Power Generation From Low- Temperature Heat Source

Abstract

The potential of low-temperature heat sources for power production has been discussed for decades. The diversity and availability of low-temperature heat sources makes it interesting for power production. The thermodynamic power cycle is one of the promising technologies to produce electricity from low-temperature heat sources. There are different working fluids to be used in a thermodynamic power cycle. Working fluid selection is essential for the performance of the power cycle. Over the last years, different working fluid screening criteria have been used. In broad speaking the screening criteria can be grouped as thermodynamic performance, component size requirement, economic performance, safety and environmental impact. Screening of working fluids at different heat source temperatures (80-200 °C) using thermodynamic performance (power output and exergy efficiency) and component size (heat exchanger and turbine) is investigated. It is found that the “best” working fluid depends on the criteria used and heat source temperature level.

Transcritical power cycles using carbon dioxide as a working fluid is studied to produce power at 100 °C. Carbon dioxide is an environmentally friendly refrigerant. The global warming potential of carbon dioxide is 1. Furthermore, because of its low critical temperature (31°C), carbon dioxide can operate in a transcritical power cycle for lower heat source temperatures. A transcritical configuration avoids the problem of pinching which otherwise would happened in subcritical power cycle. In the process, better temperature matching is achieved and more heat is extracted. Thermodynamic analysis of transcritical cycle is performed; it is found that there is an optimal operating pressure for highest net power output. The pump work is a sizable fraction of the work produced by the turbine. The effect of efficiency deterioration of the pump and the turbine is compared. When the transcritical power cycle is operating at lower pump efficiency, the effect of a decrease in pump efficiency is equivalent to a decrease in turbine efficiency. The thermodynamic analysis is coupled with a 1D mean line turbine design. Both axial and radial turbines are considered. The Ainely and Mathieson loss model is used in the 1D axial turbine designs. It is observed that the blade height is generally small; the reason being high operating pressure and low flow rate.

A novel approach to enhance the performance of low-temperature CO2 transcritical power cycles is investigated. From the thermodynamic analysis, it is observed that the pump work is significant and reduction of pump work will be translated to a gain in net power output. The mechanical driven pump is suggested to be replaced by a thermally driven pump. The working principle of thermally driven pump is by exploiting the phenomena in which the pressure of a closed vessel filled full with saturated liquid will rise when heated. A cascade of vessels is used to make the pressurizing process continuous. The time taken to pressurize is an important parameter for the performance of thermally driven pump. Pressurizing time depends on isochoric specific heat capacity of the working fluid, heat transfer coefficient, inlet conditions of heat source, tube diameter, and initial mass of the working fluid. When the pressurizing time is longer, more vessels are required to make the process continuous. It is shown that it possible to increase power output using a thermal driven pump, but additional equipments are required.

An example of a possible application is a low-temperature CO2 power cycle integrated with a post-combustion carbon dioxide capture plant. The heat rejected by lowtemperature streams in the capture plant is used as a heat sources for power generation. It is found that utilization of heat of the capture plant improves the performance of the overall process. It shows that low-temperature transcritical CO2 has a potential in different processes, carbon dioxide capture plant being an example