Academic literature on the topic 'Trilateral Flash Cycle'

The trilateral flash cycle shows a greater potentiality in moderate to low grade heat utilization systems due to its potentiality of obtaining high exergy efficiency, compared to the conventional thermodynamic cycles such as the organic Rankine cycles and the Kalina cycle. The main difference between the trilateral flash cycle and the conventional thermodynamic cycles is that the superheated vapor expansion process is replaced by the two-phase expansion process. The two-phase expansion process actually consists of a flashing of the inlet stream into a vapor and a liquid phase. Most simulations assume an equilibrium model with an instantaneous flashing. Yet, the experiments of pool flashing indicate that there is a flash evaporating rate. The mechanism of this process still remains unclear. In this paper, the flash evaporating rate is introduced into the model of the two-phase expansion process in the reciprocating expander with a cyclone separator. As such, the obtained results reveal the influence of evaporating rate on the efficiency of the two-phase expander.

This study examined the trilateral flash cycle characteristics (TFC) and partially evaporating cycle (PEC) using a low-grade heat source at 80 °C. The evaporation temperature and mass flow rate of the working fluids and the expander inlet’s quality were optimized through pinch point observation. This can help advance methods in determining the best design points and their operating conditions. The results indicated the partially evaporating cycle could solve the high-volume ratio problem without sacrificing the net power and thermal efficiency performance. When the system operation’s saturation temperature decreased by 10 °C, the net power, thermal efficiency, and volume ratio of the trilateral flash cycle system decreased by approximately 20%. Conversely, with the same operational conditions, the net power and thermal efficiency of the partially evaporating cycle system decreased by only approximately 3%; however, the volume ratio decreased by more than 50%. When the system operating temperature was under 63 °C, each fluid’s volume ratio could decrease to approximately 5. The problem of high excessive expansion would be solved from the features of the partially evaporating cycle, and it will keep the ideal power generation efficiency and improve expander manufacturing.

An experimental validation on laboratory scale has been conducted to investigate and to compare two thermodynamic cycles, Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC) and Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). The research covers the heat engine utilizing a hydrothermal resource to compare the performance of TFC and ORC. This research would help to analysis the thermal efficiency and power efficiency for both cycles. TFC shows a higher power production than in ORC for the same applied parameters. ORC, however, can be operated at lower rotational speed than for TFC. This project could help, also, to evaluate the current two phase screw expander for both cycles. It is concluded to propose a larger heat exchanger for TFC as the heat recovery can be more reliable in this cycle than in ORC. This research can be applied to generate electrical power from hydrothermal resources such as geothermal energy and solar thermal.

The world market for systems for power recovery from low-grade heat sources is of the order of £1 billion per annum. Many of these sources are hot liquids or gases from which conventional power systems convert less than 2.5 per cent of the available heat into useful power when the fluid is initially at a temperature of 100° C rising to 8–9 per cent at an initial temperature of 200°C. Consideration of the maximum work recoverable from such single-phase heat sources leads to the concept of an ideal trilateral cycle as the optimum means of power recovery. The trilateral flash cycle (TFC) system is one means of approaching this ideal which involves liquid heating only and two-phase expansion of vapour. Previous work related to this is reviewed and details of analytical studies are given which compare such a system with various types of simple Rankine cycle. It is shown that provided two-phase expanders can be made to attain adiabatic efficiencies of more than 75 per cent, the TFC system can produce outputs of up to 80 per cent more than simple Rankine cycle systems in the recovery of power from hot liquid streams in the 100–200°C temperature range. The estimated cost per unit net output is approximately equal to that of Rankine cycle systems. The preferred working fluids for TFC power plants are light hydrocarbons.

Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC) is particularly suitable for recovering energy from low-grade heat source. This paper presented a new mathematical model for calculating the performance of a twin screw expander integrated into a TFC working with organic components. The geometric parameters related to the rotation angle of male rotor e.g. groove volume, suction and discharge port area, leakage area etc were used in the model. The combination effects of internal leakage through five paths, oil injection, gas-oil heat transfer and refrigerant property were taken into account. The sensitivity of single parameter was also analyzed. To verify the model and the calculated p-φ indicator diagram, experimental recording of the diagram of twin screw expander was performed. The results of theoretical calculation were in good agreement with the experimental data, which indicated that the model in the present paper could be used as a powerful tool for performance prediction and product development.

