Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

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Energy Conversion and Management

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Multi-objective optimization of a combined steam-organic Rankine cycle

based on exergy and exergo-economic analysis for waste heat recovery
application
Navid Nazari a,, Parisa Heidarnejad b, Soheil Porkhial c
a
b
c

NARGAN Company, Tehran, Iran

Graduate Faculty of Environment, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, Iran

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history:
Received 7 May 2016
Received in revised form 17 August 2016
Accepted 6 September 2016

Keywords:
Combined cycle
Exergy
Exergo-economic
Genetic algorithm
Waste heat recovery
Multi-objective optimization

a b s t r a c t
In this paper, a combined steam-organic Rankine cycle is proposed to recover the waste heat of a gas turbine. Proposed combined system includes a subcritical steam Rankine cycle that is coupled with a transcritical organic Rankine cycle. Three different organic fluids such as R124, R152a, and R134a are selected
to monitor the thermodynamic and exergo-economic performance of the system. Results show that maximum exergy efficiency and minimum total product cost rate of a studied system for the base case condition are 57.62% and 396.7 ($/h) for the combined cycle with R124 and R152a, respectively. Also, a
parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of key parameters including steam turbine inlet
pressure, organic turbine inlet pressure, organic preheater pinch temperature and organic condensation
temperature on exergetic efficiency and total product cost rate of the system. Finally, the Genetic algorithm is employed to conduct a multi-objective optimization of the system with two objective functions
including exergy efficiency and total product cost rate. The results of optimization revealed that combined cycle with R152a has the best performance from thermodynamic and exergo-economic viewpoint
among analyzed fluids.
2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
In respect to limited resources of fossil fuel and also destructive
environmental effects result from consumption of these resources,
it is vital to develop efficient and clean energy technologies. As it is
reported, approximately 2050% of industrial energy use is wasted
in the form of flue gasses [1]. The waste heat recovery of industrial
flue gasses results in a reduction of CO2 emissions in addition to
the decrement of fossil fuel consumption [2]. One of the main
sources of industrial waste heat is rejected exhaust gas from the
gas turbine. Combined cycle plant in which the rejected waste heat
of a gas turbine is used to generate power through steam Rankine
cycle is a mature technology and appeared to be very successful in
the improvement of overall system efficiency and therefore reducing pollutant emissions [3]. Different enhancement in gas turbine
technology and also improvement and optimization of heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) leads to higher combined cycle plant

Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [Link]@[Link] (N. Nazari), [Link]@[Link]
(P. Heidarnejad), Porkhial@[Link] (S. Porkhial).
[Link]
0196-8904/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

efficiency [4]. Although all of these methods have been helpful

an enormous amount of heat in the range of 100200 C is still
rejected to the environment which could not be recovered through
another downstream steam cycle. For this purpose, dual loop heat
recovery system could be a solution to more efficiently utilize
exhaust waste heat even at low temperatures. Steam-organic dual
loop recovery system consists of a topping loop in which hightemperature water is used to produce power through a common
SRC, followed by a bottoming loop in which the residual thermal
energy is recovered by an ORC.
Many investigations have been evaluated the applications of
dual loop system for exhaust waste recovery of internal combustion engines. Shu et al. [5] proposed a dual loop system to recover
the waste heat of the exhaust and the engine coolant and the residual heat of the high-temperature cycle. Two different cycles including subcriticalsubcritical (sub-sub) and subcriticaltranscritical
(sub-trans) were defined to analysis the system. With consideration of net power output and exergy efficiency as the objective
function, results show that R143a-based sub-trans DORC system
performs the best. The effects of varying the HT loop condensation
temperature and the residual heat load on the LT loop of a dual

N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

367

Nomenclature
A
c
C_
f
i
_
m
q_
r
t
T
s
h
V
_
W
_
EX
Z
Z_
U

surface area (m2)

cost per exergy unit ($/GJ)
cost rate ($/h)
exergo-economic factor (%)
interest rate (%)
mass flow rate (kg/s)
heat rate (kW)
relative cost difference (%)
system operating hours (h)
temperature (C or K)
entropy (kJ/kg)
enthalpy (kJ/kg)
volume (m3)
power (kW)
exergy rate (kW)
investment cost ($)
investment cost rate ($/year)
overall heat transfer coefficient (kW/m2 k)

Subscripts
0
ambient condition
1, 2, 3, . . . State point
Cond
condenser
D
destruction
e
exit
elec
electric generator
vg
vapor generator
F
fuel
P
product
i
inlet
net
net
q
heat
w
power
Pre
preheater
exp
expander

loop system were evaluated by Song and Gu [6]. Based on the

results, the maximum net power output of the dual loop ORC system can increase the engine power by 11.2%. Tian et al. [7] assessed
a regenerative transcritical dual-loop ORC to recover the waste
heat of the exhaust, engine coolant and all the residual heat of
the HT loop. Their results revealed that toluene is the best working
fluid from the thermodynamic point of view. Zhou et al. [8] evaluated the use of organic mixtures as working fluid in the lowtemperature loop of dual loop system for waste heat recovery from
the internal combustion engine. Results showed that a better system performance could be achieved by the use of organic mixtures
than pure fluids. Sciubba et al. [9] compared a single loop and a
dual loop waste recovery system specifically designed for marine
engines of the different power range. The results showed that adding a second recovery loop improves the system performance in
terms of recovered electric power up to 8.11%. Yang et al. [10]
researched a dual loop system in which both HT and LT loop were
ORC for waste heat recovery of a diesel engine. The assessment
revealed that thermal efficiency increased by 13% for the combined
system with R245fa. Choi and Kim [11] proposed a dual loop system that comprises an upper trilateral cycle and a lower organic
Rankine cycle to recover the waste heat of a container ship engine.
The results confirmed that the energy and exergy efficiencies of the
dual loop system were higher than the single loop trilateral cycle.
In another study, Song et al. [12] investigated the use of screw
expander for wet steam expansion in HT loop of a dual loop system

wf
gen
cri
max
min
hs
cs
I
II
K
fg
st
cw

working fluid
generator
critical
maximum
minimum
hot side
cold side
first law
second law
component
flue gas
steam
cooling water

Superscripts
CI
capital investment
N
component lifetime (year)
Greeksymbols
g
efficiency (%)
e
effectiveness (%)

heat transfer coefficient (w/m2 k)

