Power generation using waste heat recovery by organic Rankine cycle in oil and gas sector in Egypt: A case study

ORC (organic Rankine cycle) is a promising technology for conversion of heat into useful work. This study utilizes the ORC in an existing gas treatment plant in Egypt, as a case study, to recover the waste heat and convert it into electricity. A simulation model using Aspen HYSYS v7.1 has been built up for the case study. Two different cycles, the basic and the regenerative cycles, have been studied. Various working fluids have been investigated using different parameters such as net work produced, efficiency, volumetric flow rate and the irreversibility. To be more confident about the best working fluid, a capital cost and profitability analysis has been performed for the most two promising working fluids. The simulation has shown that regenerative cycle using either benzene or cyclohexane is the most promising choice. However, the capital cost and profitability study has shown that benzene is more suitable as working fluid than cyclohexane. Finally, an optimization study on the parameters indicates that the turbo expander inlet pressure of 4.1 MPa and temperature of 290 °C-300 °C are the most appropriate working conditions.