IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v11y2018i9p2253-d166090.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Power Generation via Small Length Scale Thermo-Mechanical Systems: Current Status and Challenges, a Review

Author

Listed:
  • Sindhu Preetham Burugupally

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS 67260, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Leland Weiss

    (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, LA 71272, USA
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

There has been significant interest and work toward the development of small length scale (micrometer to centimeter) energy conversion systems—heat engines and thermal energy harvesters—that operate on different thermal sources. Small combustion driven heat engines offer high power densities and longer operating durations, and present an opportunity to replace large and heavy chemical batteries. Thermal energy harvesters provide a great opportunity to harness the freely available thermal energy: solar, geothermal, and human body heat. These systems can contribute to significant energy savings when coupled to an existing, larger power generation system (e.g., vehicles and diesel generators) for the purpose of energy recovery. In this review, we discuss technological challenges, opportunities, and recent progress in small length scale energy conversion systems with special focus on free piston devices (engines and expanders) and phase-change driven devices. We discuss in detail four important design considerations that can have significant effect on small length scale device performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Sindhu Preetham Burugupally & Leland Weiss, 2018. "Power Generation via Small Length Scale Thermo-Mechanical Systems: Current Status and Challenges, a Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-22, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:9:p:2253-:d:166090
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/9/2253/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/11/9/2253/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Kai & Sun, Daming & Zhang, Jie & Xu, Ya & Zou, Jiang & Wu, Ke & Qiu, Limin & Huang, Zhiyi, 2015. "Operating characteristics and performance improvements of a 500W traveling-wave thermoacoustic electric generator," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 853-862.
    2. Preetham, B.S. & Weiss, L., 2016. "Investigations of a new free piston expander engine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 535-545.
    3. Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi & Christos N. Markides, 2016. "Thermo-Economic and Heat Transfer Optimization of Working-Fluid Mixtures in a Low-Temperature Organic Rankine Cycle System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-21, June.
    4. Formosa, Fabien & Fréchette, Luc G., 2013. "Scaling laws for free piston Stirling engine design: Benefits and challenges of miniaturization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 796-808.
    5. Wang, Enhua & Yu, Zhibin, 2016. "A numerical analysis of a composition-adjustable Kalina cycle power plant for power generation from low-temperature geothermal sources," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 834-848.
    6. Piotr Kolasiński & Przemysław Błasiak & Józef Rak, 2016. "Experimental and Numerical Analyses on the Rotary Vane Expander Operating Conditions in a Micro Organic Rankine Cycle System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Markides, Christos N. & Solanki, Roochi & Galindo, Amparo, 2014. "Working fluid selection for a two-phase thermofluidic oscillator: Effect of thermodynamic properties," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 167-185.
    8. Taleb, Aly I. & Timmer, Michael A.G. & El-Shazly, Mohamed Y. & Samoilov, Aleksandr & Kirillov, Valeriy A. & Markides, Christos N., 2016. "A single-reciprocating-piston two-phase thermofluidic prime-mover," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 250-265.
    9. Imran, Muhammad & Haglind, Fredrik & Asim, Muhammad & Zeb Alvi, Jahan, 2018. "Recent research trends in organic Rankine cycle technology: A bibliometric approach," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 552-562.
    10. Andreasen, J.G. & Larsen, U. & Knudsen, T. & Pierobon, L. & Haglind, F., 2014. "Selection and optimization of pure and mixed working fluids for low grade heat utilization using organic Rankine cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 204-213.
    11. Boe-Shong Hong & Tsu-Yu Lin, 2015. "System Identification and Resonant Control of Thermoacoustic Engines for Robust Solar Power," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-22, May.
    12. Freeman, James & Hellgardt, Klaus & Markides, Christos N., 2017. "Working fluid selection and electrical performance optimisation of a domestic solar-ORC combined heat and power system for year-round operation in the UK," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(P3), pages 291-303.
    13. Solanki, Roochi & Mathie, Richard & Galindo, Amparo & Markides, Christos N., 2013. "Modelling of a two-phase thermofluidic oscillator for low-grade heat utilisation: Accounting for irreversible thermal losses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 337-354.
    14. Freeman, James & Hellgardt, Klaus & Markides, Christos N., 2015. "An assessment of solar-powered organic Rankine cycle systems for combined heating and power in UK domestic applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 605-620.
    15. Thapa, Suvhashis & Borquist, Eric & Weiss, Leland, 2018. "Thermal energy recovery via integrated small scale boiler and superheater," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 765-772.
    16. Boru Jia & Zhengxing Zuo & Andrew Smallbone & Huihua Feng & Anthony Paul Roskilly, 2017. "A Decoupled Design Parameter Analysis for Free-Piston Engine Generators," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Bao, Junjiang & Zhao, Li, 2013. "A review of working fluid and expander selections for organic Rankine cycle," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 325-342.
    18. Christoph J.W. Kirmse & Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi & Andrew J. Haslam & Christos N. Markides, 2016. "Comparison of a Novel Organic-Fluid Thermofluidic Heat Converter and an Organic Rankine Cycle Heat Engine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-26, June.
    19. Badr, O. & O'Callaghan, P. W. & Hussein, M. & Probert, S. D., 1984. "Multi-vane expanders as prime movers for low-grade energy organic Rankine-cycle engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 129-146.
    20. Kirmse, Christoph J.W. & Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & Taleb, Aly I. & Haslam, Andrew J. & Markides, Christos N., 2017. "A two-phase single-reciprocating-piston heat conversion engine: Non-linear dynamic modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(P3), pages 359-375.
    21. Gaosheng Li & Hongguang Zhang & Fubin Yang & Songsong Song & Ying Chang & Fei Yu & Jingfu Wang & Baofeng Yao, 2016. "Preliminary Development of a Free Piston Expander–Linear Generator for Small-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Waste Heat Recovery System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-18, April.
    22. Martin T. White & Abdulnaser I. Sayma, 2018. "A Generalised Assessment of Working Fluids and Radial Turbines for Non-Recuperated Subcritical Organic Rankine Cycles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-26, March.
    23. Yuxi Miao & Zhengxing Zuo & Huihua Feng & Chendong Guo & Yu Song & Boru Jia & Yuyao Guo, 2016. "Research on the Combustion Characteristics of a Free-Piston Gasoline Engine Linear Generator during the Stable Generating Process," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-19, August.
    24. Markides, Christos N. & Smith, Thomas C.B., 2011. "A dynamic model for the efficiency optimization of an oscillatory low grade heat engine," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 6967-6980.
    25. Wang, Kai & Sanders, Seth R. & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2016. "Stirling cycle engines for recovering low and moderate temperature heat: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 89-108.
    26. Jin, Tao & Huang, Jiale & Feng, Ye & Yang, Rui & Tang, Ke & Radebaugh, Ray, 2015. "Thermoacoustic prime movers and refrigerators: Thermally powered engines without moving components," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(P1), pages 828-853.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiao Yang & Zhihong He & Lei Zhao & Shikui Dong & Heping Tan, 2019. "Effect of Channel Diameter on the Combustion and Thermal Behavior of a Hydrogen/Air Premixed Flame in a Swirl Micro-Combustor," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-16, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. White, M.T. & Oyewunmi, O.A. & Chatzopoulou, M.A. & Pantaleo, A.M. & Haslam, A.J. & Markides, C.N., 2018. "Computer-aided working-fluid design, thermodynamic optimisation and thermoeconomic assessment of ORC systems for waste-heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1181-1198.
    2. Steven Lecompte & Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi & Christos N. Markides & Marija Lazova & Alihan Kaya & Martijn Van den Broek & Michel De Paepe, 2017. "Case Study of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for Waste Heat Recovery from an Electric Arc Furnace (EAF)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-16, May.
    3. Chatzopoulou, Maria Anna & Markides, Christos N., 2018. "Thermodynamic optimisation of a high-electrical efficiency integrated internal combustion engine – Organic Rankine cycle combined heat and power system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 1229-1251.