D
difference
Abbreviation
SORC
Steam-organic Rankine cycle
SRC
Steam Rankine cycle
ORC
Organic Rankine cycle
GWP
Global warming potential
ODP
Ozone depletion potential
CEPCI
Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index
CRF
Capital Recovery Factor
EES
Engineering Equation Solver
SPECO
Specific Exergy Costing

to recover the waste heat of a diesel engine. The results confirmed

that with the use of dual-loop ORC system, the original power output of the diesel engine increased about 11.6%.
In addition to investigations mentioned above, which mainly
emphasizes on the application of DORC for exhaust recovery of
ICE, Al Sulaiman [13] performed a detail exergy analysis of a combined steam-organic Rankine cycle driven by parabolic trough
solar collectors. Among the selected organic fluids, the combined
cycle with R134a demonstrates the best exergetic performance
with maximum exergetic efficiency. Also in Ref. [14], Li et al. proposed a cascade system for solar electricity generation. Screw
expander is employed in the top steam Rankine cycle. They
reported that efficiency of 13.6815.62% for the proposed system
could be achieved.
Apart from thermodynamic aspects, different methods such as
net present value, internal rate of return, annual cost were used
to ensure the feasibility of the energy systems from economic
viewpoint [15]. In recent decades, exergo-economics has been
increasingly employed in different research to achieve more practical plant design. Yang et al. [16] performed a multi-objective
optimization of an ORC for exhaust waste heat recovery of a diesel
engine. The results revealed that R245fa is the most suitable working fluid from the thermo-economic viewpoint. Fergani et al. [17]
performed a multi-criteria exergy based optimization of an ORC
with three different working fluids for waste heat recovery in the
cement industry considering exergy efficiency and the cost per

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

exergy unit as objective functions. Results indicated that there is

an optimal turbine inlet pressure for each working fluid in which
exergy efficiency is maximal, and cost per exergy unit is minimal.
Imran et al. [17] researched a thermo-economic optimization of
regenerative ORC for waste heat recovery applications. Maximum
thermal efficiency and minimum specific investment cost were
selected as objective functions. The optimization results showed
that basic ORC has low specific investment cost and thermal efficiency compared to regenerative ORC. Zare [18] performed a comparative exergo-economic analysis of different ORC configurations
for binary geothermal power plants. The results indicate that the
ORC with internal heat exchanger has better performance from
thermodynamic view while the simple ORC is the best among
the considered cycles from the economic standpoint. In another
study, Amini et al. discussed a thermo-economic optimization of
CO2 transcritical Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery application
[19]. Based on the presented results, the cycle costs are more influenced by the maximum pressure rather than the maximum
temperature.
From the review of the presented literature, it can be observed
that there is not enough information about the exergo-economic
performance of the combined steam-organic cycle.
In this paper, an exergo-economic analysis of a combined
steam-organic Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery of exhaust
flue gasses of a gas turbine is performed to achieve better knowledge of each decision variables. Different organic fluids such as
R124, R152a, and R134a are used in the parametric study. Also,
various key parameters such as turbine inlet pressure of steam
and organic cycles, organic preheater pinch temperature and condensation temperature of ORC are varied to investigate their effects
on performance of combined cycle. Finally, multi-objective optimization of the performance of the studied system is carried out
using GA, and a Pareto frontier is shown for a better selection of
design parameters of the system.

generator, expander, condenser, and pump. The topping cycle

recovers the heat contained in the exhaust flue gasses of gas turbine while the bottoming cycle utilizes the residual heat rejected
from both the steam condenser and flue gasses. The steam topping
loop and organic bottoming loop are coupled via a heat exchanger,
which works as a condenser for the topping loop and preheater for
the bottoming loop. In the high-temperature loop, the water at liquid state (4) is pumped to the vapor generator, which consists of
economizer, evaporator, and superheater. In the vapor generator,
first water temperature is increased to the appropriate evaporation
temperature and after passing two-phase region, steam is superheated to the sufficient degree (1). All the required heat to increase
water temperature from saturated liquid state to superheated
steam state is recovered from the exhaust flue gasses of the gas
turbine. Then the superheated steam is expanded in the turbine
to produce mechanical work, which can be converted to electricity
via a generator. To achieve maximum thermal efficiency, expanded
steam (2) from turbine exit should be cooled down and condensed
(3). In this state rejected heat from the expanded steam is used by
the bottoming loop. In the bottoming loop first, the organic fluid is
pumped to the preheater (10) in which it is heated up to the temperature of topping steam (10a). In further, organic fluid temperature increase to its critical temperature (5) via another heat
exchanger that utilize waste heat of exhaust flue gasses of the
gas turbine. In the next step, the organic vapor is expanded in
the turbine (6), and electrical power is generated. After turbine,
the organic vapor is condensed (7) by the cooling water in the condenser (8).
2.2. First law analysis
The following mass and energy balance equations with assuming steady state condition and neglecting the changes of kinetic
and potential energies were used to develop a thermodynamic
model for each component of the system.

2. System modeling
In this section, a detail description of proposed combined system for waste heat recovery from the exhaust gas of a gas turbine
with respect to the thermodynamical and economic aspects is
presented.

_i
m
q_

The schematic process flow diagram and corresponding T-S

curve of proposed combined steam-organic Rankine cycle are
shown in Fig. 1a and b, respectively. Both cycles consist of vapor

_ i hi
m

1
X

_
w

_ e he
m

Therefore, the first law efficiency of the combined S-ORC is

expressed as:

_
W

2.1. System description

_e
m

_
W

net;SORC
gI;total _ net _
mfg C p:fg T 16  T 18
Q in

_ net and m
_ fg refer to the total net power output of the comwhere W
bined cycle and the mass flow rate of flue gases, respectively.

Fig. 1. (a) Schematic process flow diagram and (b) T-S diagram of combined steam-organic Rankine cycle.

N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

369

Table 1
Energy balance equation of each component of the system.
Component

SRC

ORC

Vapor generator
Expander

_ st h1  h4 m
_ fg C p:fg T 16  T 17
Q_ v g;SRC m
_ st h1  h2s gexp;SRC ggen;SRC
_ exp;SRC m
w

_ wf h5  h5a m
_ fg C p:fg T 17  T 18 , Q_ pre;ORC m
_ wf h5a  h10 m
_ st h2  h3
Q_ v g;ORC m
_ wf h5  h6s gexp;ORC ggen;ORC
_ exp;ORC m
w

Condenser

_ st h2  h3
Q_ cond;SRC m

_ wf h6  h7 m
_ cw h9  h8
Q_ cond;ORC m

Pump

_ pump;SRC m_ gst h4s h3

w

_ pump;ORC mwfg h10s h7

w

pump;SRC

pump;ORC

Governing equations used in the first law analysis of each component of the system are presented in Table 1.
2.3. Second law analysis
In the evaluation of system performance especially in conjunction with economic consideration, exergy analysis is a useful tool
to identify exergy destruction/losses at each equipment and therefore finding possibilities of thermodynamic improvement of the
process. The exergy flow rate at each state point with neglecting
the chemical, kinetic and potential energies is expressed as:

_ mh
_ i  h0  T 0 Si  S0
Ex

Moreover, the exergy destruction rate at the outlet of each component can be written as:

_ D
Ex

_ in 
Ex

_ out
Ex

Finally, the exergy or second law efficiency of the combined SORC can be expressed as:

_
W

_
W

net;SORC
gII;total _ net _
mfg h16  h18  T 0 S16  S18
Exin

2.4. Exergo-economic analysis

In order to achieve cost-effective system design, aside from
thermodynamic studies, economic evaluation should also be considered. Exergo-economic is an engineering tool that combines
exergy analysis and economic principles to provide crucial information about the cost of each exergy streams and therefore finding
inefficiencies reason in the system [20]. In this study, SEPCO
method [21] is used to perform an exergo-economic evaluation
of the proposed system. To evaluate the system using SEPCO
method, following steps should carry out:
Determining exergetic flows at each stream.
Defining the fuel and product of each part. All exergy additions
to a component are considered the fuel and all exergy removals
from a component are considered the product [21].
Finally developing cost flow rate balance for each element
which is expressed as follows:

X
X
C_ e;k C_ W;k
C_ i;k C_ Q ;k Z_ k

process. Governing equations that are used to calculate capital

investment cost, Z_ k , for each component of the combined cycle
are presented on Appendix A in detail.
In the components of an energy system, the number of inlet and
outlet streams of each component is usually more than one; therefore, auxiliary equations are required for solving the exergoeconomic balance equations. With the aid of SEPCO method, the
auxiliary equations can be formed based on the F and P rules
[20]. The F rule refers to the removal of exergy from an exergy
stream within the component being considered. Based on the Frule, average specific cost (cost per exergy unit) associated with
exergy removal from a fuel stream must be equal to the average
specific cost at which the removed exergy was supplied to the
same stream in upstream components. The P rule refers to the supply of exergy to an exergy stream and states each exergy unit is
supplied to any stream associated with the exergetic product of
the component at the same average cost (cP). Finally, by developing
Eq. (7) for each component of the system and employing the auxiliary equations obtained by P and F rules, the cost rate of each
stream can be calculated [20].
In the case of combined steam-organic cycle, cost rate balance
and auxiliary equations of each component are presented in
Table 2.
To evaluate the performance of each component of the system
from exergo-economic approach several parameters such as the
average cost per unit exergy of fuel (C F;k ), the average cost per unit
exergy of product (C P;k ), the relative cost difference (rk), the
exergo-economic factor (fk) and the cost flow rate associated with
the exergy destruction (C_ D ) are used. These parameters are defined
as follows:

CF;k

C_ F;k
X_ F;k

CP;k

C_ P;k
X_ P;k

10

CD;k

C_ D;k
X_ D;k

11

rk

where e and i stand for entering and exiting streams for components k. Z_ k represents the entire total cost rate related to capital
investment of the Component k. In the above equation, C_ is the cost

fk

rate ($/h) which can be expressed as a function of the cost per unit
of exergy for exergy streams (c) [20]:

C_ cE_

Based on Eq. (8), for a system component the overall cost rate of all
exiting exergy streams is equal to the sum of all entering exergy
streams expenses plus the entire rate of payments to perform the

CP;k  CF;k
CF;k
Z_ K

Z_ K C_ D;k C_ L;k

12

13

Based on Eq. (12), r k accounts for the difference between the

specific product and fuel cost for each component that is due to
cost rate of exergy destruction (C_ D;k ) and cost rate associated with

_ Also the exergo-economic factor, f k , is a

the investment cost (Z).
parameter which shows the relative importance of a component
cost to the cost of exergy destruction and the loss associated with
that component.

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Table 2
Cost rate balance and auxiliary equations for the combined cycles components.
Components

Cost balance and auxiliary equations

SRC

ORC

Vapor generator

C_ 16  C_ 17 Z_ SRC;v g C_ 1  C_ 4
c16 c16

C_ 17  C_ 18 Z_ ORC;v g C_ 5  C_ 10a
c17 c18

Expander

C_ 1 Z_ SRC;exp C_ 2 C_ w;SRC;exp
c1 c2 , cp;SRC;exp cw;SRC;exp

C_ 5 Z_ ORC;exp C_ 6 C_ w;ORC;exp
c5 c6 , cp;ORC;exp cw;ORC;exp

Generator

C_ w;SRC;exp Z_ SRC;gen C_ w;SRC;elc

cf ;SRC;gen cw;SRC;exp ,
cp;SRC;gen cw;SRC;elc

C_ w;ORC;exp Z_ ORC;gen C_ w;ORC;elc

cf ;ORC;gen cw;ORC;exp ,
cp;ORC;gen cw;ORC;elc

Pump

C_ 3 Z_ SRC;pump C_ w;SRC;pump C_ 4
cf ;SRC;pump cw;SRC;pump , cw;SRC;pump cw;SRC;exp

C_ w;ORC;pump Z_ ORC;pump C_ 10  C_ 7
cf ;ORC;pump cw;ORC;pump , cw;ORC;pump cw;ORC;exp

Condenser

C_ 2  C_ 3 Z_ SRC;cond C_ 5  C_ 10
c2 c3

C_ 6  C_ 7 Z_ ORC;cond C_ 9  C_ 8
c6 c7 , c8 0

3. Multi-objective optimization
In various disciplines including energy systems, often it is
required to minimize or maximize simultaneously two or more
conflicting objectives. For this reason, multi-objective optimization
techniques are handy tools that can be used to achieve the best
system design. In contrast to the single-objective optimization
problem, solution to a multi-objective problem is a range of optimal points, which is called Pareto-frontier [22]. Although each
point in Pareto-frontier could be selected as an optimal solution,
but the selection of a single optimum point from existing points
on the Pareto front is mostly carried out based on the engineering
experiences and the importance of each objective for decision
makers. However, the Pareto optimal solution can also be selected
with the aid of a hypothetical point named as equilibrium or ideal
point, in which both objectives have their optimal values independent of the other objectives but not exist in reality [23]. Therefore
the nearest point of Pareto-frontier curve to the ideal point can be
chosen as a desired final optimal solution which defined as a
Pareto-optimal solution. In this study, LINMAP method was used
to find the final optimum solution in Pareto front. In the LINMAP
method, each objective is nondimensionalized using the following
relation:

F ij
F nij s
m
X
2
F ij 2

14

i1

where i is the index for each point on the Pareto frontier, j is the
index for each objective in the objectives space, and m denotes
the number of points in the Pareto front.
A multi-objective problem consists of optimizing several objectives simultaneously, with a number of inequality or equality constraints and an evolutionary algorithm to carry out the search for
the Pareto optimal solution, which is described as follows:
3.1. Definition of objective function and choice of decision variables
The objective functions for this problem are defined as to maximize exergy efficiency and minimize product cost rate which can
be modeled:

_
W

_
W

net;ORC
e _ net;SRC
mf :g T 0 s18  s16

15

C_ p C_ fuel Z_ total

16

For the optimization problem, some decision variables (design

parameters) are selected. In this study, three variables including

Table 3
Limit of decision variables in optimization procedure.
Decision variables (constraints)

Limit

Steam turbine inlet pressure

Organic turbine inlet pressure
Organic preheater pinch temperature

11,000  P1(kPa)  14,000

5000  P5(kPa)  8000
5  T5(C)  15

steam turbine inlet pressure, organic turbine inlet pressure, and

organic preheater pinch temperature are chosen as a decision variable. Although the decision variables may be varied in the optimization process, each decision variable is normally required to
be within a reasonable range as listed in Table 4 (see Table 3).
3.2. Evolutionary algorithm
The successful application of optimization algorithm to solve
difficult problems in recent years makes it interesting for both
the research community and industry. Evolutionary algorithms
are hybrid stochastic-deterministic optimization tool that simulates the process of natural evolution. The idea behind can be
described as follows: among an initial random population of individuals (a set of points in the search space), as a result of evolution,
new individuals will be created with the aid of genetic operators
such as crossover and mutation. Based on the Darwinian principle
of survival of the fitness, the probability of survival for these newly
generated solutions depends on their fitness to the specified selection criteria of the problem [24]. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are optimization techniques based on natural genetics. GAs were
developed by Holland [25] in an attempt to simulate growth and
decay of living organisms in a natural environment. The basic idea
behind GAs could be described in brief as follows. Firstly, a set of
point is selected randomly inside the optimization space. Then, this
set of points transformed into the new one using some simulated
evolutionary operators, such as crossover and mutation. Through
this process which is repeated several times, the genetic algorithm
transforms each set of point to the new one that is closer to global
optimal. The simplicity in the application and the fact that the only
information necessary is a measure of how optimal each point is in
the optimization space, make GAs attractive as optimizers. A block
flow diagram of genetic algorithm optimization procedure is presented in Fig. 2. More details about the procedure can be found
in Ref. [26].
4. Selected working fluids
Different research deals with the selection of suitable working
fluids for an ORC system. For this purpose, various selection criteria

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

5. Data validation
To ensure the model validation, the energy balance equations of
SRC and ORC of combined system are solved separately with the
same input conditions as in Ref. [14] and Ref. [28], respectively.
The comparison between the presented results and the results of
both mentioned reference shows good agreement, as shown in
Table 5. For instance, the small variations in the results between
Ref. [14] and this study are mainly due to the software used.
REFPROP Software [29] is used in Ref. [14], while EES (Equation
Evaluation Solution) Software [30] is used in the present study to
calculate the working fluid properties. Therefore, this mathematical model is verified.
6. Results and discussion
In this study, rejected waste heat from an SGT-500 gas turbine
manufactured by Siemens Ltd. is selected to be recovered through
a combined steam-organic Rankine cycle. The proposed combined
cycle consist of a steam topping loop and organic bottoming loop
which are coupled via a heat exchanger. The thermodynamic
power cycle selected for steam and organic fluid are subcritical
and transcritical, respectively. The main process data of the SGT500 gas turbine are provided in Table 6.
6.1. Assumptions and input parameters
In order to simplify the problem, some general assumptions are
used which are as follows:

Fig. 2. A block flow diagram of GA optimization procedure.

are specified. The thermodynamic and physical properties, stability, environmental impacts, safety and compatibility, availability
and cost are some of the key factors to be considered for the proper
selection of organic fluids [27]. As the means of thermodynamic,
working fluid type is also an important parameter. Organic fluids
can be classified into three categories based on the slope of the
vapor saturation curve on a TS diagram. (1) Dry fluids have a positive slope, (2) wet fluids have a negative slope, and (3) isentropic
fluids have nearly vertical saturated vapor curve on the T-S diagram. As a general guideline, wet fluids are more convenient to
be used in the transcritical cycle because of the lower required
condensation but isentropic and dry fluids can also be applied in
the transcritical cycle depending on the temperature profile of
the heat source [27]. In addition, selected fluids should have low
critical temperatures and pressures to guarantee the transcritical
state can be achieved easily. In this paper, three organic fluids
based on the specified selection criteria are chosen to monitor
the ORC performance. Table 4 gives the main physical and environmental properties of the selected working fluids in this work.

(1) Each component is in the steady state condition.

(2) Pressure drop and heat loss through the vapor generators
pipelines and condensers are treated as negligible.
(3) To avoid acid corrosion, the lower limit of outlet exhaust gas
temperature is set to 100 C.
(4) The saturated liquid is supposed at the condenser outlet.
(5) Isentropic efficiencies of expanders are assumed to be 85%
[31].
(6) Isentropic efficiencies of pumps are assumed to be 70% [32].
(7) Generators efficiencies of both cycles are assumed to be 98%
[33].
(8) Pinch point temperature of all heat exchangers is assumed to
be 10 C except for economizer of the steam loop and preheater of the organic loop which assumed to be 5 C.
(9) Dead state temperature and pressure are assumed to be
25 C and 100 kPa.
6.2. Results of energy analysis
In this section, by applying equations of Table 1 for each component of the system, using mentioned assumptions and information
of Tables 6 and 7, thermodynamic properties of each stream for
steam Rankine cycle (topping loop) and organic Rankine cycle (bottoming loop) with three mentioned working fluids are calculated
and presented in Table 8. Also, the thermodynamic performance
of the system including net power output, first law, and second
law efficiencies are given in Table 9. As it is listed in Table 9, the

Table 4
Physical, safety and environmental data of selected organic working fluids.
Organic fluids
1
2
3

R124
R152a
R134a

Tcritical

Pcritical

ODP

GWP (100 yr)

Type

136.48
66.05
102

122.286
113.2
101.06

3.62
4.5
4.06

0.3
0
0

610
124
1430

Isentropic
Wet
Isentropic

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Table 5
Comparison of the present calculated results with Refs. [14,28].
State point

SRC

ORC (R125)

T (C)

1
2
3
4

h (kJ/kg)

m (kg/s)

T (C)

h (kJ/kg)

s (kJ/kg)

Ref. [14]

This study

Ref. [14]

This Study

Ref. [14]

This Study

Ref. [32]

This Study

Ref. [32]

This Study

Ref. [32]

This Study

101.18
380
99.63
99.63

101.6
380
100
100

433
2977.2
2278.2
417.5

434.6
2978
2280
419

71.52
71.52
71.52
71.52

71.53
71.53
71.53
71.53

33.29
95
56.41
30.36

33.22
95
56.12
30.29

243.08
385.47
372.5
240.42

243
384.9
372
240.4

1.14
1.56
1.57
1.138

1.139
1.558
1.568
1.137

Table 6
Main process data of the SGT-500 gas turbine.

