Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle

In this study, the performance of a helical coil heat exchanger operating at subcritical and supercritical conditions is analysed. The counter-current heat exchanger was specially designed to operate at a maximal pressure and temperature of 42 bar and 200 °C, respectively. The small-scale solar orga...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Marija Lazova, Alihan Kaya, Marijn Billiet, Steven Lecompte, Dimitris Manolakos, Michel De Paepe
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2017-05-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/619
_version_ 1798006768984391680
author Marija Lazova
Alihan Kaya
Marijn Billiet
Steven Lecompte
Dimitris Manolakos
Michel De Paepe
author_facet Marija Lazova
Alihan Kaya
Marijn Billiet
Steven Lecompte
Dimitris Manolakos
Michel De Paepe
author_sort Marija Lazova
collection DOAJ
description In this study, the performance of a helical coil heat exchanger operating at subcritical and supercritical conditions is analysed. The counter-current heat exchanger was specially designed to operate at a maximal pressure and temperature of 42 bar and 200 °C, respectively. The small-scale solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) installation has a net power output of 3 kWe. The first tests were done in a laboratory where an electrical heater was used instead of the concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (CPV/T) collectors. The inlet heating fluid temperature of the water was 95 °C. The effects of different parameters on the heat transfer rate in the heat exchanger were investigated. Particularly, the performance analysis was elaborated considering the changes of the mass flow rate of the working fluid (R-404A) in the range of 0.20–0.33 kg/s and the inlet pressure varying from 18 bar up to 41 bar. Hence, the variation of the heat flux was in the range of 5–9 kW/m2. The results show that the working fluid’s mass flow rate has significant influence on the heat transfer rate rather than the operational pressure. Furthermore, from the comparison between the experimental results with the heat transfer correlations from the literature, the experimental results fall within the uncertainty range for the supercritical analysis but there is a deviation of the investigated subcritical correlations.
first_indexed 2024-04-11T13:00:52Z
format Article
id doaj.art-c639b4c18d5b4344b70a40bf8f43e507
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1996-1073
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-11T13:00:52Z
publishDate 2017-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Energies
spelling doaj.art-c639b4c18d5b4344b70a40bf8f43e5072022-12-22T04:22:58ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732017-05-0110561910.3390/en10050619en10050619Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine CycleMarija Lazova0Alihan Kaya1Marijn Billiet2Steven Lecompte3Dimitris Manolakos4Michel De Paepe5Department of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent 9000, BelgiumDepartment of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent 9000, BelgiumDepartment of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent 9000, BelgiumDepartment of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent 9000, BelgiumDepartment of Natural Resources and Agricultural Engineering, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos Street 75, Athens 11855, GreeceDepartment of Flow, Heat and Combustion Mechanics, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 41, Ghent 9000, BelgiumIn this study, the performance of a helical coil heat exchanger operating at subcritical and supercritical conditions is analysed. The counter-current heat exchanger was specially designed to operate at a maximal pressure and temperature of 42 bar and 200 °C, respectively. The small-scale solar organic Rankine cycle (ORC) installation has a net power output of 3 kWe. The first tests were done in a laboratory where an electrical heater was used instead of the concentrated photovoltaic/thermal (CPV/T) collectors. The inlet heating fluid temperature of the water was 95 °C. The effects of different parameters on the heat transfer rate in the heat exchanger were investigated. Particularly, the performance analysis was elaborated considering the changes of the mass flow rate of the working fluid (R-404A) in the range of 0.20–0.33 kg/s and the inlet pressure varying from 18 bar up to 41 bar. Hence, the variation of the heat flux was in the range of 5–9 kW/m2. The results show that the working fluid’s mass flow rate has significant influence on the heat transfer rate rather than the operational pressure. Furthermore, from the comparison between the experimental results with the heat transfer correlations from the literature, the experimental results fall within the uncertainty range for the supercritical analysis but there is a deviation of the investigated subcritical correlations.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/619experimental researchhelical coil heat exchangerorganic Rankine cyclesubcriticalsupercriticalheat transfer
spellingShingle Marija Lazova
Alihan Kaya
Marijn Billiet
Steven Lecompte
Dimitris Manolakos
Michel De Paepe
Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle
Energies
experimental research
helical coil heat exchanger
organic Rankine cycle
subcritical
supercritical
heat transfer
title Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle
title_full Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle
title_fullStr Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle
title_full_unstemmed Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle
title_short Experimental Assessment of a Helical Coil Heat Exchanger Operating at Subcritical and Supercritical Conditions in a Small-Scale Solar Organic Rankine Cycle
title_sort experimental assessment of a helical coil heat exchanger operating at subcritical and supercritical conditions in a small scale solar organic rankine cycle
topic experimental research
helical coil heat exchanger
organic Rankine cycle
subcritical
supercritical
heat transfer
url http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/5/619
work_keys_str_mv AT marijalazova experimentalassessmentofahelicalcoilheatexchangeroperatingatsubcriticalandsupercriticalconditionsinasmallscalesolarorganicrankinecycle
AT alihankaya experimentalassessmentofahelicalcoilheatexchangeroperatingatsubcriticalandsupercriticalconditionsinasmallscalesolarorganicrankinecycle
AT marijnbilliet experimentalassessmentofahelicalcoilheatexchangeroperatingatsubcriticalandsupercriticalconditionsinasmallscalesolarorganicrankinecycle
AT stevenlecompte experimentalassessmentofahelicalcoilheatexchangeroperatingatsubcriticalandsupercriticalconditionsinasmallscalesolarorganicrankinecycle
AT dimitrismanolakos experimentalassessmentofahelicalcoilheatexchangeroperatingatsubcriticalandsupercriticalconditionsinasmallscalesolarorganicrankinecycle
AT micheldepaepe experimentalassessmentofahelicalcoilheatexchangeroperatingatsubcriticalandsupercriticalconditionsinasmallscalesolarorganicrankinecycle