Experiments of Low-Grade Heat Organic Rankine Cycle Power Generation Optimal Load Characteristics

This paper presents the experimental study of the small organic Rankine cycle power system performance under different heat source temperature and different load resistance,1kW experimental system was built using scroll expander with the working fluid R600a. Experimental results show that when heat source temperature does not exceed 120°C, the system has a maximum power for 1.05kW and power generation efficiency of up to 4.51%, the expander rotation speed and expansion ratio can reach 2922rpm and 3.03, respectively; Experiment obtained the variable condition operating characteristics of the scroll expander and permanent magnet generator and the relationship with the load resistance; There exist optimal load resistance to make power generation and unit power output and power generation efficiency maximum at the different heat temperature and different working fluid flow.The scroll expander should match permanent magnet generator and the load resistance when designing systems so that the system can get optimal performance.