    4. Emadi, Mohammad Ali & Chitgar, Nazanin & Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & Markides, Christos N., 2020. "Working-fluid selection and thermoeconomic optimisation of a combined cycle cogeneration dual-loop organic Rankine cycle (ORC) system for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) waste-heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(C).
    5. Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & Kirmse, Christoph J.W. & Haslam, Andrew J. & Müller, Erich A. & Markides, Christos N., 2017. "Working-fluid selection and performance investigation of a two-phase single-reciprocating-piston heat-conversion engine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(P3), pages 376-395.
    6. Nikunj Gangar & Sandro Macchietto & Christos N. Markides, 2020. "Recovery and Utilization of Low-Grade Waste Heat in the Oil-Refining Industry Using Heat Engines and Heat Pumps: An International Technoeconomic Comparison," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-29, May.
    7. Pantaleo, Antonio M. & Fordham, Julia & Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & De Palma, Pietro & Markides, Christos N., 2018. "Integrating cogeneration and intermittent waste-heat recovery in food processing: Microturbines vs. ORC systems in the coffee roasting industry," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 782-796.
    8. van Kleef, Luuk M.T. & Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Multi-objective thermo-economic optimization of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power systems in waste-heat recovery applications using computer-aided molecular design techniques," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Wang, Kai & Dubey, Swapnil & Choo, Fook Hoong & Duan, Fei, 2017. "Thermoacoustic Stirling power generation from LNG cold energy and low-temperature waste heat," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 280-290.
    10. Tan, Jingqi & Luo, Jiaqi & Huang, Jiale & Wei, Jianjian & Jin, Tao, 2020. "A closed two-phase thermofluidic oscillator with zeotropic mixtures for low-grade heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    11. Burugupally, Sindhu Preetham & Weiss, Leland, 2019. "Design and performance of a miniature free piston expander," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 611-618.
    12. Tan, Jingqi & Wei, Jianjian & Jin, Tao, 2020. "Electrical-analogy network model of a modified two-phase thermofluidic oscillator with regenerator for low-grade heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
    13. Simpson, Michael C. & Chatzopoulou, Maria Anna & Oyewunmi, Oyeniyi A. & Le Brun, Niccolo & Sapin, Paul & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Technoeconomic analysis of internal combustion engine – organic Rankine cycle systems for combined heat and power in energy-intensive buildings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    14. Christoph J.W. Kirmse & Oyeniyi A. Oyewunmi & Andrew J. Haslam & Christos N. Markides, 2016. "Comparison of a Novel Organic-Fluid Thermofluidic Heat Converter and an Organic Rankine Cycle Heat Engine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-26, June.
    15. Huster, Wolfgang R. & Schweidtmann, Artur M. & Mitsos, Alexander, 2020. "Globally optimal working fluid mixture composition for geothermal power cycles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C).
    16. Piotr Kolasiński, 2019. "Application of the Multi-Vane Expanders in ORC Systems—A Review on the Experimental and Modeling Research Activities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-26, August.
    17. Magdalena Santos-Rodriguez, M. & Flores-Tlacuahuac, Antonio & Zavala, Victor M., 2017. "A stochastic optimization approach for the design of organic fluid mixtures for low-temperature heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 145-159.
    18. Pantaleo, Antonio M. & Camporeale, Sergio M. & Sorrentino, Arianna & Miliozzi, Adio & Shah, Nilay & Markides, Christos N., 2020. "Hybrid solar-biomass combined Brayton/organic Rankine-cycle plants integrated with thermal storage: Techno-economic feasibility in selected Mediterranean areas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(P3), pages 2913-2931.
    19. Schilling, J. & Entrup, M. & Hopp, M. & Gross, J. & Bardow, A., 2021. "Towards optimal mixtures of working fluids: Integrated design of processes and mixtures for Organic Rankine Cycles," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    20. Pantaleo, Antonio M. & Camporeale, Sergio M. & Miliozzi, Adio & Russo, Valeria & Shah, Nilay & Markides, Christos N., 2017. "Novel hybrid CSP-biomass CHP for flexible generation: Thermo-economic analysis and profitability assessment," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 994-1006.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:11:y:2018:i:9:p:2253-:d:166090. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.