Yide Wang

The Rankine Cycle is a thermodynamic cycle that has been developed and prevalently used by steam engines. It is driven by an external heat source and uses water as a working fluid to convert thermal power into mechanical power which in turn can drive a vehicle or spin a generator. The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), on the other hand, employs refrigerants (carbon based organic fluids) instead of water as the working fluid, as many of them have much lower boiling points than water. The refrigerants can then go through the same thermodynamic process and convert low-grade heat (low-temperature heat in most cases) into electricity. These sources of low-grade heat would otherwise have gone wasted, or even required external cooling, as they are too low-temperature to drive a water-based Rankine Cycle. The power generated onsite by the ORC replaces carbon intensive grid power and can help companies hit their decarbonization goals.