Techno economic feasibility study of solar ORC in India

TL;DR

This study evaluates the feasibility of a solar-powered Organic Rankine cycle in India, analyzing different fluids, system sizes, and conditions to identify cost-effective and environmentally friendly options for renewable energy generation.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive techno-economic analysis of a solar ORC tailored to Indian climatic conditions, including fluid performance and cost estimation.

Findings

R 1233zd(E) is the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly working fluid.

System costs are competitive and suitable as an alternative to existing Indian technologies.

Optimal system performance varies with source temperature and power rating.

Abstract

Solar energy has enormous potential because there is a worldwide need to meet energy demands. Depleting non-renewable energy resources, increasing carbon emissions, and other environmental effects concern the scientific community to develop an alternative approach to electricity production. In this article, we present the study of a solar-powered Organic Rankine cycle considering Indian climatic conditions. Initially, we scrutinized seven working fluids and assessed their performance in the ORC at an evaporator pressure range of 9-30 bar and a mass flow rate range of 0.2 kg/s to 4.5 kg/s. For a fixed sink temperature of 298 K, we evaluate the system using four different power ratings of 2, 20, 50, and 100 kW based on four different source temperatures of 423 K, 403 K, 383 K, and 363 K. We estimate the system cost for each working fluid in each scenario separately. Our findings suggest that R 1233zd(E) is the optimum performing working fluid based on cost, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. We also notice that the estimated system scale cost is very competitive and could be a great alternative to the technologies already on the Indian market.