IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i5p1924-d1346441.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Review of Organic Rankine Cycles for Internal Combustion Engine Waste Heat Recovery: Latest Decade in Review

Author

Listed:
  • Charles E. Sprouse

    (School of Engineering, Benedictine College, Atchison, KS 66002, USA)

Abstract

The last decade (2013–2023) was the most prolific period of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) research in history in terms of both publications and citations. This article provides a detailed review of the broad and voluminous collection of recent internal combustion engine (ICE) waste heat recovery (WHR) studies, serving as a necessary follow-on to the author’s 2013 review. Research efforts have targeted diverse applications (e.g., vehicular, stationary, and building-based), and it spans the full gamut of engine sizes and fuels. Furthermore, cycle configurations extend far beyond basic ORC and regenerative ORC, particularly with supercritical, trilateral, and multi-loop ORCs. Significant attention has been garnered by fourth-generation refrigerants like HFOs (hydrofluoroolefins), HFEs (hydrofluoroethers), natural refrigerants, and zeotropic mixtures, as research has migrated away from the popular HFC-245fa (hydrofluorocarbon). Performance-wise, the period was marked by a growing recognition of the diminished performance of physical systems under dynamic source conditions, especially compared to steady-state simulations. Through advancements in system control, especially using improved model predictive controllers, dynamics-based losses have been significantly reduced. Regarding practically minded investigations, research efforts have ameliorated working fluid flammability risks, limited thermal degradation, and pursued cost savings. State-of-the-art system designs and operational targets have emerged through increasingly sophisticated optimization efforts, with some studies leveraging “big data” and artificial intelligence. Major programs like SuperTruck II have further established the ongoing challenges of simultaneously meeting cost, size, and performance goals; however, off-the-shelf organic Rankine cycle systems are available today for engine waste heat recovery, signaling initial market penetration. Continuing forward, next-generation engines can be designed specifically as topping cycles for an organic Rankine (bottoming) cycle, with both power sources integrated into advanced hybrid drivetrains.