"Cold energy" refers to a potential to generate power by utilizing the exergy of cryogenic systems, like Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), using it as the cold side of a thermodynamic cycle, while the hot side can be even on the ambient temperature. For this purpose, the cryogenic Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is one type of promising solution with comprehensive benefits to generate electricity. The performance of this cycle depends on the applied working fluid. This paper focuses on the applicability of some natural working fluids and analyzes their performance upon cold energy utilization in the LNG regasification system. An alternative method, the cryogenic Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC), is also presented here. The selection of working fluid is a multi-step process; the first step uses thermodynamic criteria, while the second one is addressing environmental and safety issues. It will be shown that in LNG regasification systems, single cryogenic ORC performs higher net output power and net efficiency compared to single cryogenic TFC. Propane as working fluid in the single cryogenic ORC generates the highest net output power and net efficiency. It is demonstrated, that concerning 26 novel LNG terminals, a net power output around 320 MW could be recovered from the cold energy by installing a simple cycle, namely a single-step cryogenic ORC unit using propane as working fluid.

Despite the current energy crisis, a large amount of low grade heat (below 100oC) is being wasted for the lack of cost effective energy conversion technology. In the case of the conventional Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) based geothermal power stations, only about 20% of available heat can be utilised due to a technological limitation as there is a phase change in the working fluid involved during the addition of heat which decreases utilisation effectiveness of the system. Therefore, in this paper, a trilateral flash cycle (TFC) based system has been studied to find out its prospect for utilizing more power from the same heat resources as the ORC. The TFC is a thermodynamic cycle that heats the working fluid as a saturated liquid from which it starts its expansion stage. The flash expansion is achieved by feeding the saturated high-pressured liquid working fluid through a convergent-divergent nozzle at which point it undergoes a flash expansion in the low-pressure environment of the generator housing. The momentum of the working fluid is extracted via a Pelton wheel and the cycle is completed with working fluid condensation and pressurisation. The analytical comparative study between the ORC and TFC based system shows that the TFC has about 50% more power generation capability and almost zero contribution on global warming.

The requirements for power generation systems have been reviewed together with the various energy sources available for them. Geothermal energy has been examined in more detail and the principal methods of recovering power from it which are currently employed are discussed. A novel method for improved power recovery from geothermal sources called the Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC) system is described which has the special requirement of an efficient two-phase expander. Optimum results are obtained from this cycle if a working fluid is used which leaves the expander as dry saturated vapour. A binary mixture of hydrocarbons was therefore sought which by variation of the constituent proportions, would satisfy this requirement for a range of inlet temperatures when the condensing temperature is constant. Methods of estimating mixture properties are reviewed and the chosen thermodynamic model, as well as a computational procedure for evaluation of vapour-liquid equilibria of organic binary mixtures at high pressures, are described. This is based on the Redlich-Kwong- Soave cubic equation of state. By this means a mixture of n-pentane and 2,2-dimethylpropane (neopentane) was found to be the most suitable for the TFC system for expander inlet temperatures between 150-180'C. Temperature-entropy (T-S) diagrams of this organic binary mixture were obtained for several compositions. Bubble and dew pressures of (n-pentane + 2,2-dimethylpropane) have been determined experimentally for five different compositions at six different temperatures, (333.15 K, 353.15 K, 373.15 K, 393.15 K, 413.15 K, and 433.15 K). Vapour pressures of pure n-pentane and pure neo-pentane were also determined at these temperatures. The critical point of neo-pentane was measured to assess the accuracy of the isothermal compression apparatus used. Theoretical predictions were found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements.

