Fluid-dynamic design and characterization of a mini-ORC turbine for laboratory experiments

Conference paper (2017)

Authors

M. Pini Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
C.M. de Servi Flemish Institute for Technological Research
M. Burigana Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
Juan S. Bahamonde Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
A. Rubino Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
S. Vitale Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
Piero Colonna Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
Research Group
Flight Performance and Propulsion (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2017 M. Pini, C.M. de Servi, M. Burigana, Juan S. Bahamonde, A. Rubino, S. Vitale, Piero Colonna
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.09.186
More Info
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Published Date

2017

Language

English

Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Flow Physics and Technology

Research Group

Flight Performance and Propulsion

Abstract

High temperature Organic Rankine Cycles power systems of low power capacity, i.e. 3-50 kWe, are receiving recognition for distributed and mobile energy generation applications. For this type of power plants, it is customary to adopt a radial-turbine as prime mover, essentially for their ability to cope with very large volumetric flow ratio with limited fluid-dynamic penalty. To date, the design of such turbines is based on design guidelines and loss models developed mainly for turbo-chargers, subsequently adapted by means of non-validated computational fluid-dynamic calculations. In the attempt to provide data sets for CFD validation and calibration of loss models, a mini-ORC radial inflow turbine delivering 10kW of mechanical power will be realized and tested in the Propulsion and Power Laboratory of TU-Delft. The fluid dynamic design and characterization of the machine is detailed in this paper. According to available models, the results indicate that the optimal layout of mini-ORC turbines can substantially differ from that of radial-inflow turbines utilized in more traditional applications, strengthening the need of experimental campaigns to support the conception of new design practices.