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Energy
EnergyProcedia 148 (2018) 384–391
Energy Procedia
Procedia 00
00 (2017)
(2018) 000–000
000–000
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www.elsevier.com/locate/procedia

73rd
73rd Conference
Conference of
of the
the Italian
Italian Thermal
Thermal Machines
Machines Engineering
Engineering Association
Association (ATI
(ATI 2018),
2018),
12–14 September 2018, Pisa, Italy
12–14 September 2018, Pisa, Italy

Performance
PerformanceThe 15th
73rd Conference
and
and operation
operation
International
of the
of
Symposium
Italian Thermal
micro-ORC
ofMachines
micro-ORC
on District energy
energy
Heating
Engineering andsystem
system using
(ATIusing
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Association 2018),
geothermal
12–14 September
geothermal heat sourceheat
2018, source
Pisa, Italy
Assessing the feasibility of using the heat demand-outdoor
Performance
Bianchi M.
temperature
a
a , and operation
Branchini
function
Bianchi M. , Branchini L. a
,
L. ,for
a De
a of A.
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long-term
De Pascale
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district
Melino F.
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Ottaviano
heat system
S.
demand
Ottaviano S.
a*
using
a*, Peretto
, Peretto A.
A.
a
a,
forecast ,
a b
Torricelli N
Na., Zampieri G.
a,b,c
geothermal
a
Torricelli
a
., heat source
Zampieri
b
G. b
c c
I. Andrić *,Università A. Pina
Università
a
a , P. Ferrão
di Bologna
di Bologna , J.del
– DIN, Viale
– DIN, Viale delFournier
Risorgimento.,
Risorgimento 2, B. Lacarrière
2, 40136,
40136,
Bologna, Italy , O. Le Corre
Bologna, Italy
a StarEngine S.r.l.
b
a – Via A. Volta 16, 37024,
a Arbizzano-Santa
a Maria (VR), Italy a*
aBianchi M. , Branchini
StarEngineL.
b
,
S.r.l. De
– ViaPascale
A. Volta 16, A.
37024,, Melino F.
Arbizzano-Santa , (VR), Italy S. , Peretto A.a,
Ottaviano
Maria
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research - Instituto Superior Técnico, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Veolia RechercheTorricelli
a b
c
b
N Avenue
& Innovation, 291 ., Zampieri G. 78520 Limay, France
Dreyfous Daniel,
Département Systèmes Énergétiques et Environnement - IMT Atlantique, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes, France
Abstract
a
Università di Bologna – DIN, Viale del Risorgimento 2, 40136, Bologna, Italy
Abstract StarEngine S.r.l. – Viaenergy
A. Volta
is 16, 37024, Arbizzano-Santa Mariasource
(VR), Italy
b
In the electricity production sector, geothermal considered a reliable energy because of its independence of
In the electricity production sector, geothermal energy is considered a reliable energy source because of its independence of
seasonal, climatic and geographical conditions. Low-temperature geothermal wells present a huge potential of exploitation, as the
seasonal, climatic and geographical conditions. Low-temperature geothermal wells present a huge potential of exploitation, as the
Abstract of binary cycles and the technological improvement in drilling make this heat source a competitive solution for
development
development of binary cycles and the technological improvement in drilling make this heat source a competitive solution for
electricity generated distribution and self-consumption. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is currently the best solution to convert
electricity
Abstract generated distribution and self-consumption. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is currently the best solution to convert
heat into electricity
District using loware
heating networks enthalpy
commonly heat sources.
addressed TheinORC technology
the literature asis already
one of the mature
mostand widespread
effective for medium
solutions and large-
for decreasing the
heat into
Ingreenhouse
thepower electricity
electricity using low enthalpy
production sector, heat sources.
geothermal The
energy ORC
is or technology
considered is already
a recovery
reliable mature
energy and
source widespread
because offoritsmedium and large-
