Process Design and Simulation

Submission deadline: TBC

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Index

1. Assignment brief 5
2. Heat recovery for power 6
2.1 Overview of ORC and why we use it 6
3. Assumptions for process design and simulation 9
3.1 Working fluid selection criteria 9
4. Analysys of the Organic Rankine Cycle. Efficiency 11
4.1 Evaporation 11
4.2 Expand 12
4.3 Condensation 13
4.4 Compresión 13
5. Simulation and process design 13
6. Efficiency Increase with waste heat utilization 18
7. Conclusions 19
8. Abstract 19
9. Economic feasibility 22
10. References 24

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List of figures

Figure 1 WHRS 5
Figure 2 ORC whit economizer 7
Figure 3 Carnot vs ORC efficiency 9
Figure 4 comparison between an organic fluid and water 9
Figure 5 Phase envelope of organic fluids 10
Figure 6 Power generation system with WHRS 12
Figure 7 R245a Phase Envelope 15
Figure 8 Flowsheet ORC in Hysys 15
Figure 9 Efficiency vs Turbine Inlet Pressure 16
Figure 10 Example of Heat exchanger before scrubber 18

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List of tables

Table 1 Properties of R-245fa 11

Table 2 Efficiency vs Turbine Inlet Pressure 15
Table 3 Streams Conditions 17
Table 4 Energy Streams and efficiency 17

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1. Assignment brief

You have just become the senior process engineer in the international business
operating in the energy sector. Your asset base includes gas- and coal-fired power
generation systems that are more than two decades old. One of the existing natural
gas combined cycle power plant is out of operation for more than 6 months due to
a failure of the waste heat recovery system (WHRS), which is subcritical steam
cycle (Fig 1). Having spoken to the maintenance, costing and R&D departments,
you have realised that the repair of the existing WHRS is not substantiated
financially. Knowing that the gas turbine will operate for the next 10-20 years, you
decided to explore the options to replace the existing WHRS with a state-of-the-art
system based on the following assumptions:

 The existing gas turbine consumes 1 kg/s of natural gas with a lower heating
value of 47.1 MJ/kg;
 The net power output of the gas turbine (without WHRS) is 17.2 MW;
 The flue gas leaves the expander at 600°C and 1.1 bar (mole composition:
12.4% O2, 74.4% N2, 0.9% Ar, 3.8% CO2, 0.3% CO, 0.2% NO, 8.0% H2O). Its
flow rate is 43.9 kg/s (1.54 kmol/s)

Figure 1. WHRS

 The amount of waste heat is equal to 24.4 MW (at stack temperature of

100°C)The new WHRS may include power generation cycle (for additional

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 electricity production) or refrigeration cycle (for cooling production); where
possible, you may integrate heat exchanger for district heating.

To take the project forward, you will need to prepare a compelling case for the R&D
(Research and Development) and costing team that includes:

 Brief overview of the proposed waste heat recovery system;

 Assumptions for your process design and simulation;
 Results including efficiency (electrical or total efficiency) and specific
emissions;
 Effect of key variables on the process performance (sensitivity analysis)
 Indication on economic feasibility for the system over next 20 years at
discount rate of 5%

2. Heat recovery for power

2.1 Overview of ORC and why we use it?

All forms of energy, including work, can be fully converted into heat, but the reverse
is generally not true. According to the second law of thermodynamics, only a fraction
of the heat can be converted from a thermal work cycle like a steam plant to work.

Residual heat and heat must be discharged to sink at a lower temperature. For any
process of converting thermal energy into mechanical energy, the efficiency of
Carnot is the theoretical limit. Rankine (ORC) Membership course. This can work
with waste heat fluxes in a temperature range of less than 80 to 400ºC to generate
electricity.

The ORC engine is like a Steam Rankine Engine, but it uses the lower boiling point
organic liquid, rather than steam, working fluid. The working fluid is vaporized in the
evaporator using residual heat, and the resulting high-pressure vapour is developed
in the turbine to generate energy. The low-pressure steam of the turbine is
condensed in the condenser using cooling water or air. Finally, the condensed
working fluid is pumped at high pressure on the evaporator, to complete the cycle.

