j to state k.
Afterwards, the working fluid goes into the throttling valve at state 12
Fig. 2. The temperature-entropy diagram of the working fluids involved in the and exits it at a lower pressure at state 9.
present study.
Working fluid selection
et al. [33], for a community of 10,000 to 20,000 inhabitants, the size of a
biomass powered ORC trigeneration plant in the range 2 to 9 MWe is In the case for the heat source to be in the range of temperature like
sufficient, considering the Spanish climactic conditions. Therefore, the one considered for the prime-mover ORC in this study, Lai et al. [37]
deduced from their work, the range opted in this scheme may suffice for conducted the energetic and exergetic evaluation of several working
a relatively smaller scale community or segments of a large building. fluid candidates. The range of the heat source inlet temperature was
Moreover, both the vapor compression chiller (VCC) and the ORC are taken to be from 280 ◦ C to 350 ◦ C, and the power generated by the
relatively matured technologies [22]. Furthermore, ORC is claimed to power system to be 1 MW. From their evaluations, the cyclopentane was
offer lower maintenance costs, minimal required supervision, and found to be the most appropriate working fluid. Additionally, Shu et al.
greater equipment longevity. It can offer a relatively viable and [38] performed the thermal assessment of several Alkanes for using an
economical solution [34,35]. Thus, the proposed CCHP system is suit­ ORC for recovering high-temperature exhaust heat recovery of diesel
able for small scale communities such as buildings and remote locations. engines. Several thermal indicators including the thermal efficiency,
In authors’ opinion, such a system can also offer greater operational exergy destruction factor, turbine size indicators, total exergy destruc­
flexibility since the ORC part of the ORC-VCC can be used as an inde­ tion rate, turbine volume flow ratio, and net power output. From their
pendent power generating unit [10]. analysis, cyclohexane and cyclopentane were found to be the most
suitable working fluids. Apart from it, Aziz et al. [31] considered three
System description working fluid candidates, M− xylene form aromatic family, and decane,
and propyl cyclohexane from the alkanes family. They performed the
The schematic of the system is presented in Fig. 1. The system con­ multi-objected optimization considering the exergetic efficiency and the
sists of a prime mover ORC that is powered by biomass is responsible for total heat transfer capacity. From their evaluation, M− xylene was found
providing electricity and domestic water heating. Additionally, the flue to be the most feasible option. Therefore, considering the assessment
gases coming out of the evaporator of the prime-mover ORC is used to from combined thermal and economic indicators, M− xylene is opted as
power an ORC-VCC for providing cooling and domestic hot water. the working fluid for the present study.
The outlet gases from the biomass enters a heat exchanger at state a, In the present study, for the low temperature ORC R245fa was
having a temperature of 450 ◦ C, adopted from Aziz et al. [31]. To selected. For the heat source temperature, in this case, Lakew and Bol­
maintain the stable heat transfer, Therminol VP-1, as the heat transfer land [39] performed the thermal evaluation of several working fluids
fluid (HTF) is adopted, and the inlet temperature of the heat transfer and reported that R245fa provides the highest power output when the
fluid at the boiler entrance temperature is assumed to be 370 ◦ C, temperature range is from 160 ◦ C and 200 ◦ C. Furthermore, He et al.
adopted from Aziz et al. [31]. The heat source temperature in between [40] provided a theoretical formula for determining the optimal evap­
230 and 650 ◦ C, according to the United States Department of Energy orator temperature. From their evaluation, considering the maximum
Office of Scientific and Technical Information [36], is classified as the power output, appropriate cycle pressure, overall heat transfer capacity,
medium temperature energy source. The prime mover ORC or the me­ and expander size, R114, R245fa, R123, R601a, n-pentane, R141b, and
dium temperature ORC is fixed to providing 100 kW of electricity. R113 were claimed to be the best options. Additionally, Wang et al. [41]
Forwarded to which, the combustion gases enter the heat exchanger presented a thermal efficiency formula for the ideal ORC. They claimed