Suggested Citation

  • Charles E. Sprouse, 2024. "Review of Organic Rankine Cycles for Internal Combustion Engine Waste Heat Recovery: Latest Decade in Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-74, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1924-:d:1346441
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1924/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/5/1924/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agudelo, Andrés F. & García-Contreras, Reyes & Agudelo, John R. & Armas, Octavio, 2016. "Potential for exhaust gas energy recovery in a diesel passenger car under European driving cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 201-212.
    2. Badr, O. & O'Callaghan, P. W. & Probert, S. D., 1985. "Thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of organic working fluids for Rankine-cycle engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 1-40.
    3. Allen Blackman & Zhengyan Li & Antung A. Liu, 2018. "Efficacy of Command-and-Control and Market-Based Environmental Regulation in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 381-404, October.
    4. Popp, David, 2019. "Environmental Policy and Innovation: A Decade of Research," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 13(3-4), pages 265-337, September.
    5. Hoang, Anh Tuan, 2018. "Waste heat recovery from diesel engines based on Organic Rankine Cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 138-166.
    6. Lecompte, S. & Huisseune, H. & van den Broek, M. & De Schampheleire, S. & De Paepe, M., 2013. "Part load based thermo-economic optimization of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) applied to a combined heat and power (CHP) system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 871-881.
    7. Heberle, Florian & Preißinger, Markus & Brüggemann, Dieter, 2012. "Zeotropic mixtures as working fluids in Organic Rankine Cycles for low-enthalpy geothermal resources," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 364-370.
    8. Shu, Gequn & Yu, Guopeng & Tian, Hua & Wei, Haiqiao & Liang, Xingyu, 2014. "A Multi-Approach Evaluation System (MA-ES) of Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) used in waste heat utilization," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 325-338.
    9. Toffolo, Andrea & Lazzaretto, Andrea & Manente, Giovanni & Paci, Marco, 2014. "A multi-criteria approach for the optimal selection of working fluid and design parameters in Organic Rankine Cycle systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 219-232.
    10. Kris Wernstedt, 2002. "Environmental Protection in the Russian Federation: Lessons and Opportunities," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(4), pages 493-516.
    11. Le Brun, Niccolo & Simpson, Michael & Acha, Salvador & Shah, Nilay & Markides, Christos N., 2020. "Techno-economic potential of low-temperature, jacket-water heat recovery from stationary internal combustion engines with organic Rankine cycles: A cross-sector food-retail study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    12. Wan Rashidi Bin Wan Ramli & Apostolos Pesyridis & Dhrumil Gohil & Fuhaid Alshammari, 2020. "Organic Rankine Cycle Waste Heat Recovery for Passenger Hybrid Electric Vehicles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-27, September.
    13. Florian Heberle & Dieter Brüggemann, 2016. "Thermo-Economic Analysis of Zeotropic Mixtures and Pure Working Fluids in Organic Rankine Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-16, March.
    14. Lazzaretto, Andrea & Toffolo, Andrea, 2008. "A method to separate the problem of heat transfer interactions in the synthesis of thermal systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 163-170.
    15. Miravete, Eugenio & Moral, Maria & Thurk, Jeff, 2015. "Innovation, Emissions Policy, and Competitive Advantage in the Diffusion of European Diesel Automobiles," CEPR Discussion Papers 10783, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Imran, Muhammad & Pili, Roberto & Usman, Muhammad & Haglind, Fredrik, 2020. "Dynamic modeling and control strategies of organic Rankine cycle systems: Methods and challenges," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    17. David Popp, 2019. "Environmental policy and innovation: a decade of research," CESifo Working Paper Series 7544, CESifo.
    18. Hu, Dongshuai & Zheng, Ya & Wu, Yi & Li, Saili & Dai, Yiping, 2015. "Off-design performance comparison of an organic Rankine cycle under different control strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 268-279.
    19. Toffolo, Andrea & Lazzaretto, Andrea & Morandin, Matteo, 2010. "The HEATSEP method for the synthesis of thermal systems: An application to the S-Graz cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 976-981.
    20. Shu, Gequn & Liu, Lina & Tian, Hua & Wei, Haiqiao & Yu, Guopeng, 2014. "Parametric and working fluid analysis of a dual-loop organic Rankine cycle (DORC) used in engine waste heat recovery," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1188-1198.
    21. Mirko Grljušić & Vladimir Medica & Gojmir Radica, 2015. "Calculation of Efficiencies of a Ship Power Plant Operating with Waste Heat Recovery through Combined Heat and Power Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-27, May.
    22. Qiu, K. & Hayden, A.C.S., 2012. "Integrated thermoelectric and organic Rankine cycles for micro-CHP systems," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 667-672.
    23. Zheng, N. & Zhao, L. & Wang, X.D. & Tan, Y.T., 2013. "Experimental verification of a rolling-piston expander that applied for low-temperature Organic Rankine Cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1265-1274.
    24. Kermani, Maziar & Wallerand, Anna S. & Kantor, Ivan D. & Maréchal, François, 2018. "Generic superstructure synthesis of organic Rankine cycles for waste heat recovery in industrial processes," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1203-1225.
    25. Grelet, Vincent & Reiche, Thomas & Lemort, Vincent & Nadri, Madiha & Dufour, Pascal, 2016. "Transient performance evaluation of waste heat recovery rankine cycle based system for heavy duty trucks," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 878-892.
    26. Rech, Sergio & Zandarin, Simone & Lazzaretto, Andrea & Frangopoulos, Christos A., 2017. "Design and off-design models of single and two-stage ORC systems on board a LNG carrier for the search of the optimal performance and control strategy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 221-241.
    27. David Popp, 2019. "Environmental Policy and Innovation: A Decade of Research," NBER Working Papers 25631, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    28. Cornolti, L. & Onorati, A. & Cerri, T. & Montenegro, G. & Piscaglia, F., 2013. "1D simulation of a turbocharged Diesel engine with comparison of short and long EGR route solutions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 1-15.
