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Preliminary Development of a Free Piston Expander–Linear Generator for Small-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Waste Heat Recovery System

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  • Gaosheng Li

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Hongguang Zhang

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Fubin Yang

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Songsong Song

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Ying Chang

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Fei Yu

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Jingfu Wang

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

  • Baofeng Yao

    (College of Environmental and Energy Engineering, Beijing University of Technology, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center of Electric Vehicles in Beijing, Pingleyuan No. 100, Beijing 100124, China)

Abstract

A novel free piston expander-linear generator (FPE-LG) integrated unit was proposed to recover waste heat efficiently from vehicle engine. This integrated unit can be used in a small-scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system and can directly convert the thermodynamic energy of working fluid into electric energy. The conceptual design of the free piston expander (FPE) was introduced and discussed. A cam plate and the corresponding valve train were used to control the inlet and outlet valve timing of the FPE. The working principle of the FPE-LG was proven to be feasible using an air test rig. The indicated efficiency of the FPE was obtained from the p – V indicator diagram. The dynamic characteristics of the in-cylinder flow field during the intake and exhaust processes of the FPE were analyzed based on Fluent software and 3D numerical simulation models using a computation fluid dynamics method. Results show that the indicated efficiency of the FPE can reach 66.2% and the maximal electric power output of the FPE-LG can reach 22.7 W when the working frequency is 3 Hz and intake pressure is 0.2 MPa. Two large-scale vortices are formed during the intake process because of the non-uniform distribution of velocity and pressure. The vortex flow will convert pressure energy and kinetic energy into thermodynamic energy for the working fluid, which weakens the power capacity of the working fluid.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:4:p:300-:d:68538
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Hou, Xiaochen & Zhang, Hongguang & Xu, Yonghong & Yu, Fei & Zhao, Tenglong & Tian, Yaming & Yang, Yuxin & Zhao, Rui, 2018. "External load resistance effect on the free piston expander-linear generator for organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1252-1261.
    8. Tian, Yaming & Zhang, Hongguang & Li, Jian & Hou, Xiaochen & Zhao, Tenglong & Yang, Fubin & Xu, Yonghong & Wang, Xin, 2018. "Development and validation of a single-piston free piston expander-linear generator for a small-scale organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 809-820.
    9. Yang, Fubin & Zhang, Hongguang & Hou, Xiaochen & Tian, Yaming & Xu, Yonghong, 2019. "Experimental study and artificial neural network based prediction of a free piston expander-linear generator for small scale organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 630-644.
    10. Wang, Yaodong & Chen, Lin & Jia, Boru & Roskilly, Anthony Paul, 2017. "Experimental study of the operation characteristics of an air-driven free-piston linear expander," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 93-99.
    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. Hou, Xiaochen & Zhang, Hongguang & Zhao, Tenglong & Xu, Yonghong & Tian, Yaming & Li, Jian & Zhang, Mengru & Wu, Yuting, 2019. "A comparison study and performance analysis of free piston expander-linear generator for organic Rankine cycle system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 136-143.
    13. Wenzhi Gao & Wangbo He & Lifeng Wei & Guanghua Li & Ziqi Liu, 2016. "Experimental and Potential Analysis of a Single-Valve Expander for Waste Heat Recovery of a Gasoline Engine," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Xu, Yonghong & Tong, Liang & Zhang, Hongguang & Hou, Xiaochen & Yang, Fubin & Yu, Fei & Yang, Yuxin & Liu, Rong & Tian, Yaming & Zhao, Tenglong, 2018. "Experimental and simulation study of a free piston expander–linear generator for small-scale organic Rankine cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 776-791.
    15. Hou, Xiaochen & Zhang, Hongguang & Yu, Fei & Liu, Hongda & Yang, Fubin & Xu, Yonghong & Tian, Yaming & Li, Gaosheng, 2017. "Free piston expander-linear generator used for organic Rankine cycle waste heat recovery system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C), pages 1297-1307.
    16. 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.

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