4
M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Table 2
The assumptions taken for the present study. Q̇MedORC,boil = ṁfg × cp × (Ta − Tb ) = ṁHTF × cp × (Te − Td )
Parameter Value Reference = ṁMedORC × (H2 − H1 ) (1)
Isentropic efficiency of medium temperature ORC expander 0.65 [31] The rate of exergy destruction in the boiler of the M− Xylene ORC is
Isentropic efficiency of medium temperature ORC pump 0.85 [31] evaluated from the following equation.
Isentropic efficiency of low temperature ORC expander 0.7 [43]
Isentropic efficiency of low temperature ORC pump 0.7 [43]
[ ] [ ]
Isentropic efficiency of VCC compressor 0.7 [43]
˙ MedORC,boil = − ṁMedORC *{T0 *(s2 − s1 ) } + ṁHTF *{T0 *(se − sd ) }
Ed
Specific heat of flue gases 1.2667 [44]
Specific heat of Therminol VP-1 2.44 [45] (2)
Temperature at states f, h, j 25 ◦ C [46]
Temperature at states g, i, k 55 ◦ C [46]
The UA value of the boiler of the M− Xylene ORC is given as
Temperature at states l 12 ◦ C [46]
Temperature at states m 7 ◦C [46]
Q̇MedORC,boil
UAMedORC,boil = (3)
Pinch point temperature difference in the boiler of 10 ◦ C [31] LMTDMedORC,boil
M− Xylene ORC
Pinch point temperature difference in the boiler of R245fa 5 ◦C [10] where log mean temperature difference (LMTD) defined mathemat­
ORC ically as:
Minimum pinch point temperature difference throughout 5 ◦C [10]
system [Te − T2 ] − [Td − T1 ]
LMTDMedORC,boil = [ ] (4)
Dead state temperature 25 ◦ C [47]
Dead state pressure 101 kPa [47] ln TTde −− TT21
M− Xylene ORC expander inlet degree of superheating 0 ◦C –
M− Xylene ORC pump inlet degree of subcooling 0 ◦C – The expander work output of the M− Xylene ORC is given as
R245fa ORC expander inlet degree of superheating 0 ◦C –
R245fa ORC pump inlet degree of subcooling 0 ◦C – Ẇ MedORC,exp = ṁMedORC × (H2 − H3 ) (5)
Isobutane VCC throttling valve inlet degree of subcooling 0 ◦C –
Isobutane VCC compressor outlet isentropic degree of 0 ◦C – The rate of exergy destruction in the M− Xylene ORC expander is
superheating determined from the following equation.
˙ MedORC,exp = ṁMedORC *[T0 *(s3 − s2 ) ]
Ed (6)
that Jacob number and the ratio of the evaporation and condenser
temperature have a strong effect on the thermal efficiency. From their The heat gained by the DHW stream from the condenser of the
evaluation, R245fa, neopentane, R600, and R245ca are most suitable for M− Xylene ORC is determined from the following equation.
the temperature range between around 172 ◦ C to 192 ◦ C. Apart from it, ( )
Q̇MedORC,cond = ṁMedORC × (H3 − H4 ) = ṁf × cp × Tg − Tf (7)
Wang et al. [42] conducted a thermal evaluation of nine working fluids
for engine exhaust gas recovery and recommended using R245fa and The exergy destruction in M− Xylene ORC condenser is given as
R245ca as the overall good candidates. In the highlights of the research [ ] [ ]
{ ( )}
mentioned above articles, R245fa was a typical working fluid showing ˙ MedORC,cond = ṁMedORC *{T0 *(s3 − s4 ) } − ṁf * T0 * sg − sf
Ed (8)
its presence. Therefore, R245fa was selected as the working fluid for the
bottoming ORC for the estimated temperature range of the heat source. The UA value of the condenser of the M− Xylene ORC is given as
Considering the working fluid selection for the VCC, Nasir and Kim
[10] conducted the thermal evaluation of appropriate working fluid for UAMedORC,cond =
Q̇MedORC,cond
(9)
a separated ORC powered VCC. R600a (Isobutane) was found to be the LMTDMedORC,cond
most suitable working fluid for the VCC sub-system. Additionally, Nasir Where,
et al. [32] performed the multi-objective optimization for selecting the [ ] [ ]
appropriate working fluid in the ORC-VCC, and found isobutane to be T3 − Tg − T4 − Tf
LMTDMedORC,cond = [ ] (10)
the ideal candidate under various considerations. Therefore, based on T − T
ln T34 − Tgf
their recommendations, isobutane was selected as the working fluid.
The properties of the working fluids involved in this study are pre­
The pump work input for the M− Xylene ORC is determined from the
sented in Table 1 below, and their temperature-entropy diagrams are
following equation.
shown in Fig. 2. In this study, all the working fluids are dry, that is, the
slope of their saturated vapor curve is positive. Further information Ẇ MedORC,pump = ṁMedORC × (H1 − H4 ) (11)
regarding the types of working fluid can be sought from Ref. [11].
Additionally, the critical temperatures as well as the latent heats of The rate of exergy destruction in the M− Xylene ORC is given as
vaporization/condensation can also be sought from Fig. 2. ˙ MedORC,pump = ṁMedORC *[T0 *(s1 − s4 ) ]
Ed (12)

