Thermal Performance of Small Incinerator for Combined Heat and Power by Organic Rankine Cycle

Abstract

This research studied the thermal performance of a small incinerator at a combustion rate of 1 ton/day combined with heating production from three heating fluids of water, steam, and hot oil for electricity production using an organic Rankine cycle at an electrical power capacity of 20 kW_e. Computational fluid dynamics and mathematical modeling methods were used to evaluate the suitable working conditions of the cogeneration system of the three hot fluids. From the study results, the small incinerator at a heating capacity of approximately 240 kW could transfer heat into the hot fluid of water at a suitable temperature of 116.57 °C by using R-236ea at a maximum power efficiency of 7.58%. At the same time, the use of steam at a temperature of 143.25 °C for R-245ca showed a maximum power efficiency of 11.70%. In the case of hot oil, a suitable temperature of 189.61 °C for using R-141b was able to transfer heat at a maximum power efficiency of 14.19%.