    29. 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.
    30. 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.
    31. Zhai, Huixing & An, Qingsong & Shi, Lin & Lemort, Vincent & Quoilin, Sylvain, 2016. "Categorization and analysis of heat sources for organic Rankine cycle systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 790-805.
    32. Chatzopoulou, Maria Anna & Simpson, Michael & Sapin, Paul & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Off-design optimisation of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engines with piston expanders for medium-scale combined heat and power applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1211-1236.
    33. Jing, You-Yin & Bai, He & Wang, Jiang-Jiang & Liu, Lei, 2012. "Life cycle assessment of a solar combined cooling heating and power system in different operation strategies," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 843-853.
    34. Sauret, Emilie & Gu, Yuantong, 2014. "Three-dimensional off-design numerical analysis of an organic Rankine cycle radial-inflow turbine," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 202-211.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Jiménez-Arreola, Manuel & Wieland, Christoph & Romagnoli, Alessandro, 2019. "Direct vs indirect evaporation in Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems: A comparison of the dynamic behavior for waste heat recovery of engine exhaust," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 439-452.
    2. Li, Xiaoya & Xu, Bin & Tian, Hua & Shu, Gequn, 2021. "Towards a novel holistic design of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems operating under heat source fluctuations and intermittency," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    3. Chatzopoulou, Maria Anna & Lecompte, Steven & Paepe, Michel De & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Off-design optimisation of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engines with different heat exchangers and volumetric expanders in waste heat recovery applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    4. Li, Tailu & Zhang, Zhigang & Lu, Jian & Yang, Junlan & Hu, Yujie, 2015. "Two-stage evaporation strategy to improve system performance for organic Rankine cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 323-334.
    5. Le Brun, Niccolo & Simpson, Michael & Acha, Salvador & Shah, Nilay & Markides, Christos N., 2020. "Techno-economic potential of low-temperature, jacket-water heat recovery from stationary internal combustion engines with organic Rankine cycles: A cross-sector food-retail study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    6. Steven Lecompte & Sanne Lemmens & Henk Huisseune & Martijn Van den Broek & Michel De Paepe, 2015. "Multi-Objective Thermo-Economic Optimization Strategy for ORCs Applied to Subcritical and Transcritical Cycles for Waste Heat Recovery," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-28, April.
    7. Acha, Salvador & Le Brun, Niccolo & Damaskou, Maria & Fubara, Tekena Craig & Mulgundmath, Vinay & Markides, Christos N. & Shah, Nilay, 2020. "Fuel cells as combined heat and power systems in commercial buildings: A case study in the food-retail sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    8. Wang, Xiao-Qiong & Li, Xiao-Ping & Li, You-Rong & Wu, Chun-Mei, 2015. "Payback period estimation and parameter optimization of subcritical organic Rankine cycle system for waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 734-745.
    9. Surendran, Anandu & Seshadri, Satyanarayanan, 2020. "Design and performance analysis of a novel Transcritical Regenerative Series Two stage Organic Rankine Cycle for dual source waste heat recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 203(C).
    10. Li, Jian & Peng, Xiayao & Yang, Zhen & Hu, Shuozhuo & Duan, Yuanyuan, 2022. "Design, improvements and applications of dual-pressure evaporation organic Rankine cycles: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 311(C).
    11. Lazzaretto, Andrea & Manente, Giovanni & Toffolo, Andrea, 2018. "SYNTHSEP: A general methodology for the synthesis of energy system configurations beyond superstructures," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 924-949.
    12. Olympios, Andreas V. & Pantaleo, Antonio M. & Sapin, Paul & Markides, Christos N., 2020. "On the value of combined heat and power (CHP) systems and heat pumps incentralised and distributed heating systems: Lessons from multi-fidelitymodelling approaches," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 274(C).
    13. Chatzopoulou, Maria Anna & Simpson, Michael & Sapin, Paul & Markides, Christos N., 2019. "Off-design optimisation of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) engines with piston expanders for medium-scale combined heat and power applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1211-1236.
    14. Li, Xiaoya & Tian, Hua & Shu, Gequn & Zhao, Mingru & Markides, Christos N. & Hu, Chen, 2019. "Potential of carbon dioxide transcritical power cycle waste-heat recovery systems for heavy-duty truck engines," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 1581-1599.
    15. Fuhaid Alshammari & Apostolos Karvountzis-Kontakiotis & Apostolos Pesyridis & Muhammad Usman, 2018. "Expander Technologies for Automotive Engine Organic Rankine Cycle Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-36, July.
    16. Tieyu Gao & Changwei Liu, 2017. "Off-Design Performances of Subcritical and Supercritical Organic Rankine Cycles in Geothermal Power Systems under an Optimal Control Strategy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-25, August.
    17. Silvia Dalla Fontana & Ramana Nanda, 2023. "Innovating to Net Zero: Can Venture Capital and Start-Ups Play a Meaningful Role?," Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(1), pages 79-105.
    18. Michael Peneder & Spyros Arvanitis & Christian Rammer & Tobias Stucki & Martin Wörter, 2022. "Policy instruments and self-reported impacts of the adoption of energy saving technologies in the DACH region," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 369-404, May.
    19. Hötte, Kerstin & Pichler, Anton & Lafond, François, 2021. "The rise of science in low-carbon energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    20. Grafström, Jonas & Poudineh, Rahmat, 2023. "No evidence of counteracting policy effects on European solar power invention and diffusion," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).

    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:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:5:p:1924-:d:1346441. 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.