The re-use of low-grade waste heat has the potential to contribute significantly to a better energy efficiency of our economies. There is a resource of around 100 TWhr per year in this area in Europe alone. The technology development in this area is still ongoing. Organic Rankine Cycle systems are considered the most promising technology. However, a nearly forgotten technology, the condensing engine (CE), was recently re-discovered. CEs use water as working fluid, with an operating temperature of 100°C at atmospheric pressure. The water is evaporated, and then condensed in the engine, where the arising vacuum is employed to generate power. Condensing engines were built until the late 19th Century, and then disappeared. Results from tests conducted in 1885 with a 0.735 kW commercial engine showed a mechanical efficiency of 3.7%, with a second law efficiency of 24.7%. For comparison, four typical experimental studies of Organic Rankine Cycle systems with power ratings between 0.5 and 1.4 kW were reviewed. Their thermal efficiencies ranged from 4.2 to 6.8%. The ORC systems’ second law efficiencies ranged from 20 to 35%, with an average of 27.5%. The comparative analysis showed that the CE’s performance is comparable to modern systems. Theoretical work suggests that it has significant further development potential. The CE’s simplicity combined with good efficiency, the use of a very simple working fluid, reduced safety requirements and the development potential makes this a technology which can become important again.
| Published in | Applied Engineering (Volume 5, Issue 1) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15 |
| Page(s) | 7-13 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Condensing Engine, Thermal Efficiency, Second Law Efficiency, Waste Steam
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APA Style
Gerald Muller, Curtis Howell. (2021). Comparative Analysis of ORC and Condensing Heat Engines for Low Grade Waste Heat Recovery. Applied Engineering, 5(1), 7-13. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15
ACS Style
Gerald Muller; Curtis Howell. Comparative Analysis of ORC and Condensing Heat Engines for Low Grade Waste Heat Recovery. Appl. Eng. 2021, 5(1), 7-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15,
author = {Gerald Muller and Curtis Howell},
title = {Comparative Analysis of ORC and Condensing Heat Engines for Low Grade Waste Heat Recovery},
journal = {Applied Engineering},
volume = {5},
number = {1},
pages = {7-13},
doi = {10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ae.20210501.15},
abstract = {The re-use of low-grade waste heat has the potential to contribute significantly to a better energy efficiency of our economies. There is a resource of around 100 TWhr per year in this area in Europe alone. The technology development in this area is still ongoing. Organic Rankine Cycle systems are considered the most promising technology. However, a nearly forgotten technology, the condensing engine (CE), was recently re-discovered. CEs use water as working fluid, with an operating temperature of 100°C at atmospheric pressure. The water is evaporated, and then condensed in the engine, where the arising vacuum is employed to generate power. Condensing engines were built until the late 19th Century, and then disappeared. Results from tests conducted in 1885 with a 0.735 kW commercial engine showed a mechanical efficiency of 3.7%, with a second law efficiency of 24.7%. For comparison, four typical experimental studies of Organic Rankine Cycle systems with power ratings between 0.5 and 1.4 kW were reviewed. Their thermal efficiencies ranged from 4.2 to 6.8%. The ORC systems’ second law efficiencies ranged from 20 to 35%, with an average of 27.5%. The comparative analysis showed that the CE’s performance is comparable to modern systems. Theoretical work suggests that it has significant further development potential. The CE’s simplicity combined with good efficiency, the use of a very simple working fluid, reduced safety requirements and the development potential makes this a technology which can become important again.},
year = {2021}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Comparative Analysis of ORC and Condensing Heat Engines for Low Grade Waste Heat Recovery AU - Gerald Muller AU - Curtis Howell Y1 - 2021/04/26 PY - 2021 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15 T2 - Applied Engineering JF - Applied Engineering JO - Applied Engineering SP - 7 EP - 13 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2994-7456 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ae.20210501.15 AB - The re-use of low-grade waste heat has the potential to contribute significantly to a better energy efficiency of our economies. There is a resource of around 100 TWhr per year in this area in Europe alone. The technology development in this area is still ongoing. Organic Rankine Cycle systems are considered the most promising technology. However, a nearly forgotten technology, the condensing engine (CE), was recently re-discovered. CEs use water as working fluid, with an operating temperature of 100°C at atmospheric pressure. The water is evaporated, and then condensed in the engine, where the arising vacuum is employed to generate power. Condensing engines were built until the late 19th Century, and then disappeared. Results from tests conducted in 1885 with a 0.735 kW commercial engine showed a mechanical efficiency of 3.7%, with a second law efficiency of 24.7%. For comparison, four typical experimental studies of Organic Rankine Cycle systems with power ratings between 0.5 and 1.4 kW were reviewed. Their thermal efficiencies ranged from 4.2 to 6.8%. The ORC systems’ second law efficiencies ranged from 20 to 35%, with an average of 27.5%. The comparative analysis showed that the CE’s performance is comparable to modern systems. Theoretical work suggests that it has significant further development potential. The CE’s simplicity combined with good efficiency, the use of a very simple working fluid, reduced safety requirements and the development potential makes this a technology which can become important again. VL - 5 IS - 1 ER -
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