TY  - EJOU
AU  - Wang, Lingbao 
AU  - Gan, Zhi 
AU  - Yang, Zuowei 
AU  - Li, Huashan 
AU  - Gong, Yulie 
AU  - Bu, Xianbiao 

TI  - Thermo-Economic Performance Comparison between Basic Organic Rankine Cycle and Organic Rankine Cycle with Vapor-Liquid Ejector Driven by Solar Energy
T2  - Energy Engineering

PY  - 2025
VL  - 122
IS  - 4
SN  - 1546-0118

AB  - Amidst the global push for decarbonization, solar-powered Organic Rankine Cycle (SORC) systems are gaining significant attention. The small-scale Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems have enhanced environmental adaptability, improved system flexibility, and achieved diversification of application scenarios. However, the power consumption ratio of the working fluid pump becomes significantly larger relative to the total power output of the system, adversely impacting overall system efficiency. This study introduces an innovative approach by incorporating a vapor-liquid ejector into the ORC system to reduce the pump work consumption within the ORC. The thermo-economic models for both the traditional ORC and an ORC integrated with a vapor-liquid ejector driven by solar parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) were developed. Key evaluation indicators, such as thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency, specific investment cost, and levelized cost of energy, were employed to compare the SORC with the solar ejector organic Rankine cycle (SEORC). Additionally, the study explores the effects of solar beam radiation intensity, PTC temperature variation, evaporator pinch point temperature difference, and condenser pinch point temperature difference on the thermo-economic performance of both systems. Results demonstrate that SEORC consistently outperforms SORC. Higher solar radiation intensity and increased PTC inlet temperature lead to better system efficiency. Moreover, there is an optimal PTC temperature drop where both thermal and exergy efficiencies are maximized. The influence of evaporator and condenser temperature pinches on system performance is found to be inconsistent.
KW  - Solar parabolic trough collector; organic Rankine cycle; vapor-liquid ejector; thermo-economic

DO  - 10.32604/ee.2025.060113