Table 9
Net power output, first law, and second law efficiencies of the combined system.

Turbine model

Siemens SGT-500

Turbine inlet temperature

Exhaust gas temperature
Exhaust gas mass flow rate
Net power output
Fuel

850 C
400 C
86.4 kg/s
17 MW
Natural gas, crude oil

SRC
ORC (R124)
Combined SORC (R124)
ORC (R152a)
Combined SORC (R152a)
ORC (R134a)
Combined SORC (R134a)

_ net (kW)
W

gI

gII

C_ ($/h)

2900
3840
6740
3723
6622
3438
6338

26.75
21.96
23.79
21.28
23.38
19.65
22.37

52.21
62.52
57.62
60.6
56.61
55.97
54.18

399.6

396.7

397.2

Table 7
Input parameters used to solve the mathematical model for the base case condition.

Parameters

Input values

Steam turbine inlet pressure

Steam condenser pressure
Organic turbine inlet pressure
Organic condenser temperature
Cooling water inlet temperature
Cooling water inlet pressure

14,000 kPa
101.3 kPaa
5000 kPa
30 C
15 C
150 kPa

Based on Ref. [14].

Table 8
Results of energy analysis for base case simulation of combined steam organic cycle at
different state point.
Stream no.

P (kPa)

T (C)

m (kg/s)

h (kj/kg)

E_ (kW)

Steam
1
2
3
4

14000.00
101.30
101.30
14000.00

390.00
100.00
100.00
102.40

4.30
4.30
4.30
4.30

2961.00
2252.00
419.10
439.80

5451.13
1988.29
190.19
258.58

R124
5
6
7
8
9
10

5000.00
446.10
446.10
150.00
150.00
5000.00

169.40
30.00
30.00
15.00
25.00
33.62

116.10
116.10
116.10
513.20
513.20
116.10

456.80
418.20
233.50
63.06
104.90
238.30

8544.96
3409.86
2000.40
25.00
400.09
2402.11

R152a
5
6
7
8
9
10

5000.00
690.70
690.70
150.00
150.00
5000.00

153.50
30.00
30.00
15.00
25.00
33.50

69.97
69.97
69.97
516.10
516.10
69.97

622.60
561.40
253.10
63.06
104.90
260.00

9690.85
4740.47
3561.47
25.14
402.35
3908.52

R134a
5
6
7
8
9
10

5000.00
770.60
770.60
150.00
150.00
5000.00

175.70
30.00
30.00
15.00
25.00
33.52

88.20
88.20
88.20
523.00
523.00
88.20

386.30
341.50
93.58
63.06
104.90
98.67

9366.84
4871.29
3121.40
25.48
407.73
3441.56

Flue gas
16
17
18

140.00
140.00
140.00

400.00
285.20
100.00

86.40
86.40
86.40

684.80
563.80
374.10

14921.28
9365.76
3225.31

total power output of steam cycle is 2900 kW with first law efficiency of 26.75%. The total power output of organic Rankine cycle
with three different working fluids of R124, R152a, and R134a is
3840, 3723 and 3438 kW and the first law efficiency of organic
cycle for these working fluids is 21.96%, 21.28%, and 19.65% respectively. Finally, the total power output of combined steam-organic
Rankine cycle with different organic working fluids of R124,
R152a, and R134a reaches to 6740, 6622, and 6338 kW with the
first law efficiencies of 23.79%, 23.38%, and 22.37% respectively.
From a second law analysis point of view, it can be observed that
exergy efficiency of the organic cycle with R124, R152a, and
R134a are 62.52, 60.6, and 55.97, respectively. Finally, the exergetic efficiency of combined system with three mentioned fluids
of R124, R152a, and R134a is 57.62%, 56.61% and 54.18%
respectively.
For better comparison between the proposed combined system
and a pure steam Rankine cycle, thermodynamic modeling of a
steam Rankine cycle working in the same condition to a combined
system has been conducted and the results are listed in Table 10.
As it is shown, a combined system utilizing three different working
fluids provides a larger net power output when it is compared to a
pure steam Rankine cycle. As a result, combined SORC cycle is
more efficient compared to pure steam cycle in utilizing waste heat
energy.
6.3. Results of exergy analysis
In this section, by applying the equations of the second law of
thermodynamics for each component of the system, exergy
destruction rate and exergetic efficiency of each component are
calculated and listed in 10th and 11th columns of Table 11. Figs. 3
5 exhibit the exergy destruction rate of each component and its
contribution to total exergy destruction rate of the system. It is

Table 10
Results of energy analysis for simple steam Rankine cycle.
Stream no.

P (kPa)

T (C)

m (kg/s)

h (kj/kg)

1
2
3
4

14,000
4.246
4.246
14,000

390
30
30
31.78

4.299
4.299
4.299
4.299

2961
1954
125.7
145.8

 net (kW): 4327

W

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Table 11
Results of exergy and exergo-economic analysis for combined SORC with three different working fluids.
Z_ ($/h)

Z_ C_ D ($/h)

f (%)

r (%)

ED

e (%)

0.00
0.00
0.00
1.48
7.25
2.53

1.59
3.80
1.79
361.08
1.95
0.61

1.59
3.80
1.79
362.56
9.20
3.14

100
100
100
99.59
21.23
19.42

Infinity
Infinity
Infinity
3345
5.662
37.51

345.40
3.65
12.68
415.10
59.18
20.67

85.36
99.85
98.35
88.01
98.00
76.79

2.44
0.26
1.63
2.09
6.98
7.20

2.47
0.00
2.46
0.46
0.95
3.90

3.31
4.81
7.01
2.55
6.81
4.41

5.78
4.81
9.47
3.01
7.77
8.31

57.24
100.00
74.04
84.70
87.76
53.08

147.50
Infinity
56.15
28.05
327.90
588.50

695.60
1100.00
653.50
78.38
161.80
1036.00

61.31
82.09
87.28
98.00
71.35
26.58

0.99
0.00
1.05
1.67
1.67
1.05

2.43
0.27
1.67
2.10
7.24
5.25

2.44
0.00
2.53
0.01
0.84
0.01

3.31
4.49
6.97
2.48
6.13
2.53

5.75
4.49
9.49
2.48
6.96
2.53

57.49
100.00
73.38
84.44
88.00
46.65

145.80
Infinity
58.50
26.18
334.20
398.50

687.90
1469.00
667.30
75.97
139.20
802.00

61.74
76.09
86.52
98.00
71.36
31.98

0.99
0.00
1.03
1.65
1.65
1.03

0.01
0.00
0.01
0.01
0.03
0.03

2.43
0.00
1.99
0.42
0.77
5.06

3.31
4.95
6.88
2.30
5.79
3.35

5.74
4.95
8.88
2.71
6.55
8.41

57.64
100.00
77.53
84.63
88.32
39.83

144.80
Infinity
60.64
26.33
344.70
594.40

683.70
1332.00
539.10
70.16
128.80
1367.00

61.97
78.32
88.01
98.00
71.30
21.84

Cycle

Component

cf ($/GJ)