The economizer is usually added to reduce the cooling load of the condenser and
improve the efficiency of the ORC, as shown in figure 2. This course has the highest
temperature in the evaporator and the lowest temperature in the condenser. At the
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Oman_oil refinery, working fluids with higher vapour pressure are used for water.
Therefore, the operating pressure and the ORC temperatures are lower than those
of the Rankine cycle.

Figure 2. ORC whit economizer

For working fluids with lower boiling points, the turbine inlet pressure can be higher,
and the circulating mass flow is lower (minimization of operating costs), thereby
requiring a smaller size turbine. This leads to non-condensation during the
expansion of the turbine, which ensures a long lifespan of the turbine blades, the
overheating of the fluid is not necessary before the expansion of the turbine. The
thermodynamic properties of the working fluids affect the efficiency of the system.

The ORC working fluid must have a predominantly positive vapour curve or entropy
of equal saturation, high vapour intensity, high critical temperature and high
temperature stability. Liu et al. provided the effect of working fluids on the
performance of the Omanoil refinery the next day. Fluids used in ORC include
propane, butanes, CFCs, Freon, N-pentane, Iso-pentane, HCH, ammonia,
R245FA, Ocathiléthicoxine (D4) and many other proprietary liquids. Saleh and
others introduced ORC performance for various working liquids at the equipment
by Lakew and Bolland. It shows that R227ea gives the highest temperature
resistance of the heat source varying between 80-160ªC and R245FA produced
above in the range 160-200ºC. Wei and others have studied the performance and

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optimization of the company refining Omanoil. The heat recovery range can be
calculated from the equivalent (available energy) of the waste heat flux.

To estimate the recovered electrical energy, the following formula may be used:

Electrical_P = ηe × WH × ηcarnot = WHx ηo

Where:
ηe= exergy efficiency,
ηcarnot= efficiency of Carnot cycle =1 – (cold source temperature (K) / waste heat
stream temperature (K)
Electrical_P = Elecetrical power in Kw
ηo = ORC efficiency
WH= waste heat (Kw)

For a quick estimation of power, one ORC supplier, Cryostar (Ref1) indicates a
value of 0.5 for ηe. Labrecque and Boulama stated that, for waste heat to useful
work conversion, exergy efficiency as high as 70% is conceivable. Bourji and others
proposed a correlation to approximate the production of ORC energy from
combustion gas temperatures between 350 and 500°F with ambient temperatures
ranging from 50 to 100°F.

They also estimated ORC power-generation potential for various refinery capacities
and breakdown for various refinery units, using flue gas WHR. Using WHR, the
efficiency of an ORC system ranges from 10% at 110°C to more than 22% at 270°C,
depending on the temperature of the waste heat and working fluid (Ref 2). Drescher
and others reported ORC efficiencies as high as 28%, at a high waste-heat
temperature of 350°C. The highest thermal efficiency is achieved when the
temperature of the hot current is as high as possible and the sink temperature is as
low as possible. A typical comparison between caries and ORC efficacy is illustrated
in Figure 3.

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 Figure 3. Carnot vs ORC efficiency

So, we recommended to use ORC as WHRS.

3. Assumptions for process design and simulation:

3.1 Working fluid selection criteria

Many thermodynamic cycles, such as ORC, critical cycle Rankine, Calina cycle,
and Gosani cycle are suitable for converting low thermal content resources with
electric power. However, these courses are limited by the temperature of
geothermal resources, the correct choice of operating fluids and the environmental
conditions of the place where they will be installed. Unlike the traditional Rankine
cycle, which uses water as a working fluid, the ORC uses organic fluids, having high
molecular weight and low boiling point.Figure 4 shows comparison between an
organic fluid and water

Figure 4, comparison between an organic fluid and water

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These liquids have the gradient of different saturation curve (DS/DT) in the T-s
scheme, which can be straight (equal to entropy), negative (wet) or positive (dry).
Isosceles and dry liquids prevent the formation of a mixture between two phases in
the expansion process, the following reduces the cost and maintenance of the
turbine. Choosing the right working fluid for the Rankine cycle involves the correct
assessment of thermodynamic and chemical properties, such as molecular weight,
temperature and critical pressure, latent heat and type of the DS/DT saturation
gradient.