Thermal modelling and analysis The heat transferred from the flue gases to the boiler of the R245fa
ORC is computed using the following equation.
Assumptions Q̇LowORC,evap = ṁfg × cp × (Tb − Tc ) = ṁLowORC × (H6 − H5 ) (13)

To perform the thermal and economic analysis, considering the Meanwhile, the corresponding exergy destruction is evaluated by the
steady state conditions, the assumptions taken with their references are following term.
presented in Table 2. [ ] [ ]
˙ LowORC,boil = − ṁLowORC *{T0 *(s6 − s5 ) } + ṁHTF *{T0 *(sb − sc ) }
Ed
Mathematical modelling (14)

The analysis was adopted from the Moran and Shapiro [48] and The UA value of the boiler of the R245fa ORC is given as
Ҫengel, M. Boles [49]. The heat delivered by the flue gases to the HTF
can be evaluated from the following equation.

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Table 3 Where,
Baseline parameters and their ranges for the parametric analysis.
[T10 − Tl ] − [T9 − Tm ]
Parameter Baseline Range LMTDVCC,evap = [ ] (28)
Values ln TT109 − − TTml
Boiler saturation temperature of M− Xylene ORC 330 ◦ C 325–335 ◦ C
Condenser Saturation temperature of M− Xylene 70 ◦ C 65–75 ◦ C The compressor work input is given by the following equation.
ORC
Boiler saturation temperature of R245fa ORC 130 ◦ C 125–135 ◦ C Ẇ VCC,comp = ṁVCC × (H11 − H10 ) = ṁLowORC × (H6 − H7 ) (29)
Condenser saturation temperature of R245fa ORC 70 ◦ C 65–75 ◦ C
Condenser saturation temperature of VCC 70 ◦ C 65–75 ◦ C The VCC compressor exergy destruction rate is determined by the
Evaporation temperature of the VCC 2 ◦C − 5–2 ◦ C following equation.
˙ VCC,comp = ṁVCC *[T0 *(s11 − s10 ) ]
Ed (30)
Q̇LowORC,boil
UALowORC,boil = (15) The heat given off by the VCC condenser, which is gained by the
LMTDLowORC,boil
respective DHW stream, is given as
Where, ( )
Q̇VCC,cond = ṁVCC × (H11 − H12 ) = ṁj × cp × Tk − Tj (31)
[Tb − T6 ] − [Tc − T5 ]
LMTDLowORC,boil = [ ] (16) The rate of the VCC condenser is given as
ln TTbc −− TT56 [ ] [ ]
{ ( )}
˙ VCC,cond = ṁVCC *{T0 *(s11 − s12 ) } − ṁj * T0 * sj − sk
Ed (32)
The R245fa ORC expander work output is given as
The UA value of the condenser of the Isobutane VCC is given as
Ẇ LowORC,exp = ṁLowORC × (H6 − H7 ) (17)
Q̇VCC,cond
The corresponding rate of exergy destruction is given as UAVCC,cond = (33)
LMTDVCC,cond
˙ LowORC,exp = ṁLowORC *[T0 *(s7 − s6 ) ]
Ed (18)
Where,
The heat given off by the condenser of the R245fa ORC, which is used [ ]
[Tk − T11 ] − Tj − T12
by the DHW stream is calculated using the following equation. LMTDVCC,cond = [ ] (34)
ln TTkj −− TT1211
Q̇LowORC,cond = ṁLowORC × (H7 − H8 ) = ṁh × cp × (Ti − Th ) (19)

The rate of exergy destruction of the R245fa ORC condenser is The throttling valve expansion for this case is determined from the
evaluated as following equation.
[ ] [ ]
˙ LowORC,cond = ṁLowORC *{T0 *(s7 − s8 ) } − ṁ20 *{T0 *(si − sh ) } H12 = H9 (35)
Ed (20)
The exergy destruction in the valve is computed using the following
The UA value of the condenser of the R245fa ORC is given as equation.