cp ($/GJ)

C_

SRC (steam)

Economizer
Evaporator
Super heater
Expander
Generator
Pump

0.00
0.00
0.00
0.99
34.01
34.01

0.22
0.44
0.66
34.01
35.94
46.77

ORC (R124)

Preheater
Vapor generator
Expander
Generator
Pump
Condenser

0.99
0.00
1.05
1.63
1.63
1.05

ORC (R152a)

Preheater
Vapor generator
Expander
Generator
Pump
Condenser

ORC (R134a)

Preheater
Vapor generator
Expander
Generator
Pump
Condenser

exp,ORC,
653.5kW,
15%
exp,SRC,
415.1kW, 9%

($/h)

exp,ORC,
exp,SRC,
539.1kW,
415.1kW, 9%
11%
cond,ORC,
1036kW,
23%

cond,ORC,
1367kW,
28%

vg,SRC,
361.7kW, 8%
vg,ORC,
1100kW,
25%

pump,ORC,
161.8kW, 4%

cond,SRC,
695.6kW,
16%

Fig. 3. Exergy destruction rate of each component of the combined system with
R124.

exp,ORC,
667.3kW,
15%
exp,SRC,
415.1kW, 9%

vg,ORC,
1469kW,
32%

vg,ORC,
1332kW,
28%

pump,SRC,
20.7kW, 0%

cond,ORC,
802kW, 18%
vg,SRC,
361.7kW, 8%
pump,SRC,
20.7kW, 0%
pump,ORC,
139.2kW, 3%
cond,SRC,
687.9kW,
15%

Fig. 4. Exergy destruction rate of each component of the combined system with
R152a.

concluded that for all three fluids, condenser and vapor generator
of the ORC are the main source of exergy destruction of the system
because, for the condenser and vapor generator, heat transfer and
friction are the sources of exergy destruction, with the most signif-

cond,SRC,
683.7kW,
14%

vg,SRC,
361.7kW, 7%
pump,SRC,
pump,ORC, 20.7kW, 0%
128.8kW, 3%

Fig. 5. Exergy destruction rate of each component of the combined system with
R134a.

icant irreversibility being related to the stream-to-stream heat

transfer.
6.4. Results of exergo-economic analysis
In this section, by applying the equations of Table 2 and Section 2.4 for each component of the system with three selected
organic fluids, exergo-economic factors are calculated and listed
in Table 11. Based on exergo-economic methodology, components
with the highest value of Z_ C_ D are the most important components from the exergo-economic viewpoint. From Table 11 it can
be seen that value of Z_ C_ D for the steam turbine is noticeably
high compared to other components of steam and even organic
cycle. The high value of f for steam turbine shows that costs that
associated with steam turbine are exclusively due to capital investment cost of it. Based on cost model of steam turbine, capital
investment cost of steam turbine depends on two parameters: turbine inlet temperature (T1) and turbine isentropic efficiency (gexp).
Therefore to reduce the high Z_ value associated with the steam turbine, we should consider a reduction in the value of at least one of
these variables. Among steam cycle components, generator and

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

pump are ranked after turbine. The value of Z_ C_ D for these components is 9.20 and 3.14 ($/h) respectively. The low value of f for
both generator and pump shows that the costs associated with
these components are almost due to exergy destruction. Among
organic cycle components, organic expander has the maximum
value of Z_ C_ D . The value of Z_ C_ D for organic expanders with different working fluids of R124, R152a and R134a is 9.47, 9.49 and
8.88 ($/h) respectively. Similar to the steam turbine, capital investment cost of organic expander has the largest portion of the value
of Z_ C_ D . Lowering isentropic efficiency of the expander in ORC
can reduce this value. 100% and infinity values in Table 11 refer
to components which have no cost of fuel, and it is suggested to
decrease the capital investment of these components to decrease
their value of Z_ C_ D .
6.5. Parametric study
In this section, a parametric study is used to evaluate the effects
of different design parameters of combined cycle such as steam
turbine inlet pressure, organic turbine inlet pressure, organic preheater pinch temperature and condensing temperature of the
organic cycle on both thermodynamic and exergo-economic performance of the system. The main benefit of the parametric study
is that it helps designers visualize how a system will perform
under different operating conditions.
6.5.1. Effects of steam turbine inlet pressure
The effects of steam turbine inlet pressure on exergy efficiencies
and total product cost rates of combined SORC with three mentioned working fluids are presented in Figs. 6 and 7 respectively.
Based on Fig. 6, increasing steam turbine inlet pressure from
11,000 to 14,000 kPa will result to decrease exergy efficiency of
combined cycles with R124, R152a, and R134a. For the steamtopping loop, the increase in the steam turbine inlet pressure leads
to an increase in the enthalpy drop through the steam turbine and
a decrease in steam flow rate. However, as the net power output
keeps decreasing and therefore exergy efficiency, it can be concluded that the effect of the decreasing mass flow rate is dominant
[8]. Based on the presented results, between three selected working fluids for the organic cycle, combined system with R124 has
the maximum value of exergy efficiency (58.5%). It is concluded
that the fluid with higher critical temperature leads to having a
better performance from exergy efficiency point of view. Fig. 7

Fig. 6. Effects of steam turbine inlet pressure on exergy efficiency of combined

SORC (P5 = 5000 kPa, DTpre, organic = 10 C, T6 = 30 C).