SummaryIn this study, the Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC) and the Partially Evaporating Cycle (PEC) have been analyzed and compared to the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for power production from low temperature heat sources. This study is a continuation of the work done in my project thesis fall 2013.The ORC is a well-known technology that is in use in several plants today. The TFC and PEC on the other hand are still in a state of technical development. The biggest challenge for the TFC and PEC is the required two-phase expansion. Lately, two-phase expanders with high efficiencies have been developed, which makes the TFC and PEC economically interesting.Currently, only a few studies on the TFC and PEC can be found, and most of them are theoretical considerations. All of these studies finds the TFC promising for low temperature heat sources, which was also the findings of my project thesis. The PEC is found to be promising for smaller systems where the working fluid pump efficiency is low.The TFCs main difference from the ORC is that the heating process ends at the boiling point of the working fluid, i.e. there is no evaporation and superheating. This leads to a better temperature match between the working fluid and the heat source, such that more heat can be transferred to the working fluid. Power is produced in a two-phase expander after the heating process. The cost pr. kWh for TFC systems have been estimated to be lower than for ORC systems due to the elimination of the evaporator, separator drum, gear box, lube oil system and the fact that simpler heat exchangers can be used.In the PEC, the working fluid is allowed to be partially evaporated during the heating process. This is done in an attempt to combine the advantages of the TFC and the ORC.The ORC, TFC and PEC have been simulated in a Microsoft Excel calculation tool, using Visual Basic for Applications. The simulations include detailed heat exchanger models to calculate heat transfer coefficients and pressure losses, and two-phase expander efficiency models for the TFC and PEC. The three cycles have been simulated and optimized for maximum net power production for three cases using different heat source temperatures. Air with a mass flow of 10 kg/s and temperatures of 100, 150 and 200 °C are used for Case I, Case II and Case III respectively. Water at 20 °C is used as the heat sink. The three cases are simulated with eight different working fluids, R123, R134a, R245fa, R1234ze(E), butane, pentane, isopentane and propane with maximum heat exchanger areas of 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500, 3000, 3500 and 4000 m2. Different performance parameters are calculated and used to compare the performance of the ORC, TFC and PEC, and the different working fluids. The results show that the TFC has the lowest power production for all cases, and the largest estimated system size. Both the total heat exchanger area and expander outlet volume flow are generally higher for the TFC systems, especially for the lower heat source temperature cases. For the 100 °C and 150 °C cases the power production for the TFC and ORC is in the same range. Since TFC systems are estimated to have a lower cost than ORC systems, they can be suitable for systems with heat sources in this range when system size is not a critical factor. The PEC does not show any advantage over the ORC for the cases analyzed here. This study shows less promising results for the TFC than my project thesis and other published studies. This is mainly due to the variable two-phase expander efficiency used here, and that none of the other studies considers pressure losses in the system or calculation of heat transfer coefficients for each working fluid.A scientific paper on the main results from the study before the simulation of the PEC and inclusion of the heat exchanger models is given in Appendix C. This paper has been submitted to the journal Energy. A scientific paper on the final results of the study is given in Appendix D. This paper has been submitted to the Gustav Lorentzen Conference.