Q̇LowORC,cond ˙ VCC,throt = ṁVCC *[T0 *(s9 − s12 ) ]

Ed (36)
UALowORC,cond = (21)
LMTDLowORC,cond
The overall exergy destruction is mathematically given as
Where,
Edtot = ˙Ed
˙ MedORC,boil + Ed
˙ MedORC,exp + Ed
˙ MedORC,cond + Ed
˙ MedORC,pump
[T7 − Ti ] − [T8 − Th ] ˙ ˙ ˙ ˙ LowORC,pump
LMTDLowORC,cond = [ ] (22) + EdLowORC,boil + EdLowORC,exp + EdLowORC,cond + Ed
ln TT87−− TThi ˙ VCC,evap + Ed
+ Ed ˙ VCC,comp + Ed
˙ VCC,cond + Ed
˙ VCC,throt (37)

The overall heat transfer capacity is given as

The pump work input of the R245fa ORC is given as
UAtot = UAMedORC,boil + UAMedORC,cond + UALowORC,boil + UALowORC,cond
Ẇ LowORC,pump = ṁLowORC × (H5 − H8 ) (23)
+ UAVCC,evap + UAVCC,cond (38)
The rate of the exergy destruction in the pump is found by the
following equation.
Methodology
˙ LowORC,pump = ṁLowORC *[T0 *(s5 − s8 ) ]
Ed (24)

The heat absorbed by the evaporator as it cools the district cooling To carry out the analysis, an in-house code developed and validated
stream is determined by the following equation. in Ref. [22] was adopted. The code was developed using the MATLAB
programming language, and the state properties were evaluated using
Q̇VCC,evap = ṁVCC × (H10 − H9 ) = ṁ23 × cp × (Tl − Tm ) (25) REFPROP [50]. The code was validated against the results of Tchanche
et al. [51]. The developed code is generic in nature and can be modified
The VCC exergy destruction rate in the evaporator is found from the
accordingly. For the validation, the operational conditions of the
following equation.
Tchanche et al. [51] were used, those being the expander and pump
[ ] [ ]
˙ VCC,evap = − ṁVCC *{T0 *(s10 − s9 ) } + ṁl *{T0 *(sm − sl ) } isentropic efficiencies, electromechanical efficiency of the generator,
Ed (26)
heat source temperature, expander work output, condenser tempera­
ture, and ORC mass flowrates. Considering the working fluids, R134a,
The UA value of the evaporator of the Isobutane VCC is given as
R152a, Methanol, and ammonia, the ORC mass flowrates were mea­
Q̇VCC,evap sures. The errors were found to be in between 0 for the methanol to 1.95
UAVCC,evap = (27) for the R152a.
LMTDVCC,evap

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Table 4
Outcomes at the reference values.
Parameter Value

