Development and Demonstration of a Cost Effective, Packaged Approach to Industrial Gas Efficiency Using Organic Rankine Cycle Technology
Demonstrating an organic rankine cycle-based generator that produces electricity from industrial waste heat
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.
Recipient
Palo Alto, CA
Recipient Location
13th
Senate District
23rd
Assembly District
$867,680
Amount Spent
Completed
Project Status
Project Result
The Electric Power Research Institute and its subcontractors installed the Organic Rankine Cycle system at the demonstration site but several issues have delayed commissioning. The equipment will be repaired by the manufacturer before commissioning can be completed.
The Issue
Gas-fired industrial equipment, including ovens, furnaces, dryers, and kilns, operate with relatively low efficiency, resulting in a large quantity of waste heat. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the U.S. industrial sector uses about one-third of the total U.S. energy consumption and up to 50% of this energy is lost as waste heat. Waste heat with temperatures below ~1000 degrees Fahrenheit is not often used for electricity generation due to barriers that include high cost, low efficiencies, and the lack of real world technical and economic performance data.
Project Innovation
This project demonstrates application of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) to generate electricity using waste heat from an industrial boiler at a fabric dye and finishing facility. An ORC process that can utilize medium or low temperature waste heat to directly produce electricity is applicable to a broad range of industrial operations.
Project Benefits
The technology being evaluated consists of a complete packaged unit, which reduces installation costs and complexity. It uses high-speed kinetic turbines that are oil free and have no metal-to-metal contact, which minimizes wear. It was designed for high reliability and low maintenance. Although the technology is installed in other parts of the world, this demonstration shows that the small 20kW unit can be a cost-effective option in California.
Affordability
This project demonstrates cost-effective generation from low-grade waste heat captured from an industrial process. The estimated simple payback period for the system is 6 years.
Reliability
This project demonstrates a viable strategy for distributed generation.
Key Project Members
Ramachandran Narayanamurthy
Subrecipients
NegaWatt Consulting, Inc.
David Berokoff
Abdullah Y. Ahmed
Lekos Dye & Finishing, Inc.
Maintech Resources
Metro Builders & Engineers Group, Ltd
Match Partners
Electric Power Research Institute, Inc.