There has been renewed significance for innovative energy conversion technologies, particularly the heat recovery-to-power technologies for sustainable power generation from renewable energies and waste heat. This is due to the increasing concern over high demand for electricity, energy shortage, global warming and thermal pollution. Among the innovative heat recovery-to- power technologies, the proposed trilateral flash cycle (TFC) is a promising option, which presents a great potential for development. Unlike the Rankine cycles, the TFC starts the working fluid expansion from the saturated liquid condition rather than the saturated, superheated or supercritical vapour phase, bypassing the isothermal boiling phase. The challenges associated with the need to establish system design basis and facilitate system configuration design-supporting analysis from proof-of-concept towards a market-ready TFC technology are significant. Thus, there is a great need for research to improve the understanding of its operation, behaviour and performance. The objective of this study is to develop and establish simulation tools of the TFCs for improving the understanding of their operation, physics of performance metrics and to evaluate novel system configurations for low-grade heat recovery-to-power generation. This study examined modelling and process simulation of the TFC engines in order to evaluate their performance metrics, predictions for guiding system design and parameters estimations. A detailed thermodynamic analysis, performance optimization and parametric analysis of the cycles were conducted, and their optimized performance metrics compared. These were aimed at evaluating the effects of the key parameters on system performances and to improve the understanding of the performance behaviour. Four distinct system configurations of the TFC, comprising the simple TFC, TFC with IHE, reheat TFC and TFC with feed fluid-heating (or regenerative TFC) were examined. Steady-state steady-flow models of the TFC power plants, corresponding to their thermodynamic processes were thermodynamically modelled and implemented using engineering equation solver (ESS). These models were used to determine the optimum synthesis/ design parameters of the cycles and to evaluate their performance metrics, at the subcritical operating conditions and design criteria. Thus, they can be valuable tools in the preliminary prototype system design of the power plants. The results depict that the thermal efficiencies of the simple TFC, TFC with IHE, reheat TFC and regenerative TFC employing n-pentane are 11.85 - 21.97%, 12.32 - 23.91%, 11.86 - 22.07% and 12.01 - 22.9% respectively over the cycle high temperature limit of 393 - 473 K. These suggest that the integration of an IHE, fluid-feed heating and reheating in optimized design of the TFC engine enhanced the heat exchange efficiencies and system performances. The effects of varying the expander inlet pressure at the cycle high temperature and expander isentropic efficiency on performance metrics of the cycles were significant. They have assisted in selecting the optimum-operating limits for the maximum performance metrics. The thermal efficiencies of all the cycles increased as the inlet pressures increased from 2 - 3 MPa and increased as the expander isentropic efficiencies increased from 50 - 100%, while their exergy efficiencies increased. This is due to increased net work outputs that suggest optimal value of pressure ratios between the expander inlets and their outlets. A comprehensive evaluation depicted that the TFC with IHE attained the best performance metrics among the cycles. This is followed by the regenerative TFC whereas the simple TFC and reheat TFC have the lowest at the same subcritical operating conditions. The results presented show that the performance metrics of the cycles depend on the system configuration, and the operating conditions of the cycles, heat source and heat sink. The results also illustrate how system configuration design and sizing might be altered for improved performance and experimental measurements for preliminary prototype development.

Low grade heat (LGH) sources, here defined as below 80ºC, are one group of abundant energy sources that are under-utilised in the production of electricity. Industrial waste heat provides a convenient source of concentrated LGH, while solar ponds and geothermal resources are examples of sustainable sources of this energy. For a number of years RMIT has had two ongoing, parallel heat engine research projects aimed at the conversion of LGH into electricity. The Thermosyphon Rankine Engine (TSR) is a heat engine that uses water under considerable vacuum. The other research stream uses a hydrocarbon based working fluid in a heat engine employing the Trilateral Flash Cycle (TFC). The TSR Mk V was designed and built as a low cost heat engine for the conversion of LGH into electricity. Its main design advantages are its cost and the employment of only one moving part. Using the data gained from the experimental rig, deviations from the expected results (those derived theoretically) were explored to gain insight for further development. The results from the TSR rig were well below those expected from the design specifications. Although the experimental apparatus was able to process the required heat energy, the efficiency of conversion fell well below the expected 3% and was approximately 0.2%. The inefficiency was explained by a number of contributing factors, the major being form drag upon the rotor that contributed around 2/3 of the losses. Although this was the major cause of the power loss, other factors such as the interference with the rotor by the condensate on its return path contributed to the overall poor performance of the TSR Mk V. The RMIT TFC project came about from exploration of the available academic literature on the subject of LGH conversion. Early work by researchers into applying Carnot's theory to finite heat sources led them to explore the merits of sensible heat transfer combined with a cycle that passes a liquid (instead of a gas) though an expander. The results showed that it was theoretically possible to extract and convert more energy from a heat source of this type using this method than using any other alternative. This previous research was targeted at heat sources above 80ºC and so exploration of the theoretical and empirical results for sources below this temperature was needed. Computer models and an experimental rig using isopentane (with a 28ºC boiling point at atmospheric pressure) were produced to assess the outcomes of employing low temperature heat sources using a TFC. The experimental results from the TFC research proved promising with the efficiency of conversion ranging from 0.8% to 2.4%. Although s uch figures seem poor in isolation, it should be noted that the 2.4% efficiency represents an achievement of 47% of the theoretical ideal conversion efficiency in a rig that uses mainly off-the-shelf components. It also confirms that the TFC shows promise when applied to heat sources less than 80ºC.