independence of
scale plants, applyingfrom
gas emissions for geothermal,
the building solar, biomass
sector. These waste heat
systems require exploitation.
high investments Micro-scale
which ORC
are returned applications
through the are are
heat
scale
seasonal, power plants,
climatic applying for geothermal, solar, biomass or waste heat recovery exploitation. Micro-scale ORC applications
still not Due
sales. diffused inand
to the the geographical
market:climate
changed conditions.
the system layout,
conditions Low-temperature
the working
buildingfluid geothermal wells
selectionpolicies,
and the present
expandera huge potential
architecture of exploitation,
can significantly asvary
the
still not diffused
development of in the
binary market:
cycles the system
and the layout, and
technological the working
improvement
renovation
fluid selection
in drillingandmake
heat demand
the expander in the future
architecture
thisestablished
heat source
could decrease,
can significantly
a competitive solutionvaryfor
depending on
prolongingonthe the specific realization requirements, thus a standard configuration has not yet.
depending
electricity theinvestment
generated specific return period.
realization
distribution requirements, thusThe
andofself-consumption. a standard
Organic configuration
Rankine has(ORC)
Cycle not established
ispresented.
currently yet.the best solutionin toanalysis
convert
InThe thismain
paper, a
scopeparticular case
of this paper study
is to of a
assessmicro-ORC power
the feasibility system
ofsystem
using theusing a
heat geothermal well
demand – outdoor is temperature The application
function for heat demand
In this
heat intopaper, a particular
electricity case
usingfacility, study
low enthalpy aheat
micro-ORC
sources.and power
Theoperating
ORC using
technology a geothermal well isandpresented. The application in analysis
isforecast.
a plug-and-play
The ORC
district of Alvalade,currently installed
located in Lisbon (Portugal), poolis
in a was already
centre.
used asThea
mature
system
case study.
widespread
layout
The and thefor
districtmainmedium
is
and
components
consisted
large-
of are
665
is a plug-and-play
scale powerThe plants, ORC facility,
applying for currently
geothermal, installed
solar, and operating
biomass in a pool
or waste supplies centre.
heat recovery The system
exploitation. layout and
Micro-scale the main
ORC at components
applications are
are
described.
buildings that heat
vary source
in bothis a geothermal
construction well,
period which
and continuously
typology. Three weather(by pressure
scenarios difference)
(low, liquid
medium, water
high) anda temperature
three district
described.
still not The
diffused heat source is a geothermal well, which continuously supplies (by pressure difference) liquid water at a temperature
lower than 60 °C in to the market:
a binary the system
Rankine cycle layout,
working thewith
working
R134a. fluid
Theselection
ORC system and the expander
is driven by aarchitecture can significantly
prototypal radial-piston vary
expander
lower than 60scenarios
renovation
depending °C to a binary
were Rankine
developed cycle workingintermediate,
(shallow, withaR134a. The ORC
deep). To system
estimateis the
driven by aobtained
not error, prototypal
yet. heat radial-piston
demand values expanderwere
and adopts on an the specific
external-gear realization
feed pumprequirements, thus
and a recuperative standard
cycle. It isconfiguration
developed forhas working established
continuously, delivering the generated
Inand adopts
compared
this paper,an
with
aexternal-gear
results from
particular casefeed pump
astudy
dynamic
of aand
heata recuperative
demandpower
micro-ORC cycle.
model, It is
previously
system developed
using developed
a for working
geothermal andwell continuously,
validated
is by theThe
presented. delivering
authors.
application theingenerated
analysis
electricity directly into the grid. The facility is provided with temperature, pressure and electric power sensors for monitoring the
electricity
The resultsdirectly ORCinto the grid. only
The facility ischange
provided with temperature, pressure and electric bepower sensors forforsome
monitoring the
is
operation andshowed
a plug-and-play that
for a preliminary when
facility, weather
currently
evaluation installed
of the andisoperating
considered,
performance. The athe
in globalmargin
pool centre.ofThe
efficiency error couldlayout
ofsystem
expander acceptable
and and
feedthepump
main applications
components
and the ORC arenet
operation
(the error
described. have and
in for a
annual
The heat preliminary
demand evaluation
was lower of
than the
20%performance.
for all The
weather global efficiency
scenarios of
considered). expander
However,and feed
afterpump and
introducing the ORC net
renovation
efficiency beensource is a geothermal
evaluated at the regular well,working
which continuously
conditions ofsupplies (by pressure
the geothermal well,difference)
showing valuesliquid equal
water at to,arespectively,
temperature
efficiency
scenarios,
lower than have
the
60 °C been
error
to a evaluated
value
binary at
increased
Rankine the regular
up
cycle to working
59.5%
working withconditions
(depending
R134a. onTheof
the the geothermal
weather
ORC and
system is well,
renovation
driven showing
by a values
scenarios
prototypal equal
combination to,
radial-piston respectively,
considered).
expander
53 %, 41 % and 4.4 %.
53
and The%, 41 %an
adopts
value and 4.4 %.coefficient
ofexternal-gear
slope feed pumpincreasedand aon recuperative cycle. the
average within It isrange
developed for working
of 3.8% up to 8% continuously,
per decade,delivering the generated
that corresponds to the
electricity
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saverio.ottaviano2@unibo.it
an opensaverio.ottaviano2@unibo.it On the other hand, function intercept increased
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) for 7.8-12.7% per decade (depending on the
E-mail
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coupled and
Selection have been evaluated
scenarios).
peer-review valuesat
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© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
*This
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is an open author.
Corresponding
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accessTel.:
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the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
0512093320.
responsibility
by Elsevier Ltd. of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines
Selection
E-mail address:and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines
saverio.ottaviano2@unibo.it
Engineering
Peer-review Association
under (ATI 2018).
responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
Engineering Association (ATI 2018).
Cooling.
© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines
1876-6102 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Engineering
1876-6102 Association
© 2018 (ATIPublished
The Authors. 2018). by Elsevier Ltd.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines Engineering
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines Engineering
Association (ATI 2018).
Association
1876-6102 (ATI 2018).
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
1876-6102 © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Peer-review
1876-6102 underThe
responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
This is an open accessAuthors.
© 2018 Published
article under the by
CCElsevier Ltd. license
BY-NC-ND (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
This is an open
Selection access articleunder
and peer-review under responsibility
the CC BY-NC-ND of thelicense (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines
Selection and Association
Engineering peer-review under
(ATI responsibility
2018). of the scientific committee of the 73rd Conference of the Italian Thermal Machines Engineering
Association (ATI 2018).
10.1016/j.egypro.2018.08.099
 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391 385
2 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

Keywords: micro-ORC; geothermal; low temperature heat sources; piston expander; experimental analysis.

1. Introduction

Geothermal source exploitation has been growing in the last decades, as the power installed worldwide almost doubled
between 1995 and 2015, with a total installed capacity currently close to 13 GW [1]. The use of geothermal energy
indeed, significantly reduces the emission of greenhouse gases and air pollutants, in addition to lowering the
consumption of fossil fuels. Considering the huge global amount of geothermal resources and the modest portion
already employed for heat and electricity production, the development of new and optimized systems for converting
low grade thermal power has great potential. Geothermal resources can be classified by the reservoir fluid temperature
level: high temperature reservoirs (T > 240 °C) are the most appropriate for electricity generation in industrial scale,
using the geothermal superheated vapour as working fluid to be expanded in the power turbine [2]. These plants can
be single or double flash cycles, or dry-steam, whether the reservoir is liquid or vapour dominated. Medium and low
grade geothermal power can be also recovered with binary cycles, with the further advantages of eliminating the
already low emissions and preventing damages to the turbine or to heat exchangers due to the impurities contained
within the geothermal water.
The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) has demonstrated to be the best solution for converting low temperature heat
sources in small scale power plant [3]. However, the small temperature difference between the hot source and the cold
sink of the cycle reduces the efficiency of such systems, comparing to traditional generation processes. The
performance achievable by an ORC system depend on several factors, including the temperature levels of the external
sources, the selection of the working fluid, the choice of the expansion machine and of the feed pump [4]. Focusing
on the expander selection, for systems with power output lower than 150 kW, the adoption of positive displacement
machines is usually preferable, due to the lower flow rates, the higher expansion ratio and the much lower rotating
speed than turbines. Most applied models are the scroll, the piston, the twin-screw and the vane expanders [5]. Systems
with an electric output lower than 20 kW, suitable for residential or small industry applications, are not frequent in
the market to the authors’ knowledge. Some installations have been realized by the French company Enogia, which
commercializes units of 10 kW and 20 kW, running with R245fa and suitable for heat source temperature between 80
°C and 120 °C. They adopt turbo-generators of a new design, declaring a cycle efficiency ranging between 5 % and 8
%, depending on the hot source and cold sink conditions [6]. Also the American company Electratherm is a specialist
in small scale ORC system. The smallest product they propose is an ORC unit suitable for heat source temperature
between 77 °C and 116 °C. It is rated for power output up to 35 kW, running with twin-screw expander and R245fa
as working fluid [7]. Other companies are Zuccato [8], with a smallest unit of 30 kW driven by radial turbine and
performing an 8.5 % of cycle efficiency, Infinity Turbine [9], that develops radial outflow turbines for micro-size
ORC (1-5 kW), and Orcan Energy [10], specialized in waste heat recovery with a power output between 20 kW and
100 kW.
This study is part of a collaboration of the University of Bologna with the company StarEngine Srl, which designed
and developed an ORC facility currently operating in a pool centre, which is presented in this work. The system uses
a geothermal liquid-dominated well as hot source, while the cold sink is the swimming pool heating circuit, and it is
rated for an electric power output up to 11 kW. The original features of the system under investigation are the
expansion machine, which is of reciprocating piston model (usually applied for high pressure ratio, due to the high
built-in volume ratio) and an external gear pump, both originally manufactured by StarEngine. Both expander and
pump are an upgrade of the machines already presented in other studies of the authors [11 - 12]. This paper aims to
point out the effectiveness and the potential of the system presented, that demonstrated a good performance and
reliability through two years of continuous operation at fixed and quasi-constant conditions.
386 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391
Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 3

Nomenclature Subscripts
BWR Back Work Ratio cond Condensation
η Efficiency el Electrical
FF Filling Factor exp Expander
h Enthalpy ev Evaporation
𝑚𝑚̇ Mass flow rate hy Hydraulic
N Rotational speed is Isentropic
ORC Organic Rankine Cycle m Measured
p Pressure pp Pump
𝑄𝑄̇ Thermal power suc Suction
ρ Density tar Target
T Temperature vol Volumetric
SH Superheating degree
V Displacement
𝑊𝑊̇ Power

2. System description

2.1. Power plant layout and components

The plant is composed by four separate circuits: the heat source supply loop, an intermediate hot water closed-loop,
the cold water circuit and the micro-ORC system fed with R134a, that is represented in Figure 1. The heat source
supply loop consists in a geothermal well (originally drilled for oil exploration), which supplies (by pressure
difference) liquid water at a barely constant temperature close to 65 °C, returning to the injection well at lower
temperature after transferring thermal power to the intermediate loop. A heat exchanger is interposed between the
geothermal water circuit and the hot water one, in order to avoid undesirable detritus depositions inside the ORC
evaporator. The hot water is pumped to the evaporator inlet at temperature ranging between 52-56 °C with a volume
flow rate of 22 m3/h, by means of a centrifugal pump, providing a thermal power input of about 55 kW. Into the cold
water circuit, a centrifugal pump circulates water at a temperature that varies between 16-23°C (depending on ambient
conditions), with an average volume flow rate of 25 m3/h.
The micro-ORC layout, shown in Figure 2, is composed by an evaporator, an expander, a condenser, a pump and a
recuperator, to recover residual heat from vapour after the expansion. The evaporator, the condenser and the
recuperator are three brazed-plate heat exchangers. The expander is a prototypal piston model, made of 4 radial
cylinders placed at 90°, with a total displacement equal to 800 cm3. The external surface of the expander has been
thermally insulated in order to reduce the heat losses to the ambient. The expander is directly coupled with a three-
phase asynchronous generator, which is rated for a nominal electric power of 11 kW. The generator is cooled by a
small fraction of working fluid flow rate, extracted from the expander inlet pipe. The connection to the electrical grid
is made through an inverter, which converts the generator frequency (related to the expander speed) to the electrical
grid frequency. Therefore, the expander rotational speed is released from the grid frequency and it can be imposed by
the user. A by-pass circuit was realized at the expander inlet, used during the cold start-up; it allows the fluid to flow
into the external case of the expander by-passing the cylinders, in order to achieve the appropriate conditions of
superheating at the start of the expansion, and at the same time to warm up the expander walls avoiding thermal
stresses. The ORC feed pump is an external gear pump with a total displacement equal to 264 cm3/rev, driven by a
three-phase motor controlled by a frequency inverter. Between the motor and the pump, a mechanical speed reducer
is interposed, with a reduction ratio of 3:1. The pump was designed with relatively high displacement for functioning
at very low rotational speed, in order to minimise mechanical losses. See Table 1 for more specifics about the main
components of the ORC system.
The power facility is provided with an embedded control system designed and customized by Siemens. The control
system acquires the signals from the sensors, activates the by-pass valves and regulates the pump inverter. It also
contains the rectifier for the electric power fed into the grid. The regulation can be handled in manual mode, in which
 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391 387
4 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

the motor frequency is set by the user to the desired value, or in automatic mode, in which the pump speed is adjusted
to reach and keep a target value of the superheating degree (which depends, at given superheating temperature, on the
evaporation pressure and thus on the flow rate of the organic fluid).

Table 1. Main specifics of ORC system components

Heat exchangers
Model ONDA S404 brazed plate type
Average Volume 28 l (evaporator); 28 l (condenser); 20 l (recuperator)
Expander
Architecture 4 radial pistons
Total displacement 800 cm3/rev
Lubrication Oil mixed with the working fluid
Generator 11 kW asynchronous three-phase generator
Feed pump
Model Prototype external gear pump
Total displacement 264 cm3/rev
Lubrication Oil mixed with the working fluid
Motor 3 kW three phase motor; speed reducer with 3:1
reduction ratio; rotating speed controlled by
frequency drive

VS

V2NA

Hot water intermediate loop V2'NA

VM 1

V1NC
Hot water IN
VM 2
7

Heat exchanger EVAPORATOR 2

3
EXPANDER
VM3
ORC circuit
Hot water OUT

8 1

VM5

Geothermal
RECUPERATOR
water Well 4 Cooling water OUT

Geothermal water loop 10

CONDENSER Cold water loop

Installed sensor 9
Temperature sensor
6 5 Cooling water IN
Pressure sensor
Figure 1. StarEngine micro-ORC installation Mass flow sensor
VM6

at the well site Manual valve

ME
Liquid
receiver
VM VM8 VM7

Normally closed/open valve

VNC/VNA
Pump

Figure 2. Micro-ORC system schematic layout

2.2. Automatic control logic

The automatic control system, acting on the pump motor inverter, adjusts the pump rotational speed and thus the
flow rate of the organic fluid, as the pump is of positive displacement type. In Figure 3 a schematic flow chart of the
automatic control logic implemented in the control unit is reported. It is based on the achievement of a target value of
superheating degree at the evaporator outlet. Thanks to the acquisition in real-time of the measurements of
388 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391
Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 5

superheating temperature (T 2 in Fig.2) and evaporation pressure, the control system calculates the corresponding
saturation temperature (Tev) and the superheating degree (SHm). The SHm measured value is compared to the target
(SHtar), then the inverter increases or reduces the pump speed to reduce the difference between the set point and the
measured superheating to zero. For example, if the measured value of superheating degree is higher than the target,
the pump speed rises, increasing the working fluid mass flow rate and the evaporation pressure, therefore reducing
the superheating degree at constant superheating temperature T 2. Equally, if SHm < SHtar, the inverter slows down the
pump to reduce the mass flow rate and consequently the evaporation pressure.

pev,m (i)

Tev,m (i) = Tsat (pev,m (i)) Legend:

m: measured
tar: target

SHm = T2,m - Tev,m (i)

Comparing
SHm & SHtar
If
SHm (i) SHtar

Yes
TARGET
ACHIEVED
No

If If
SHm (i) < SHtar SHm (i) > SHtar

Increase pump Reduce pump

speed speed

Increase mORC and Reduce mORC and

pev pev

Figure 3. Flow chart of the automatic control logic

2.3. On-board acquisition system

The ORC system under investigation is an industrial realization, provided only with sensors used for the control
operation and for the overall monitoring. This instrumentation includes a series of pressure sensors and thermocouples
along the ORC and the water external circuit. Pump and expander rotational speed are measured through rotary
encoders, while the electric power produced by the expander and absorbed by the pump are acquired by means of
voltage and current transducers embedded in the control system. The external circuits of hot and cold water have been
provided with thermocouples and volumetric flow meters. Pressure losses along the organic fluid circuit and through
the heat exchangers are neglected in this analysis. Since no flow meter is implemented in the ORC circuit, the mass
flow rate of the working fluid has been estimated using the pump displacement and rotating speed, as specified in the
next section.

Table 2. Installed sensors specifics

Measured variable Layout points (Fig. 2) Sensor Accuracy
ORC temperature 2, 4 Standard Pt100 class B ± 0.3 °C
ORC pressure 2, 4 Gauge manometer ± 1.6 %
Hot water temperature 7, 8 Certified Pt100 class 1/10 DIN ± 0.08 °C
Hot water flow rate 7 Ultrasonic flow meter ±1%
Cold water temperature 9 K-type thermocouple ± 1.5 °C
Pump and expander electric power - Voltage and current transducers ±2%

All the sensors are connected to the control system and the acquired values are displayed on the user interface, and
contextually stored in the system memory and available in real-time on the internet [13].
The thermodynamic library CoolProp is adopted in post-processing for the calculation of the physical properties of
the working fluid from the measurements of pressure and temperature as inputs. See Table 2 for more information
 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391 389
6 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

about the acquisition system specifics.

3. Operation and performance analysis

The data considered in this study have been collected over a long period (almost two years) of quasi stable heat
source conditions. In this analysis, a representative operating point of the average working conditions of the system is
presented. Hence, the system as well is controlled to work continuously at fixed operating point. This circumstance
should partially compensate the uncertainty on measurements and on performance evaluation due to the lack of
instrumentation implemented.
A geothermal water temperature constant value was observed during the operations, while only the corresponding
flow rate presents very small variations. On the intermediate hot source circuit, the water flow rate is kept at 6.0 l/s
by the centrifugal pump, supplying the evaporator with an inlet temperature of 54.2 °C. A cold water flow rate of 7.0
l/s is fed to the condenser with an inlet temperature around 16 °C. On ORC side, the expander inlet temperature (i.e.
the maximum temperature of the cycle) is of 51.8 °C. The evaporation pressure, acquired at the expander inlet, is 12.7
bar, corresponding to an evaporation temperature of 48.5 °C. This value, for a given superheating temperature T 2, is
implicitly set by the control system, since it regulates the pump speed to achieve the pressure value that gives the
superheating degree target. The latter was set to 3.5 °C, considered an optimum value on the basis of previous
experimental analysis conducted on the prototype system. These conditions lead to a regulation of the pump rotating
speed around 65 rpm. For the pump absorbed electric power, a stable value of 0.45 kW is observed. The expander
output is 2.8 kW at a rotational speed around 700 rpm, set by the inverter. See Table 3 for more details on operating
variables. The estimation of the mass flow rate of the organic fluid, required for the evaluation of the efficiency of the
overall system and of its components, can be obtained through the computation of the volumetric flow rate sucked by
the pump, using the pump displacement and its rotational speed, according to Eq. 1.
𝑚𝑚̇𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 = 𝑉𝑉𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 ∙ 𝑁𝑁𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 ∙ 𝜌𝜌5 ∙ 𝜂𝜂𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣𝑣 (1)
where Vpp, Npp, are, respectively, the displacement and the rotating speed of the pump, ρ 5 is the density value
calculated at the pump suction, while ηvol is its volumetric efficiency, namely the ratio of the actual flow rate processed
by the pump and the theoretical value. The latter has been assumed equal to 92 %, according to previous experiments
conducted by the manufacturer. Under these assumptions, the mass flow rate results 0.32 kg/s for the considered
working condition. Once the 𝑚𝑚̇𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 value is determined, the proposed performance indexes can be evaluated for the
expander, for the pump and for the overall cycle. For the expander, the global efficiency (𝜂𝜂𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 ) and the filling factor
(FF) are evaluated through Eq. 4 and Eq. 5.
𝑊𝑊̇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑚𝑚̇𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂
𝜂𝜂𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 = (4) 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 = (5)
𝑚𝑚̇𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 ∙(ℎ2 −ℎ3,𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ) 𝜌𝜌2 ∙𝑁𝑁𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 ∙𝑉𝑉𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒

While for the pump, the global efficiency (𝜂𝜂𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 ) has the following expression:
𝑊𝑊̇𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝,ℎ𝑦𝑦 𝑚𝑚̇𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 ∙(𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 −𝑝𝑝𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐𝑐 )
𝜂𝜂𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 = = (6)
𝑊𝑊̇𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝜌𝜌5 ∙𝑊𝑊̇𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒

Finally, the overall cycle performances are computed with the net cycle efficiency (𝜂𝜂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 , Eq. 7) and the back work
ratio (BWR, Eq. 8), defined as the pump consumed power (𝑊𝑊̇𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 ) divided by the expander power output (𝑊𝑊̇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 ),
which expresses the impact of the auxiliary system on the cycle performance.
𝑊𝑊̇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 −𝑊𝑊̇𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑊𝑊̇𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
𝜂𝜂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 = (7) 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 = (8)
𝑄𝑄̇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑊𝑊̇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒,𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒

It must be pointed out that the quantity 𝑄𝑄̇𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 in the denominator refers to the thermal power evaluated at water side,
since no temperature is acquired at the evaporator inlet on ORC side.
Table 4 collects the performance results obtained thanks to the mass flow rate estimation described above. An
expander efficiency close to 53 % was observed, with a filling factor of 0.78. The consumption of the pump is 0.45
kWel, with a pump global efficiency close to 41 %. This value is close to the average efficiency of about 50 % estimated
by Landelle et al. in their review on small scale ORC pump performance [14]. A back work ratio (BWR) around 16
% was observed, in line with the ranges expected for R134a as working fluid in subcritical cycle [4]. Finally, the cycle
390 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391
Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 7

efficiency achieves the 4.4 %, net of the auxiliary electric consumption.

Table 3. Averaged data measured on regular operating conditions Table 4. Performance calculated at the regular operating point

Physical quantity Symbol Value Performance index Symbol Value

Hot water inlet temperature [°C] T7 54.2 Expander efficiency [%] 𝜂𝜂𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 52.7
Hot water outlet temperature [°C] T8 52.2 Expander filling factor [-] 𝐹𝐹𝐹𝐹 0.78
Cold water inlet temperature [°C] T9 16.0 Pump efficiency [%] 𝜂𝜂𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝 40.7
Expander inlet temperature [°C] T2 51.8 ORC net efficiency [%] 𝜂𝜂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂𝑂 4.4
Evaporation pressure [bar] pev 12.7 Back work ratio [%] 𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵𝐵 16.1
Condensation pressure [bar] pcond 5.7
Superheating degree target [°C] SHtar 3.5
Superheating degree measurement [°C] SHm 3.5
Pump rotational speed [rpm] Npp 64
Expander rotational speed [rpm] Nexp 700

