Preliminary design of the orchid

A facility for studying non-ideal compressible fluid dynamics and testing orc expanders

Conference paper (2016)

Authors

A.J. Head Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
C.M. de Servi Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
E.I.M. Casati Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
M. Pini Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
Piero Colonna Flight Performance and Propulsion - Aerospace Engineering
Research Group
Flight Performance and Propulsion (Aerospace Engineering) (TU Delft)
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Published Date

2016

Language

English

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Faculty

Aerospace Engineering

Department

Flow Physics and Technology

Research Group

Flight Performance and Propulsion

Abstract

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power systems are receiving increased recognition for the conversion of thermal energy when the source potential and/or its temperature are comparatively low. Mini-ORC units in the power output range of 350 kWe are actively studied for applications involving heat recovery from automotive engines and the exploitation of solar energy. Efficient expanders are the enabling components of such systems, and all the related developments are at the early research stage. Notably, no experimental gasdynamic data are available in the open literature concerning the fluids and flow conditions of interest for mini-ORC expanders. Therefore, all the performance estimation and the fluid dynamic design methodologies adopted in the field rely on non-validated tools. In order to bridge this gap, a new experimental facility capable of continuous operation is being designed and built at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. The Organic Rankine Cycle Hybrid Integrated Device (ORCHID) is a research facility resembling a state-of-Theart high-Temperature ORC system. It is flexible enough to treat different working fluids and operating conditions with the added benefit of two interchangeable Test Sections (TS's). The first TS is a supersonic nozzle with optical access whose purpose is to perform gas dynamic experiments on dense organic flows in order to validate numerical codes. The second TS is a test-bench for mini-ORC expanders of any configuration up to a power output of 100 kWe. This paper presents the preliminary design of the ORCHID setup, discussing how the required operational flexibility was attained. The envisaged experiments of the two TS's are also described.