Innovative design and performance analysis of a Static Shaft Wankel Expander for Micro-Scale Organic Rankine Cycles
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Micro-scale Organic Rankine Cycle (mORC) has the potential to used for exploiting low grade heat sources such as solar energy, wind energy and geothermal energy and waste heat from engine exhaust gases. New expanders are needed to develop an efficient and relatively cost effective mORC systems. SWE (Standard Wankel Expander) is a promising candidate for mORC since it has low weight to power ratio, noise, vibration and cost. Despite the advantages of SWE, the use of valves and their timing control act as a barrier to encourage interest for SWE. Static Shaft Wankel Expander (SSWE) is proposed and manufactured where no valves or valve gear are used since the rotating rotor itself opens and closes the inlet and exhaust ports in turn. This paper presents both a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and the results of an experimental study varied out on a SSWE prototype integrated into an mORC working with refrigerant 245fa. The CFD simulation of this novel expander is performed to investigate the flow dynamics performance including isentropic efficiency, and power output under various operational and geometrical parameters. Validation of the CFD models is carried out by comparing with experimental results showing 5% deviation. Experimental results showed that mORC with SSWE generated 834 W at 94 This paper first presents both a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and the results of an experimental study carried out on prototype of a SSWE integrated into an mORC working with refrigerant R245fa. The CFD simulation of this novel expander is performed to investigate the flow dynamics and aerodynamic performance including isentropic efficiency, and power consumption under varying operational and geometrical parameters. Validation of the CFD models is carried out by experiment within 5% error range. Experiment result show that SSWE generated 834 W 94°C and 9 bara and best isentropic efficiency is 81%.
Source: Energy Conversion and Management
Institutions: University of Birmingham, Politeknik Negeri Kupang
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,470
OpenAlex ID: W4405350926