Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

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Applied Thermal Engineering

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Experimental study and CFD approach for scroll type expander used in
low-temperature organic Rankine cycle
Jen-Chieh Chang a, Chao-Wei Chang b, Tzu-Chen Hung c, *, Jaw-Ren Lin d,
Kuo-Chen Huang e
a

Graduate Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
Institute of Mechatronic Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Taipei University of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan
d
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Taoyuan Innovation Institute of Technology, Taoyuan, Taiwan
e
Kwan Chiu Radio Mfg. Co. Ltd, Taoyuan, Taiwan
b
c

h i g h l i g h t s

Scroll expanders with various built-in volume ratios were experimentally studied.

ORC efciency of 7.77% was obtained at system temperature difference of 60.6  C.

The internal behaviors of scroll expander have been numerically investigated.

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 15 January 2014
Accepted 21 August 2014
Available online 30 August 2014

This study focuses on experimental test of scroll type expanders in low-temperature organic Rankine
cycle (ORC) system. In this circuit, lubricant has been mixed with R245fa as working uid. In this
experiment, two scroll expanders with different built-in volume ratio have been experimentally tested.
Main test parameters considered are the pressure difference and the rotational speed of the expanders. It
is found that the expander performance could be signicantly improved when bigger built-in volume
ratio is used. However the internal leakage and friction loss are vital factors to inuence expander
performance. The maximum shaft power output by expander of 1.77 kW and deliver electricity by
generator of 1.375 kW. A Computational Fluid Dynamics approach (CFD) has been employed for preliminary investigation on the thermal-hydraulic behavior of the scroll type expanders. The simulation
result shows that unbalance pressure distribution were occurred in the expander by means of top scroll
wrap has been modied.
2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Organic Rankine cycle
Low-temperature
Scroll expander
Built-in volume ratio
CFD

1. Introduction
The issues, like consumption of fossil fuels and CO2 caused
global warming, have seriously started threatening this planet in
the recent decades. Therefore, power generation using organic
Rankine cycle (ORC) in recovering low-grade energy sources, which
have been always ignored, has been paid much attention more and
more. In recent years, some ORC systems beyond 100 kWe are
available on the market for the heat recovery or geothermal power
plant. