Steady state and dynamic modelling of an organic rankine cycle

Abstract

The organic Rankine cycle (ORC) has attracted attention over the last decade as a useful tool for eco-friendly power production from waste heat or other low enthalpy sources. The use of computer simulation can help engineers with process design, control and trouble-shooting. In this paper an ORC system is modeled using the process simulator VMGSim. Both steady state and dynamic models were built so that they can be used for further investigation of optimization and process control for these plants. The steady state model is validated using design data from a real geothermal ORC process and results from the dynamic model are shown.