Figure 5. Phase envelope of organic fluids

Working fluids with high molecular weight and high latent heat tend to absorb a
large amount of energy from the low thermal resource, after reducing the volume of
heat transfer required and consuming of the pump's energy. Some writers refer to
working fluids with high latent heat, high density and low-quality heat from the fluid.
However, other writers defend the fluid with low latent heat, and state that low latent
heat is better, because saturated steam at the inlet of the turbine can provide better
operating conditions. In addition, it is required to improve the safety standards by
using non-corrosive, non - flammable and non-toxic working fluid so that the
material is not affected by heat exchangers, tubes and turbine blades. With regard
to the environmental aspect, the main precautions include the possibility of ozone
reduction, global warming potential and atmospheric life time (ALT). Certain liquids
such as R11, R12, R113, R114 and R115 are limited by international conventions
as they are prone for ozone layer depletion. Ozone depletion capacity and global
warming are the potential of substances that contribute to ozone depletion and
greenhouse gases.

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 Table 1. Properties of R-245fa
Property Value
Molecular weight (Kg/mol) 134.05
Boiling point (ºC) 14.9
Critical temperature (ºC) 154
Critical Pressure ( Kpa ) 3640
Latent Heat ( Kj/Kg) 177 kJ / kg
( ds / dt ) (Kj/Kg.K) 0.19
GWP ( 100 years ) 1030
ALT 7.6
Safety group ( ASHRAE) B1
Safety group clasification Class B, some toxidity at < 400 ppm,
Sub _ class I _ Non inflammable

4. Analysis of the Organic Rankine Cycle. Efficiency

The energy is produced by binary systems in which the thermal cycle transmits
energy by means of a heat exchanger to another cycle to a turbine that finally drives
a generator of electricity. The organic fluid is vaporized in the evaporator due to the
heat transferred by an external source (WHRS). This fluid expands in the turbine
(generating electricity) and then condenses in a condenser. As a cooling fluid,
water is generally used. The efficiency of the process is around 98%, which is
divided into two parts. Electric efficiency (nE) generated in the turbine, which does
not exceed 20%, and thermal efficiency generated in the condenser. The latter can
be used as a heating in another area of the process.

The cooling and heating sources are not in direct contact with the organic fluid due
to the use of plate heat exchangers. The condensed organic fluid is blown (pressure
increase) to the evaporation pressure, thus returning to the evaporator and
completing the rankine cycle.

4.1 Evaporation

The organic fluid is evaporated in this process, it passes from saturated fluid in high
pressure to saturated vapour in high pressure, where the cycle will be closed, and
access to the turbine inlet. The heat absorbed by the radiator is calculated
according to the equation: Q_EVAP = m * (H3-H6) knowledge of the mass flow of
the organic fluid in the process (kg/s) and enthalpies at points 3 and 6 (H3 and H6)
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in J/kg, the heat absorbed by the organic fluid can be easily calculated D ( in unit of
J/s , which is equal to W).

Figure 6 : Power generation system with WHRS

4.2. Expand

In this process, the vapour of the evaporator is increased. The expansion occurs in
the turbine, generating the rotation of the turbine shaft, which is coupling to the
generator will allow for electricity generation. The work done by the turbine (WT) is
calculated as follows: wt = M * (H3-H4). Where M is a mass of organic fluid,
measured in kgs/sec and H3 and H4 are the pies of this organic fluid in the inlet and
outlet of the turbine, respectively (J/kg). Therefore, the work is measured in J/s (W).
Thermal content of the organic fluid (in the turbine inlet) will be defined by pressure
and temperature before the turbine enters. The liquid is considered in saturated
vapour conditions. The condition of the organic fluid is defined in the turbine output
by pressing at this point (P4) and H4 thermal content. But since this is an unknown
thermal content, it is necessary to calculate the gap from the actual expansion
process with respect to an equal process of entropy. Whereas the expansion occurs
in the constant entropy = 1, and the entropy of point 4s is equal to the entropy of
point 3, the enthalpy in H4 can be obtained.

