Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/16007
Title: Radial turbine expander design, modelling and testing for automotive organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery
Authors: Alshammari, Fuhaid
Advisors: Pesyridis, A
Ge, Y
Keywords: ORC in internal combustion engine;ORC turbo-expander turbine;Off-design performance prediction for ORC radial turbines;Design and optimization of ORC radial turbine
Issue Date: 2018
Publisher: Brunel University London
Abstract: Since the late 19th century, the average temperature on Earth has risen by approximately 1.1 °Cbecause of the increased carbon dioxide (CO2) and other man-made emissions to the atmosphere. The transportation sector is responsible for approximately 33% of the global CO2 emissions and 14% of the overall greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, increasingly stringent regulations in the European Union require CO2 emissions to be lower than 95 𝑔𝐶𝑂2/𝑘𝑚 by 2020. In this regard, improvements in internal combustion engines (ICEs)must be achieved in terms of fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. Given that only up to 35% of fuel energy is converted into mechanical power, the wasted energy can be reused through waste heat recovery (WHR) technologies. Consequently, organic Rankine cycle (ORC) has received significant attention as a WHR technology because of its ability to recover wasted heat in low- to medium-heat sources. The Expansion machine is the key component in ORC systems, and its performance has a direct and significant impact on overall cycle efficiency. However, the thermal efficiencies of ORC systems are typically low due to low working temperatures. Moreover, supersonic conditions at the high pressure ratios are usually encountered in the expander due to the thermal properties of the working fluids selected which are different to water.Therefore, this thesis aims to design an efficient radial-inflow turbine to avoid further efficiency reductions in the overall system. To fulfil this aim, a novel design and optimisation methodology was developed. A design of experiments technique was incorporated in the methodology toexplorethe effects of input parameters on turbine performance and overall size. Importantly, performance prediction modelling by means of 1D mean-line modelling was employed in the proposed methodology to examine the performance of ORC turbines at constant geometries. The proposed methodology was validated by three methods: computational fluid dynamics analysis, experimental work available in the literature, and experimental work in the current project.Owing to the lack of actual experimental works in ORC-ICE applications, a test rig was built around a heavy-duty diesel engine at Brunel University London and tested at partial load conditions due to the requirement for a realistic off-high representation of the performance of the system rather than its best (design) point, while taking into account the limitation of the engine dynamometer employed. Results of the design methodology developed for this projectpresented an efficient single-stage high-pressure ratio radial-inflow turbine with a total to static efficiency of 74.4% and an output power of 13.6 kW.Experimental results showed that the ORC system had a thermal efficiency of 4.3%, and the brake-specific fuel consumption of the engine was reduced by 3%. The novel meanlineoff designcode (MOC) was validated with the experimental works from three turbines. In comparison with the experimental results conducted at Brunel University London, the predicted and measured results were in good agreement with a maximum deviation of 2.8%.
Description: This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University London
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/16007
Appears in Collections:Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Dept of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
FulltextThesis.pdf12.01 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in BURA are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.