Overview of the Activities on Heavy Duty Diesel Engines Waste Heat Recovery with Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) in the Frame of the ECCO-MATE EU FP7 Project

Abstract

The ECCO-MATE Project is a European Union funded project aimed to develop a synergistic framework for cutting edge research on novel engine technologies for higher energy efficiency and lower emissions.\ud The project partners, Ricardo plc, an engineering consulting company, and the University of Trieste, focus the research attention on waste heat recovery systems, such as Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC), which are gaining increasing interest by engine manufacturers, vehicles and ships fleet operators, because of their potential for further increasing engine efficiency and decreasing fuel consumption. In particular, in the frame of the developed research activity, the 1-D Ricardo engine simulation software WAVE has been used in order to assess novel engine concepts, both in the commercial vehicles and marine sectors. \ud A combined engine-ORC system First and Second Law of Thermodynamics analysis has been proposed in order to study where system inefficiencies are concentrated and propose improvements, with particular focus on commercial vehicle heavy duty diesel engines. A thermo-economic analysis has been also considered. \ud In collaboration with the project partners National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and Winterthur Gas & Diesel, an innovative low pressure Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) configuration for low speed 2-stroke ship propulsion units has also been studied with the aim of reducing NOx in order to meet IMO Tier III emissions limits. ORC systems are, in this application also, a promising technology that can be used, in synergy with emission reduction systems, to recover, in particular, low temperature heat sources such as engine coolant and scavenging air, always with the aim of improving overall system efficiency while respecting new stringent emission reduction targets. The first results of the research activity show that a fuel consumption improvement up to 10% could be achieved both for commercial vehicles off-highway applications and in the marine sector, depending on the type of ORC and waste heat recovery architecture chosen and the engine considered

Research on Gas Recycling of Free-Piston Expander–Linear Generator for Organic Rankine Cycle of Vehicle

“…This device recovers waste heat from the flue gas of the Electric Arc Furnace (EAF), generates saturated steam, and is then transported to the regional heating network during the heating season, and to the ORC for power generation during the rest of the year [5]. The National Technical University of Athens, in collaboration with Winterthur Gas & Diesel, has developed an innovative low-pressure exhaust gas recirculation unit for low-speed two-stroke Marine propulsion, combining the ORC system with an abatement system to meet stringent emission requirements while increasing overall system efficiency and reducing NOx emissions [6].…”

Waste Heat Recovery in a Compression Ignition Engine for Marine Application Using a Rankine Cycle Operating with an Innovative Organic Working Fluid

“…As R1233zd(e) is a recently developed fluid, its thermodynamic properties are not yet available in the main modeling code libraries. For this reason, correlations were used to obtain the thermophysical properties of the fluid using the data available in the literature [30,31].…”

“…Generally, water alcohols and hydrocarbons [30] are suitable as working fluids for waste heat recovery at high temperatures, such as exhaust gases and EGR, despite some of them being characterized by high flammability. Refrigerants are well-suited for low-temperature heat sources, such as CAC and engine coolant [31,32].…”

Current State and Development Trends in the Field of Large Diesel and Gas Engines

“…Figure 13. The "Electric-Assist" T/C of Mitsubishi [58], and the available scavenging pressure [59] Regarding the EEDI as a technology driver, an interesting combination of the low-pressure EGR and the OCR (Organic Rankine Cycle) as a possibility for low-temperature waste heat recovery has recently been reported in the literature [60]. As a matter of fact, not only the EGR system can be used as the OCR heat source, but practically any low-temperature energy source can be harnessed for this purpose.…”