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If the P3 is known, it is known to be H3 and H4. All variables in the previous
equation, except H4, are calculated for this variable.

4.3. Condensation

In this process, the organic fluid is condensed to constant pressure. Compression

is determined in the output of the condenser by P4. The organic fluid changes from
saturated steam to saturated fluid. Since this process is uneven, T4 = T5, even P4
= P 5 because it assumes that the losses caused by friction are negligible. With all
of these data, the value of H5 is obtained.

4.4. Compression

In this process, the organic fluid is compressed into the saturated fluid in the pump.
The organic fluid changes from low pressure to high cycle compression (P3). The
work consumed by the pump (WP) is calculated from the following equation: WP =
M * (H6 – H5). Knowledge of the mass flow of coolant in process and H5 thermal
content of process 4-5, the user only needs to know the value of the thermal content.
Whereas the pressure is accomplished in the constant entropy km = 1 and the
entropy of a point 6 is equal to the entropy of point 5, the enthalpy in h6 can be
obtained. Therefore, if the P3 is known, the six and h6s are known. With the
exception of 64, all variables in the preceding equation are calculated.

4.5 Simulation and process design

The ORC simulation was performed to determine the operational conditions that
guarantee the greatest possible efficiency, knowing that the efficiency is determined
with the following equation:

𝑊𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 − 𝑊𝑝𝑢𝑚𝑝
𝑛𝑒 =
𝑄𝑒𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟

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W turbine= Turbine power
W pump= Pump work
Q evaporator= Waste heat = 24400 Kw
Q condensator = Energy taken by condenser

Electrical and thermal efficiency are calculated with the following equations:

nE= Wturbine/Wasted Heat

nT= Q condensator/Wasted heat

Hysys aspen software was used for the design and simulation, it is a software for
the simulation of petrochemical and related plants. The main advantages are to
reduce the design time of a plant, whatever it is, since it includes tools to estimate
physical properties, vapour liquid equilibria, material and energy balances,
simulation of many chemical engineering equipment, processes in steady state and
dynamic. This simulator has a user-friendly interface, in addition to allowing the use
of logical operators and tools that facilitate the simulation of various processes.

It helps to improve various current processes, its proper use allows to determine
optimal conditions with which a process works. Hysys has applications for various
processes in the petrochemical, food, pharmaceutical and other industries; thanks
to the fact that it has an extensive database.

The following considerations were taken:

 Due to the nature of the fluid, the SRK correlation included in the software
was used

 The R245a is not found in the software library, so its properties were
estimated with the use of the Hysys Hypo fluid function, using the
characteristics of Table 1

 The power in the evaporator is 24400 Kw

 The pressure drops in the evaporator and condenser were considered

irrelevant (isobaric)The turbine and pump were considered adiabatic, with
75% efficiency

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Operational considerations:

The condensation temperature of R245a is from 14ºC to 1atm (101Kpa). Under

these conditions, condensation with water is not possible, knowing that it is normally
available at 25ºC. For this reason, the working fluid pressure (R245a) in the
condenser must be greater than 101Kpa. According to the phase envelope of the
R254a shown in fig. 6, a phase change at 30ºC occurs at pressure of 300 Kpa, for
this reason this value is taken as the condenser pressure.

Figure 6. R245a Phase Envelope

The rest of the operational conditions assumed were:

• Evaporator pressure: 3000Kpa

• Condensation pressure: 300 Kpa
• Cooling water temperature: 25ºC

Figure 7.Flowsheet ORC in Hysys

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Under these conditions, a study was made of the efficiency vs the inlet pressure
turbine, because a modification in this variable affects the necessary power in the
pump, as well as the power delivered in the turbine. Both variables influence the
efficiency of the system. Efficiency was calculated by the equation:

The results are shown in table 2, as in figure 7.