Cooling capacity, Qcool (kW) 27

Total heat provided by the system, Qdhw (kW) 503
Heat provided by the medium ORC, Qdhw1 (kW) 330
Heat provided by the low ORC, Qdhw2 (kW) 131
Heat provided by the isobutane, Qdhw3 (kW) 41.5
Medium ORC mass flowrate (kg/s) 0.572
Low ORC mass flowrate (kg/s) 0.744
VCC mass flowrate (kg/s) 0.138
Exergy destruction in the boiler of medium ORC, EdMedORC, boil (kW) 23.58
Exergy destruction in the boiler of the low ORC, EdLowORC, boil (kW) 5
Exergy destruction in the evaporator of the VCC, EdVCC, evap (kW) 66.84
Exergy destruction in the condenser of the medium ORC, EdMedORC, cond 41.31
(kW)
Exergy destruction in the condenser of the low ORC, EdLowORC, cond 10.64
(kW)
Exergy destruction in the condenser of the VCC, EdVCC, cond (kW) 39.23
Exergy destruction in the expander of the medium ORC, EdMedORC, exp 11.46
(kW)
Exergy destruction in the expander of the low ORC, EdLowORC, exp (kW) 4.44
Exergy destruction in the pump of the medium ORC, EdMedORC, pump 0.97
(kW)
Exergy destruction in the pump of the low ORC, EdLowORC, pump (kW) 0.40
Fig. 4. The exergy destruction rate vs. Medium ORC boiler/evaporation satu­
Exergy destruction in the compressor of the VCC, EdVCC, comp (kW) 19.93
ration temperature.
Exergy destruction in the throttling valve, EdVCC, thrott (kW) 3.03
Total exergy destruction (kW) 226.83
UA value of the boiler of medium ORC, UAMedORC, boil (kW/K) 6.38
UA value of the boiler of low ORC, UALowORC, boil (kW/K) 3.95
UA value of the condenser of low ORC, UAMedORC, cond (kW/K) 4.34
UA value of the condenser of low ORC, UALowORC, cond (kW/K) 3.59
UA value of the evaporator of low ORC, UAVCC, evap (kW/K) 1.14
UA value of the condenser of low ORC, UAVCC, cond (kW/K) 0.39
Total UA values (kW/K) 19.8

Fig. 5. The Heat Capacity vs. Medium ORC boiler/evaporation saturation

temperature.

approximately 503 kW and 27 kW. The highest exergy destruction rate

Fig. 3. Cooling, heating, exergetic efficiency, and overall heat transfer capacity was found in the evaporator of the VCC, having the value of 66.84 kW.
vs. Medium ORC boiler/evaporation saturation temperature. This was due to the relatively larger log mean temperature difference
values.
Results and discussion

The significance of different parameters on the performance of the Parametric analysis

system is presented and discussed in this section, and afterward, the
multi-objective optimization results are also mentioned. The results and In this section, the impact of the evaporation and condensation
outcomes considering the evaporation and condensation temperatures saturation temperatures of the M− Xylene ORC, the R245fa ORC, and the
of the two ORCs and the VCC are considered. The baseline conditions Isobutane ORC are presented. Other parameters such as the effect of the
and the range of parameters for the analysis are presented in the pinch points and the degrees of superheating or subcooling have been
following Table 3. neglected.
The behavior of the overall exergy destruction, total UA values,
delivered heating and cooling, exergy destruction of different compo­
Baseline results nents, and the UA values of all heat exchangers with respect to the in­
crease in the boiler saturation temperature of the M− Xylene ORC is
The outcomes considering the reference or baseline values are dis­ shown in Figs. 3–5. It can be observed from Fig. 3 that with the increase
played in Table 4. The heat and the cooling supplied to the district were in the boiler saturation temperature, the cooling value increases. It

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Fig. 6. Cooling, heating, exergetic efficiency, and overall heat transfer capacity
vs. Medium condenser saturation temperature.

Fig. 8. The heat transfer capacity vs. Medium ORC condensation saturation
temperature.

