Thermodynamic analysis of geothermal energy sourced organic rankine power plant

Geothermal energy from geothermal sources is becoming increasingly popular as a sustainable energy source for electricity generation in our country. Binary geothermal power plants are systems that generate electricity with the help of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) using geothermal fluid temperature. Energy and exergy analyses of the cycle and each system component that constitutes the cycle are performed in detail. Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software is used for these analyses. N-pentane is used as the working fluid in the ORC system. As a result of the calculations, the overall energy efficiency of the system is found to be 6% and the exergy efficiency is found to be 45%. Changes in efficiencies according to different operating parameters of the system are presented through graphs. It is determined that the highest exergy loss in the power plant is 6.12 MW (26% of the total exergy loss) in air-cooled condenser 2. Finally, various suggestions and recommendations are made in the study to reduce exergy losses and improve system efficiency.