Modeling and experimental investigation of an Organic Rankine Cycle using scroll expander for small scale solar applications

This study aims at developing and optimizing an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) for a small scale, decentralized parabolic trough system.
A numerical model the Organic Rankine Cycle is developed and an experimental study is carried out on an ORC prototype working with refrigerant HCFC-123, and whose heat sources consist in two hot air flows. The ORC model is built by connecting different sub-models: the heat exchanger models, a volumetric pump model and a scroll expander model. Measured performances of the ORC prototype are presented and allow the validation of the ORC model.