Fig. 9. Cooling, heating, exergetic efficiency, and overall heat transfer capacity
vs. Bottom ORC boiler/evaporation saturation temperature.
Fig. 7. The exergy destruction rate vs. Medium ORC condensation saturation
temperature.
above-mentioned trend of initially increasing the M− Xylene ORC boiler
saturation temperature till 333 ◦ C and then decreasing afterwards as the
happens because as we increase the boiler saturation temperature, the M− Xylene ORC temperature reaches 335 ◦ C. Similarly, the heating
mass flow rate of the M− Xylene ORC decreases from 0.577 kg/s to values also increases with an increase in the M− Xylene boiler saturation
0.569 kg/s, keeping the expander work output fixed at 100 kW. The temperature. It happens because of the higher M− Xylene expander
enthalpy difference in the boiler of the M− Xylene that is H1-H4, in­ outlet temperature, but more primarily due to the increase in the mass
creases from 744.45 kJ/kg to 746.79 kJ/kg for the expander inlet flowrates of the R245fa ORC and the VCC, as already mentioned above.
temperature of 325 ◦ C to 333 ◦ C and then decreases to 746.45 kJ/kg. Meanwhile, the overall exergy destruction increases to about 230 kW
The cumulative effect of the mass flow rate of M− Xylene ORC and the then decreases as we increase the M− Xylene ORC boiler saturation
enthalpy difference in the boiler of the M− Xylene ORC causes the heat temperature. This trend has been depicted in Fig. 3. The exergy
source outlet temperature to increase from around 176 ◦ C to 182 ◦ C for destruction rate in all the components of the M− Xylene ORC was
the M− Xylene boiler saturation temperature from 325 ◦ C to 333 ◦ C. observed in Fig. 4, to display nearly no effect with respect to saturation
Then, this decreases to 180 ◦ C when the M− Xylene boiler saturation temperature. A slight increasing and then decreasing trend was observed
temperature tends to 335 ◦ C. And in doing so, it causes the mass flow in the boiler of the M− Xylene ORC. But this trend was counter balanced
rate in the R245fa ORC to increase from 0.66 kg/s to 0.76 kg/s with by the slight decrease and the increasing trend of the exergy destruction
respect to the increment in the saturation temperatures of the M− Xylene in the expander of the M− Xylene ORC. In comparison, the exergy
ORC from 325 ◦ C to 333 ◦ C. But as the saturation temperature of the
destruction rates in the components of the R245fa ORC and the Isobu­
M− Xylene boiler saturation temperature reaches 335 ◦ C, the mass tane VCC showed a slight variation. Regarding the total UA values, the
flowrate of the R245fa ORC reaches 0.745 kg/s.
UA value of the boiler of the M− Xylene ORC increases from 6.26 kW/K
As the pinch point conditions and the saturation temperatures of to 6.7 kW/K, depicted in Fig. 5. This occurs primarily due to the incre­
R245fa ORC remain constant, the expander output increases, which in
ment in its LMTD values, which in turn happens because of the increase
turn causes the compressor work of the isobutane VCC to increase. In in the saturation pressure of the boiler and keeping the inlet temperature
this manner, the cooling capacity is increased, following the same
of the Therminol VP-1 constant. The condenser UA values remain nearly

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Fig. 12. Cooling, heating, exergetic efficiency, and overall heat transfer ca­
pacity vs. Bottom ORC boiler/evaporation saturation temperature.

Fig. 10. The exergy destruction rate vs. Bottom ORC boiler/evaporation satu­
ration temperature.

Fig. 13. The exergy destruction rate vs. Bottom ORC condensation saturation
temperature.

portrayed in Figs. 9–11. It is to state that as the R245fa ORC boiler

Fig. 11. The heat transfer capacity vs. Bottom ORC boiler/evaporation satu­ saturation temperature rises, the exergy destruction of the R245fa ORC
ration temperature.
expander and the exergy destruction in the VCC components rises, but
the effect in comparison to the M− Xylene ORC components is very
constant as the M− Xylene boiler temperature is increased. Meanwhile, limited. Whereas the cooling capacity, the heating capacity, and the
the UA values of the heat exchangers of the R245fa ORC and the total UA values largely remain relatively unaltered.
Isobutane VCC follow the same trend as shown by the overall system The impact of the performance indices as we change the condenser
cooling. saturation temperature of the R245fa ORC are shown in Figs. 12–14. As
The significance of the M− Xylene ORC condenser saturation tem­ the R245fa ORC condenser saturation temperature increases, the net
perature on the various performance indicators is depicted in Figs. 6–8. exergy destruction of the system decreases, and so does the cooling and
It can be noticed from the figure that the cooling capacity, the heating the heating capacity of the system. Whereas the decrement in the total
capacity, the overall exergy destruction rate, as well as the total UA UA values is insignificant. Although the exergy destruction rate of the
values, increases with the increase in the condenser saturation temper­ condenser increases, but the exergy destruction rate of the other com­
ature. This exergy destruction rapidly rises because of the vast increase ponents decreases significantly. The cooling capacity decreases because
in the temperature difference between the cooling media and the of the lesser amount of work provided by the expander of the R245fa
working fluid. The increase in the heating capacity is attributed to the ORC.
increase in the mass flow rate of the M− Xylene ORC. The UA values Meanwhile, the impact of varying the VCC saturation condensation
increases because of the noticeable difference in the LMTD values of the temperature on the performance indices are shown in Figs. 15–17. The
heat exchangers of the M− Xylene ORC and the R245fa ORC. overall exergy destruction rate of the system decreases, and so does the
Meanwhile, the effects of the performance indices because of the cooling and heating capacities. The major contributor to the decrease of
increment in the boiler saturation temperature of the R245fa ORC are

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Fig. 14. The heat transfer capacity vs. Bottom ORC condensation saturation
temperature.

