Design and modelling of a small scale biomass-fueled CHP system based on Rankine technology

The ultimate aim of the project, where the work presented in this paper is inserted, is the design of an ORC based cogeneration biomass-fired mini scale CHP system (10-100kWe). For this purpose, a medium power range (500 kWt) biomass boiler will be modified in order to use part of the energy contained in biomass combustion gases to, indirectly, evaporate the working fluid of an ORC which condenser will be responsible for pre-heating the water demanded by the users. The work presented in this paper refers to the development of a model capable of predict with accuracy the quasi-steady behavior of the ORC by affording an adequate engineering understanding of the physical phenomena affecting their performance. A good and satisfactory agreement was obtained between experimental results and computational outputs of sub-models which allow simulating with some confidence other different conditions.