Validation of an Organic Rankine Cycle Simulation Tool against European Stationary Cycle Test Modes

The development of experimental ORC systems is an extremely complex, time consuming and costly task. Running a range of experiments on a number of different component configurations may be prohibitively expensive and subject to equipment issues and failures. Yet ORC systems offer significant potential for automotive manufacturers to improve vehicle efficiency, reduce fuel consumption and vehicle emissions; the technology is particularly relevant for those involved in the design and/or manufacture of heavy duty trucks. This paper is focused on the validation of a computational ORC system simulation tool against a number of SAE published test results based on the European Stationary Cycle. Such studies on industry standard systems are essential in order to help promote confidence in a virtual prototype approach. The results demonstrate that the variation in temperature across all of the simulations was never greater than 1.7% and the difference in inlet pressures were never greater than 1.26%. Larger discrepancies in predicted output power are observed, but are demonstrated to be due to the experimental result being based on electrical power as opposed to shaft work. The results demonstrate that the system modelling approach used is a viable tool for ORC system design and offers the potential for a more efficient, reduced risk and cost effective design cycle.