Fig. 16. The exergy destruction rate vs. VCC Condenser Saturation
Temperature.

Fig. 15. Cooling, heating, exergetic efficiency, and overall heat transfer ca­
pacity vs. VCC Condenser Saturation Temperature.

the overall system exergy rate is the evaporator and the condensers of
the VCC.
The trends of the performance indices because of the variation in the Fig. 17. The heat transfer capacity vs. VCC Condenser Saturation Temperature.
VCC evaporation temperature are depicted in Figs. 18–20. The cooling
capacity decreases as we increase the VCC evaporator saturation tem­ [52]. Conventional optimization techniques are based on derivative
perature, whereas the overall exergy destruction increase, primarily methods of some amalgamated objective and sometimes lead to sub-
because of the increase in the LMTD values of the evaporator. The total optimal solutions [32]. Therefore, the utilization of the heuristic
UA values, in this case, were found to increase, but their increase was method of GA is much more suitable in this case. The information
insignificant. regarding the depths of the GA can be found in Ref. [52,53]. The pa­
rameters considered were taken as the ranges to carry out the optimi­
Optimization results zation in the GA, and the optimization of the GA was carried out in the
MATLAB. The parameters of the GA are presented in Table 5 and were
Owing to the non-linearity and the interdependent behavior of adopted from Ref. [32].
thermal equations involved in the thermal analysis, the utilization of the The pareto frontier is presented in Fig. 21 below, and the parameters
Genetic Algorithm (GA) was carried out considering the minimization of of the optimum point results after several repetitions are presented in
the overall exergy destruction rate and the UA values for the overall Table 6. From the obtained pareto frontier, the range of the UAtot and the
system. The smaller UA values are essential as they point towards the overall exergy destruction was observed to be very narrow. Therefore,
lower cost, but in the case of the small UA values, the LMTDs of the heat the system exergy rate of destruction at the optimum point was found to
exchangers involved in the system increase and cause a lot of exergy be 177 kW, and the overall heat capacity was found to be 15.11 kW/K.
destruction. Therefore, for the present study, the GA was applied. From the conducted literature review, the ranges of the exergetic
The concept of the GA was initially proposed by John Holland in the efficiencies for the biomass ORC primmed CCHP system was found to be
1960 s based on the inspirations from the Darwinian evolutionary theory

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Fig. 18. Cooling, heating, exergetic efficiency, and overall heat transfer ca­
pacity vs. VCC Evaporator Saturation Temperature.

Fig. 20. The heat transfer capacity vs. VCC Evaporator Saturation
Temperature.

Table 5
Genetic algorithm parameters [32].
Parameters Value

Population size 100

Maximum number of generations 500
Objective function tolerance 0.001
Cross over fraction 0.75
Mutation fraction 0.04
Selection process Tournament

Fig. 19. The exergy destruction rate, and overall heat transfer capacity vs. VCC
Evaporator Saturation Temperature.

between 4% and 71.8% for the relatively large-scale electricity pro­

duction, as presented in Table 7 with their references. At the optimized
point of the present system, considering the definitions of exergetic ef­
ficiencies adopted in ref. [22], this system for producing the 100 kW of
electricity, displayed the exergetic efficiency of 71.1%. Therefore, in the
Fig. 21. Pareto Frontier of the multi-objective optimization result.
authors’ opinion, this scheme utilizing the residual flue gases from the
prime mover M− Xylene ORC to power an R245fa ORC-Isobutane VCC
can deliver a viable and economically feasible option for the small-scale
Table 6
communities. Furthermore, by decoupling the ORC part of the ORC-VCC Parameters at the optimum point.
and using it as the cooling device, the operational flexibility of the
Parameter Value
overall CCHP system can be enhanced as the ORC system of the ORC-
VCC system can be used to provide electricity in case if the electricity The boiler saturation temperature of the M− Xylene ORC 325 ◦ C
demands become a priority [10]. The condenser saturation temperature of M− Xylene ORC 65 ◦ C
The boiler saturation temperature of R245fa ORC 134 ◦ C
The condenser saturation temperature of R245fa ORC 74 ◦ C
Conclusion The condenser saturation temperature of the VCC 73 ◦ C
The evaporator saturation temperature of the VCC − 2◦ C
The optimized exergy destruction rate of the CCHP system 177 kW
The study focused on the biomass powered ORC primmed CCHP
The optimized total UA values of the CCHP system 15.11 kW/K
system that used the ORC-VCC technology for the cooling. Parametric
analysis for the cooling, heating, overall exergy destruction, and the
total heat capacity of the heat exchangers was carried out considering