3000 9.0%
8.0%
2500
7.0%
Power Turbine (Kw)

2000 6.0%

Efficiency
5.0%
1500
4.0%
1000 3.0%
2.0%
500
1.0%
0 0.0%
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Inlet pressure (Kpa)
P Turbine (Kw) Efficiency (%)

Figure 7. Efficiency vs Turbine Inlet Pressure

Table 2. Efficiency vs Turbine Inlet Pressure

Efficiency
Inlet pressure P Turbine (Kw) W Pump (Kw) Q Evaporator Efficiency (%) Efficiency
500 572 29,91 24400 2,2% 0,02
1000 1322 105,8 24400 5,0% 0,05
1500 1742 184,4 24400 6,4% 0,06
2000 2029 266,3 24400 7,2% 0,07
2500 2244 352,7 24400 7,8% 0,08
3000 2416 447,2 24400 8,1% 0,08
3500 2578 635,8 24400 8,0% 0,08
4000 2628 750,8 24400 7,7% 0,08
4500 2676 864,7 24400 7,4% 0,07
5000 2724 979,2 24400 7,2% 0,07

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An increase in the power generated and efficiency can be observed as the turbine
inlet pressure increases, this is due to the increase in the mass flow as well as the
enthalpy of the fluid due to the increase in pressure, remembering that the power is
directly proportional to the change in the enthalpy, as well as the mass flow.
However, the efficiency reaches a maximum point of 8.1% at 3000 Kpa of pressure,
from which it begins to fall. This is because from this point the increase in pump
power (W Pump) makes the system less efficient.

According to these results, 3000Kpa is assumed as the optimum turbine inlet

pressure. In these conditions the results of the simulation are the following:

Table 3. Streams Conditions

MATERIAL STREAMS
Properties/Conditions 1 2 3 4 Cold Water Hot Water
Vapour fraction 1 1 0 0 0 0
Temp (K) 414,6 382,9 307 309,6 298,1 363,1
Presure (Kpa) 3000 300 300 3000 101 101
Mass flow (Kg/s) 70,5 70,5 70,5 70,5 77,25 77,25
Vol flow (m3/h) 452,6 452,6 452,6 452,6 279,7 279,7
Mass entalpy (KJ/Kg) -1614 -1649 -1968 -1961 -15850 -15560
Mass entropy (KJ/Kg.K) 5,323 5,354 4,373 4,387 2,959 3,835

Table 4. Energy Streams and efficiency

Energy/Efficiency KW
Waste Heat 24400
Q Condensator 22410
W Pump 447
W Turbine 2416
n (%) 8,1%
nE (%) 9,9%
nT (%) 91,8%

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 Under these conditions, a volume of working fluid of 70,5 kg/s is obtained. It is
possible to generate a power of 2416 Kw, with a max efficiency of 8.1%. The
electrical efficiency is 9.1% and the terminal is 91.8%

5. Emissions

Figure 8 : Example of Heat exchanger before scrubber

Efficiency Increase with waste heat utilization:

From data given in assignment brief and flue gas out is input to new thermodynamic cycle in figure 7:
Energy consumed by the gas turbine = 47.1 MJ/Kg * 1 Kg/s = 47.1 MW
Net power output = 17.2 MW
So remaining energy of 47.1 – 17.2=29.9 MW go out in flue gases.
From cycle analysis we have seen that 9.1% of this energy we can extract by addition of another cycle as
shown in figure 7.
Additional energy extracted = 29.9*9.1/100= 2.72 MW
Now we can see that original efficiency which was 17.2*100/47.1= 36.5%

Energy going out at 100 deg C is 24.4 MW

Energy captured = 17.2+ 2.72 = 19.92 MW
Gets increased to ( 17.2+2.72)*100/47.1= 42.29%
Thus we have achieved increase in efficiency by 5.79% by utilizing waste heat

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 6. Conclusions
The design of the ORC process allows to take advantage of the heat commonly
wasted in the industrial processes, transforming it into electrical and thermal energy.
Additionally, it involves a less complex process than the Rankine cycle using steam,
eliminating the use of boilers.

