Energy and Exergy Analysis of Solar Organic Rankine Cycle Coupled with Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle

Abstract

This study investigates a combined power generation and cooling system comprising an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and a vapor compression cycle (VCC). Thermodynamic analyses of the system were conducted for two operation modes, i.e., the basic ORC mode and the ORC–VCC mode, using six different working fluids: R245fa, R114, R600, R142b, R152a, and R1234yf. The results showed that the thermal efficiency of the combined ORC–VCC system was almost twice that of the basic ORC system. The effects of thermodynamic parameters, such as the turbine inlet temperature and pressure and the condensing temperature, on the system performance were discussed. The second-law efficiency, cooling capacity, and coefficient of performance were addressed by varying the condensing temperature.