HD Diesel engine equipped with a bottoming Rankine cycle as a waste heat recovery system. Part 2: Evaluation of alternative solutions

A theoretical investigation has been performed on the feasibility of introducing a waste heat recovery (WHR) system in a two-stage turbocharged HDD engine. The WHR is attained by introducing a Rankine cycle, which uses an organic substance or directly water as a working fluid depending on energetic performance considerations. A previous research was carried out to evaluate the maximum potential of this WHR concept, a conventional layout was used for coupling the Rankine cycle to the thermal engine. The objective of the present research is to broad the scope of the previous analysis by considering new alternative solutions for the problems related to the coupling between the WHR Rankine cycle and the thermal engine. These solutions are based on adapting one of the turbochargers by removing its turbine and trying to recover the energy by the Rankine cycle. Finally, the turbine of the Rankine cycle supplies the recovered energy directly to the compressor of this turbocharger. Thus, in these layouts the coupling is simpler as it involves only two turbomachines, which are supposed to share a similar rotating speed. From the results of the global energy balance, these alternative layouts produce slight benefits in fuel consumption but in all cases these benefits are lower compared to those attained with conventional layouts.

► This research broadens the scope of the investigations about waste heat recovery.
► New solutions for coupling WHR Rankine cycles and thermal engines are evaluated.
► The main objective is making the solution easier to implement in real engines.
► The energy recovered by an typical turbine and by a WHR Rankine cycle are compared.
► The maximum increment of the mechanical power delivered by the power plan is by 8%.