Thermal energy storage

Solar energy

Rankine cycle

Working fluid

Exergy

Process engineering

Organic Rankine cycle

Engineering

Power (physics)

Environmental science

Mechanical engineering

Thermodynamics

Heat exchanger

Exergy efficiency

Organic chemistry

Thermal efficiency

Combustion

Thermal energy

Waste heat

Chemistry

Electrical engineering

Physics

Parabolic trough

Energy storage

Energy Conversion and Management

In this study, the optimal design and operation of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system driven by solar energy is investigated. A two-tank sensible thermal energy storage system is configured to overcome the intermittency of solar energy. A circulating fluid, also termed as heat transfer fluid (HTF) that connects the solar collector and the ORC system plays a critical role in this system. The mass flowrate of the HTF determines both the temperature of the HTF and the amount of heat absorbed from the solar collector. A simulation-based optimization model is developed in this work. Process simulation of the ORC is performed in Aspen HYSYS, and the mathematical models of the energy storage system and the parabolic trough collector are developed in Matlab. The optimal design of the system including the hot tank temperature, cold tank temperature, mass flowrate of the HTF, and operating conditions of the ORC are determined simultaneously based on the simulation-based optimization framework. The control strategy o...

Optimal design and operation of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system driven by solar energy with sensible thermal energy storage