Fig. 7. Effects of steam turbine inlet pressure on total product cost of combined
SORC (P5 = 5000 kPa, DTpre, organic = 10 C, T6 = 30 C).

illustrates results of varying steam turbine inlet pressure on total

product cost rates of the system with three selected organic working fluids. As it is obvious, total product cost rate of the system
with every three selected fluids tends to decrease notably when
steam turbine inlet pressure increase from 11,000 to 14,000 kPa.
This is mainly due to the reduction of steam turbine investment
cost because net power output reduction of the steam cycle. When
steam turbine inlet pressure reaches to the maximum at
14,000 kPa, combined system with R152a has the minimum total
product cost rate of 396.7 ($/h) while R134a and R124 and with
close higher values of 397.2 and 399.6 ($/h) are at the next stages.
It is observed that R152a is a good candidate from total product
cost point of view.
6.5.2. Effects of organic turbine inlet pressure
In Figs. 8 and 9, results of varying organic turbine inlet pressure
on exergy efficiencies and total product cost rates of the combined
system with three selected working fluids are presented. As
depicted in Fig. 8, exergy efficiencies of the combined system with
three selected fluids keep boosting up with the increase of organic

Fig. 8. Effects of organic turbine inlet pressure on exergy efficiency of combined

SORC (P1 = 14,000 kPa, DTpre,organic = 10 C, T6 = 30 C).

N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Fig. 9. Effects of organic turbine inlet pressure on total product cost of combined
SORC (P1 = 14,000 kPa, DTpre,organic = 10 C, T6 = 30 C).

turbine inlet pressure to reach its maximum at 8000 kPa. Also,

these results show that combined system with R124 has the highest exergy efficiency due to having the highest critical temperature
among them. The increase of organic turbine inlet pressure would
result in two different phenomena. First, mass flow rate of organic
fluid would increase because in higher pressure more fluid is
required to absorb the residual heat of the steam cycle. On the
other hand, the enthalpy drop through organic expander would
decrease because as the inlet temperature of waste heat to the
organic vapor generator remains constant, organic turbine inlet
temperature decreases. Based on Fig. 8, the increase of exergy efficiency shows that the effect of increase in mass flow rate is dominant. Fig. 9 presents results of varying organic turbine inlet
pressure on total product cost rate of the combined system with
three selected working fluids. It can be observed that total product
cost rate of the combined system tend to increase with increasing
organic turbine inlet pressure from 5000 to 8000 kPa. As the total
product cost of topping loop keeps constant with increasing
organic turbine inlet pressure, the increase in the total product cost
of the system is mainly due to the increase in the total investment
cost of ORC turbine.

375

Fig. 10. Effects of organic preheater pinch temperature on exergy efficiency of

combined SORC (P1 = 14,000 kPa, P5 = 5000 kPa, T6 = 30 C).

Fig. 11. Effects organic preheater pinch temperature on total product cost of SORC
(P1 = 14,000 kPa, P5 = 5000 kPa, T6 = 30 C).

6.5.3. Effects of organic preheater pinch temperature

Fig. 10 represents the effects of varying pinch temperature of
organic preheater in the range of 515 C on exergy efficiency of
combined system with three selected working mediums. Fig. 10
shows that exergy efficiency decreases very notably with increasing pinch temperature of the organic preheater. This can be
explained by the fact that despite increasing organic fluid mass
flow rate with increasing pinch temperature, turbine inlet temperature of organic medium decreases which leads to lower power
output and exergy efficiency [34]. The effect of pinch temperature
variation on total product cost rate of the system is also presented
in Fig. 11. It shows that for all three working fluids with increasing
pinch temperature, first total product cost rate of the system
decreases drastically and then slightly.
6.5.4. Effects of organic condenser temperature
Figs. 12 and 13 indicate the effects of organic condenser temperature on exergy efficiency and total product cost rate of the
combined system. As condenser temperature ranges from 25 to
35 C, exergy efficiency of the system with three mediums
decreases linearly. It is mainly due to the reduction in the enthalpy

Fig. 12. Effects organic condensation temperature on exergy efficiency of combined

SORC (P1 = 14,000 kPa, P5 = 5000 kPa, DTpre,organic = 10 C).

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Fig. 13. Effects of organic condensation temperature on total product cost of

combined SORC (P1 = 14,000 kPa, P5 = 5000 kPa, DTpre,organic = 10 C).

Fig. 14. Pareto-frontier and Pareto-optimal solution of SORC with R124.

drop of the organic turbine which leads to lower power output and
therefore exergy efficiency. As it is shown in Fig. 13, total product
cost rate of the combined cycle with three proposed fluids increase
very slightly with increasing organic condenser temperature,
which means the higher exergy efficiency can be achievable at
lower total product cost. The increase of total product cost with
the increasing of condensation temperature can be explained by
the fact that higher condensation temperature would result in a
higher temperature of the organic fluid at the inlet of the preheater. However, due to a constant heat flux of condensing steam,
the organic fluid mass flow rate should be increased and therefore
condenser investment cost increases. It can be concluded that
exergy efficiency and total product cost rate are not conflicting
for this decision variable, and therefore it is not suitable to consider
condensation temperature of the organic cycle as a decision
variable in multi-objective optimization. With a brief look at
Figs. 611, one can conclude that for each working fluid there is
a trade-off between total product cost and exergy efficiency. Or
more specifically, the more the exergy efficiency, the higher the
total product cost.
Fig. 15. Pareto-frontier and Pareto-optimal solution of SORC with R152a.

6.6. Optimization results

In this section, results of applying GA (genetic algorithm) to
perform multi-objective optimization of combined steam-organic
Rankine cycle are presented. It is worth to indicate that genetic
algorithm (GA) routine through Matlab software [35] is coupled
with EES to conduct multi-objective optimization of combined
SORC. Also value of algorithm parameters are as follows: population size: 300, tournament size: 2, crossover fraction: 0.8, crossover
ratio: 1 and migration fraction: 2. Figs. 1416 present Pareto fronts
for combined SORC with R124, R152a, and R134a. The Pareto optimum results clearly reveal the conflict between two objectives, the
exergy efficiency, and the product cost rate. Any change that
increases the exergy efficiency leads to an increase in the product
cost rate and vice versa. This shows the need for multi-objective
optimization technique in the case of conflicting objectives. It is
shown in Figs. 1416, which the maximum exergy efficiency exists
at design point C, while the product cost rate is the biggest at this
point. On the other hand, the minimum product cost rate occurs at
design point A, with the smallest efficiency value at that point.
Design point C is the optimal situation at which, exergy efficiency
is a single objective function, while design point A is the optimum
condition at which the product cost rate is a single objective func-

Fig. 16. Pareto-frontier and Pareto-optimal solution of SORC with R134a.

