Selection of Working fluid for the Organic Rankine Cycle to Utilize Low-Temperature Waste Heat

Low-grade heats are wasted even though an amount of their energy is huge. In the small and medium industrial complex sites, large amount of low-grade thermal energy generated during the manufacturing process is wasted if it is not used directly for building heating or air-conditioning. In order to utilize this waste thermal energy more efficiently, organic Rankine cycle (ORC) was adopted. The range of operating temperature of ORC was set to $60^{\circ}C$ from $30^{\circ}C$ applicable low-temperature waste heat. A study was conducted to select an appropriate organic working fluid based on these operating conditions. More than 60 working fluids were screened. Eleven working fluids were selected based on the requirements as working fluid for ORC such as environmentally friendly, safety, and good operation on the expander. Finally, six working fluids were selected by considering the operating temperature ranges. Then, a cycle analysis was conducted with these six working fluids. As a results, R-245fa and R-134a appeared as appropriate working fluids for ORC operating at low-temperature condition based on the system efficiency and the turbine output power.