In Figure 4 the thermodynamic cycle is reconstructed from the experimental data in temperature-entropy diagram.
The expander outlet thermodynamic state (whose temperature is not measured) was determined using the CoolProp
library from the expander global efficiency, assuming a thermal to electric conversion efficiency equal to 0.8. Figure
5 reports the energy fluxes in a Sankey diagram: from the ideal power available at the expander, major losses are
represented by the irreversibilities and by the electro-mechanical conversion losses. The latter contribution, with
respect to the isentropic to adiabatic energy losses, could have been underestimated since the generator is rather
oversized (11 kW of nominal power).
Considering the very small difference between evaporation and condensation temperature levels, this system appears
to be very competitive compared to state-of-the-art micro-scale ORC systems. As future step, it could be interesting
to test the ORC system under higher temperatures of hot source, in order to achieve better performance working with
larger pressure ratios. For this purpose, the power facility will be used in a test bench installed in Arbizzano (VR),
with a 700 kW oil boiler as heat source and a 650 kW compression chiller as cold sink, to investigate the whole range
of operating conditions. The acquisition system will be upgraded too, with the addition of temperature sensors at the
inlet and outlet of each ORC component, pressure sensors along the circuit and a mass flow meter, to achieve a full
characterization of the system and of its components.
Temperature [°C]

TO THE CONDENSER
100

THERMAL INPUT

80

48.07 kW
IRREVERSIBILITIES AND
60 53.72 kW ELECTRO-MECHIANICAL
hot water
2 LOSSES PUMP
ΔTSH=3.6°C ELECTRICAL POWER
1 2.85 kW
pev=12.7 bar
0.45 kW
40
5.65 kW (10.5%) 2.8 kW (5.2%) 2.35 kW (4.4%)
IDEAL POWER EXPANDER ORC
3 ELECTRICAL POWER NET POWER
6 pcond=5.7 bar PRODUCED
20 5 4

cold water
Figure 5. Sankey diagram for the ORC regular operating condition
0
1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2
Entropy [kJ/kgK]

Figure 4. T-s diagram for the ORC regular operating condition

 M. Bianchi et al. / Energy Procedia 148 (2018) 384–391 391
8 Author name / Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

4. Conclusion

In this paper, an innovative micro-Organic Rankine Cycle for low temperature heat recovery was presented. The
system was developed by the company StarEngine S.r.l. and it is installed and currently operating in a pool centre in
Goito. The facility operation has been monitoring for a continuous period of two years, demonstrating robustness and
good performance. The power plant is composed by three brazed-plate heat exchangers as evaporator, condenser and
recuperator of the Rankine cycle, a liquid receiver, an external gear pump and a radial piston expander. Both pump
and expander have been designed and manufactured by StarEngine, while other components are commercial product
chosen and assembled to create a plug-and-play power facility. The system is provided with a control panel customised
by Siemens for this application, which acquires the main experimental data for the monitoring and the controlling of
the operation. The installed sensors include two manometers for measuring pressure in evaporation and condensation
lines of the ORC circuit. The control logic is based on reducing to zero the difference between the set point of the
superheating degree and its measured value, adjusting the pump rotational speed thanks to a frequency inverter. The
thermodynamic cycle and the performance were evaluated at the regular operating condition, which is supplied with
a constant hot water flow rate at a temperature close to 55 °C, inducing an ORC superheating temperature of almost
52 °C. The cold sink temperature is rather constant around 16 °C, determining an ORC condensation temperature
close to 20 °C. Being all the boundary conditions quite constant, the system is set for working at fixed pump rotational
speed, for keeping the value of superheating degree equal the set point imposed in the control system. The gross power
output was about 2.8 kW for an expander rotational speed of 700 rpm. The pump measured consumption resulted
close to 450 W, which corresponds to about the 16 % of the gross produced power. The expander performances were
quantified through the filling factor and the global efficiency, which resulted 0.58 and 49.5 %, respectively. A pump
global efficiency equal to 43.3 % was obtained, with a volumetric efficiency close to 91 %. The cycle efficiency value
was 4.4 %, which is congruent with the state-of-the-art micro-scale ORC systems.

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