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N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Table 12
Optimum and base case values of objectives and design parameters for four typical points on Pareto front.
A

P 1 kPa
P 5 kPa
DT PH (C)
e%
C_ p $=h

R124

R152a

R134a

R124

R152a

R134a

R124

R152a

R134a

R124

R152a

R134a

R124

R152a

R134a

13,982
5119
14
56.9
399.78

13,995
5163
15
55.2
396.60

13,987
5142
15
53.9
397.16

13,971
7418
5
59.9
404.22

13,991
7266
5
60.3
401.08

13,977
7962
5.1
58.4
403.11

11,792
7400
5
60.33
429.53

13,975
7664
5
60.5
401.74

11,483
7974
5
59.4
431.87

60.33
399.78

60.5
396.60

59.4
397.16

14,000
5000
10
57.6
399.6

14,000
5000
10
56.61
396.7

14,000
5000
10
54.18
397.2

tion. Based on the results of LINMAP, the closest point of Pareto

frontier of Figs. 1416 to the point D (ideal point) is point B and
might be considered as a desirable final solution. Optimum values
of two objectives and three design parameters for four typical
points from A to D and base case design are listed in Table 12 for
three selected fluids. As it is seen in Table 12, for R124, R152a,
and R134a, values of exergy efficiencies of point B are improved
2.3%, 3.7% and 4.2% in comparison to the base case design when
multi-objective optimization is conducted.

Condenser
0:8
Z CI
cond;SRC 588  Acond;SRC

In this paper, a detailed thermodynamic and exergo-economic

modeling of a combined steam-organic Rankine cycle using three
selected organic fluid of R124, R152a, and R134a is presented
and assessed. The proposed combined cycle consists of a subcritical
steam topping loop that recovers the waste heat rejected from the
gas turbine and an organic transcritical bottoming loop that recovers both rejected heat from topping loop condenser and residual
waste heat of gas turbine. Results of the thermodynamic analysis
show that steam condenser and organic vapor generator have the
main distribution in total exergy destruction of the steam and
organic cycle respectively. Therefore, careful design and selection
of these two components are essential in designing a combined
steam-organic Rankine cycle. Also, exergetic efficiencies of the
combined cycle with three different fluids of R124, R152a, and
R134a are calculated to be 57.62%, 56.61% and 54.18% respectively.
A parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of different cycle parameters including steam turbine inlet pressure,
organic turbine inlet pressure, organic preheater pinch temperature and organic condensation temperature on cycle performances.
Finally, a multi-objective optimization of the proposed system is
conducted considering two objective functions: exergy efficiency
and total product cost rate to find the best design parameters of
the proposed system.
Appendix A. Capital investment cost calculation
The following equations are used to calculate capital costs of a
different component of combined steam-organic Rankine cycle
based on proposed equations on the Refs. [20,3638].
Steam Rankine cycle:
Economizer, evaporator, and superheater

Z CI
v g;SRC

Z CI
sh;SRC

A
130 
0:093

0:78
A:1

Expander

Z CI
expander;SRC

_ 0:7
3880:5  w
expander:SRC
 1

0:05
1  gexpander;SRC 3



T1  886
 5  exp
10:42
A:2

A:3

Pump

_ 0:7
Z CI
1
pump;SRC 705:48  wpump;SRC 

0:2

1  gpump;SRC 3

A:4

Organic Rankine cycle:

Vapor generator

7. Conclusions

Z CI
eco;SRC

Base case

Z CI
v g;ORC 130 


0:78
Av g;ORC
0:093

A:5

Expander

_
log 10 Z CI
expander;ORC 2:6259 1:4398  log 10 wexpander;ORC
_ expander;ORC 2
 0:1776  log 10 w

A:6

Condenser

_
Z CI
cond;ORC 1773  m6

A:7

Pump

_ 0:7
Z CI
pump;SRC 3540  wpump;ORC

A:8

Capital investment cost of each equipment at reference year can

be calculated using following equation [20]:

Capital inv estment cost at reference year

orginal inv estement cost 

cost index at reference year

cost index at orginal year

A:9

In this work, cost index from Chemical Engineering Plant Cost

Index (CEPCI) [39] are used to update all equipment costs to the
year 2013. It should be noted that cost of economizer, vapor generator and superheater of steam Rankine cycle and vapor generator
of organic Rankine cycle are based on 2010 and all other equipments of both cycles are based on 2005 cost index.
It should be noted that for converting capital investment cost of
a component to the cost rate, below equation could be used:

Z_ k Z CI
k  CRF  =t

where is maintenance factor and t is the number of hours per

year that unit operates. The value for and t in this study are
assumed 1.06 and 7446 h, respectively. In addition, CRF (cost rate
factor) can be calculated from following equation:

CRF

i1 i
N

1  i  1

where i is interest rate, and N is estimated component lifetime.

These parameters are assumed 10% and 20 years in this study,
respectively.

378

N. Nazari et al. / Energy Conversion and Management 127 (2016) 366379

Table B.1
Proposed overall heat transfer coefficient for a different heat exchanger of the combined cycle.
Type of heat exchanger

Economizer
Vapor generator (steam)
Superheater
Preheater
Vapor generator (organic fluid)
Condenser

Hot side

Cold side

Fluid

Phase

Fluid

Phase

Flue gas
Flue gas
Flue gas
Steam
Flue gas
Organic fluid

Gas
Gas
Gas
Two-phase
Gas
Vapor

Water
Water
Steam
Organic fluid
Organic fluid
Cooling water

Liquid
Two-phase
Vapor
Liquid
Liquid
Liquid

Appendix B. Surface area calculation of heat exchanger

The costs of heat exchangers (preheater, evaporator, and superheater) and condensers are strongly dependent on heat transfer
area. In this regard, for determining the heat transfer area, the
overall heat transfer coefficient between hot and cold fluids must
be calculated. In this work, all heat exchangers and condensers
are assumed as the shell and tube heat exchanger. Details of the
overall heat transfer coefficient calculation are given in this
section.
The heat transfer surface area is determined by [40]:

Q
U  DT m

B:1

where Q is heat transfer load and U is overall heat transfer coefficient. Also, DTm is logarithmic mean temperature difference, which
can be calculated as follows:

DT m

DT max  DT min
ln DDTTmax
min

B:2

where DTmax and DTmin are maximal and minimal temperature differences at the end of heat exchangers, respectively.
In Eq. (B.1) the overall heat transfer coefficient (U) can be
expressed as:

1
1
d
1

U ahs k acs

Proposed value for U (KW/m K)

B:3

where ahs and acs are heat transfer coefficient for the hot side and
cold side of heat exchanger, respectively, and d and k are thickness
and thermal conductivity of construction material of [Link] B.1
present assumed values for the overall heat transfer coefficient
based on reference [41]. These values are used in this study to calculate the surface heat transfer area of heat exchangers.
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