By varying the inlet pressure to the turbine a change in the generated electrical
power is achieved, as well as the efficiency of the system. This is due to the change
of enthalpy of the fluid as well as its mass flowconducting a sensitivity study of the
system against the controlled variable (inlet pressure of the turbine) the pressure
was found with the greatest possible efficiency, thus allowing to establish the
operating conditions in 3000Kpa whit an efficiency of 8,1%

Based on the results obtained through the experiments, it was found that the
increase inExhaust gas heat extraction rate: Combined emissions, cladding and
soot will be increased. But NOx emissions are decreasing. Emissions from diesel
fuel are generally more than emissions from kerosene. An increase in aromatic
content increases the emissions of soot, NOx, KSU and associates. The decrease
in emissions from soot and NOx increases. The increase in viscosity and
surfacetension produces more emissions (CO, UHC, NOx andsoot).

7. Abstract
This paper presents the effect of refrigerant products on the emission of pollutants
(carbon, Carbon monoxide [CO], unburned hydrocarbons [UHC], nitrogen oxide
[NOx] and soot)Continuous combustion chamber. The product cooling technology
was implemented by installingHeat exchanger in the exhaust path. Water flows
through a heat exchanger ranged from 0 to 30 litres per minute, with an increase of
10 litres per minute. With the size of the 80 μm fuel oil and kerosene, the local parity
ratio ranged from 0.8 to 1.4. When using the product cooling technology, nitrogen
oxides were found to be inversely proportional to the increase in water flow through
the heat exchanger with the maximum NOx emissions of 18.76%. However, CO,
UHC and soot directly proportional to the increase in water flow through heat
exchanger and the maximum increase in Co, UHC and soot were (27.43%, 26.32%,
19.87%) respectively. It also found that diesel fuel emissions are more than
kerosene fuels.
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 8. Economic feasibility
Typical steps of an economic evaluation of a project as described below will be
followed for the evaluation of the ORC-WHR. These steps are:
1. Project/system definition.
2. Choice the economic lifetime of the system.
3. Estimating the project’s cash flow profile.
4. Select the cost of capital, K, and other inflation rates.
5. Economic assessment through investment criteria.
6. Acceptance/rejection or study of the economic conditions for the economic
viability of the project.
Based on the market survey, catalogues of HVAC components and offers obtained
from HVAC components cost estimation of an 8 MW ORC-WHR was done. System
total installed cost (TIC) amounted to 5 million $ and the specific cost to 5,775 $/kW.
Assuming 5% of TIC for operation and maintenance and 0.3% TIC for insurance,
the annual cost is about 260000 $/year.

The following assumptions have been considered:

1. The lifetime period, 20 years.
2. The load factor, 85% (7446 hours).
3. The system degradation rate is estimated at 2%.
4. The cost of capital or interest rate, 5%.
5. The inflation rate on electricity price, 2%
6. The general inflation, 2%.

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This study concerns, the feasibility ORCs in waste heat recovery application already
derivedfrom technical point of view has been achieved from an economic viewpoint.
Realistic component models based on experimental data have been used to expect
the performance ofthe cycle. Vary electricity cost, Net present value and
depreciated payback period have been used as economic criteria. The study shows
that the Organic Rankine Cycle is a promising technology for waste heat recovery
applications. The minimum cost at which electricity should be sold is about 5 $/kWh
for the systems.

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9. Bibliografy
1) www.cryostar.com/web/heat-conversion.php, accessed in January 2012
2) Free power; www.freepower.co.uk/tech-overview.htm, accessed in January
2012
3) Rhodes C.L., “The Process Simulation Revolution: Thermo physical
Property Needs and Concerns”, J.Chem.Eng.Data, 41, 947-950, 1996
4) Pistikopoulos E.N.,Gani R., “Property_ modelling and simulation for product
and process_ design″, Fluid Phase Equilibrium, 194-197, 43-59, 2002
5) Aspen Tech, Aspen Hysys 8.4 User Guide
6) Aspen Tech, Aspen Hysys8.4 Properties
7) Philip Kiameh,Power Generation handbook, 2004 The McGraw-Hill
Companies.
8) Junco Fiter, Laila Sanchez. Application of the Rankine organic cycle for the
waste heat treatment in a refinery. Higher engineering school of mining.
2012. Colombia

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