Assessment of a District Trigeneration Biomass Powered Double Organic Rankine Cycle as Primed Mover and Supported Cooling

• Main Authors: Muhammad Tauseef Nasir, Michael Chukwuemeka Ekwonu, Yoonseong Park, Javad Abolfazli Esfahani, Kyung Chun Kim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
• Series: Energies
• Subjects: organic Rankine cycle; vapor compression chillers; trigeneration; CCHP; biomass; renewable energy integration
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/4/1030

This study presents a combined cooling, heating, and power system powered by biogas, suitable for small scale communities in remote locations. To run such a system, in order to obtain the daily life essentials of electricity, hot water, and cooling, municipal waste can be considered as an option. Furthermore, the organic Rankine cycle part of the organic Rankine cycle powered vapor compression chiller can be used in times of need for additional electric production. The system comprises a medium temperature organic Rankine cycle utilizing M-xylene as its working fluid, and the cooling was covered by an Isobutane vapor compression cycle powered by an R245fa employing organic Rankine cycle. The system analyzed was designated to provide 250 kW of electricity. The energetic and exergetic analysis was performed, considering several system design parameters. The impact of the design parameters in the prime mover has a much greater effect on the whole system. The system proposed can deliver cooling values at the rate between 9.19 and 22 kW and heating values ranging from 879 up to 1255 kW, depending on the design parameter. Furthermore, the second law efficiency of the system was found to be approximately 56% at the baseline conditions and can be increased to 64.5%.