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M.T. Nasir et al. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments 47 (2021) 101457

Table 7
Overview of studies with biomass powered ORC primmed CCHP systems for relatively large scale.
Ref. Cooling Technology Heating Technology Reported Electricity, Cooling, and Reported Results
Heating Products

17 Absorption chiller ORC condenser Electricity = 204 kW; Cooling = 226 kW; Thermal Efficiency = 71.7%; Breakeven electricity selling price
Heating = 972 kW = 103 £/kWh
18 Absorption chiller ORC condenser Electricity = 280 kW; Cooling = 500 kW; Energetic Efficiency in CCP Mode = 71.8%; Energetic Efficiency
Heating = 1500 kW in CHP Modes = 31.2%; Payback Period = 6 years; Emission
Reduction = 1176 tons/year
19 Double effect ORC condenser At optimized point Electricity = 307 kW; Exergy Destruction = 3473 kW; Total Cost Rate of the System =
absorption chiller Cooling = 1543 kW; Heating = 1741 kW 362 $/h; Emission Reduction = 364 kg/kWh
20 Absorption chiller Heat from ORC expander At optimized point Electricity = 600 kW; Exergetic Efficiency = 27%
outlet Cooling = 300 kW; Heating = 3750 kW
21 Vapor compression ORC condenser Electricity = 4.65 MWh/week; Max. Overall Energetic Efficiency = 8.25%; Overall Exergetic
chiller Cooling = 1250 kWh/week; Max. Efficiency = 3.89%
Heating = 38 MWh
22 Vapor compression Condensers of the ORCs and Electricity = 250 kW; Max. Cooling = 22 Maximum Exergetic Efficiency = 64.5%
chiller the vapor compression chiller kW; Max. Heating = 1255 kW
Present Vapor compression Condensers of the ORCs and Electricity = 100 kW;Cooling = 30 kW; Optimum Exergetic Efficiency = 71.1%
system chiller the vapor compression chiller MaxHeating = 528 kW, Max

the saturation temperatures of the evaporators and the condensers. Supervision, Writing - review & editing. Kyung Chun Kim: Supervision,
Furthermore, the multi-objective optimization was also conducted Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing.
considering minimizing the exergy destruction rate and the heat ca­
pacity of the heat exchangers of the system.
From the analysis, it was observed that major improvements need to Declaration of Competing Interest
be done for the prime mover and the VCC part of the CCHP system.
Moreover, from the sensitivity analysis, it was observed that as the The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
M− Xylene ORC prime mover’s boiler saturation temperature was raised, interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the cooling capacity increase from 24 kW to 27 kW. Meanwhile, the the work reported in this paper.
maximum heating capacity of 506 kW could be attained at around
333 ◦ C. The overall exergy destruction and the heat capacity rate Acknowledgments
increased as we increased the boiler saturation temperature. For the case
of the M− Xylene ORC condenser saturation temperature, the cooling This work was supported by Brain Pool Program through the Na­
capacity increased from 24.8 kW to 29 kW, and the heating capacity tional Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of
increased from 479 kW to 528 kW. The exergy destruction rate as well as Science and ICT (NRF-2020H1D3A2A01104062). This research was also
the UA values increased with increasing the medium ORC condenser supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant,
saturation temperature. which is funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No.
For the R245fa ORC, the cooling increased from 26 kW to 28 kW, and 2020R1A5A8018822).
the heating capacity decreased from 505 kW to 501 kW as we increased
the R245fa ORC evaporator saturation temperature. The exergy References
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