A vapor injector-based novel regenerative organic Rankine cycle

A regenerative organic Rankine cycle (RORC) that uses a vapor injector as the regenerator is proposed. The physical process is theoretically described and the numerical analysis of the injector performance based on a one-dimensional model is also presented. The thermal performance of both the novel cycle and the basic ORC is calculated and compared by using R123 as the working fluid. The results indicate that there exist the inlet vapor pressure regions for the injector that allows the new novel cycle performs better than the basic ORC. The evaporating and condensing temperatures affect the thermal performance and net power output of the cycles. The thermal performance of the RORC is better than the basic ORC for a given extraction pressure of 220 kPa at different evaporating temperatures, and the same result is found for a given extraction pressure of 300 kPa at different condensing temperatures. The influence of the condensing temperature, which affects the inlet liquid parameters of the injector, is more significant.

Research highlights
► A regenerative ORC using vapor injector as regenerator is proposed.
► The whole injector simulation is carried out based on one-dimensional global model.
► The injector regenerator is effective and can improve the performance of the BORC.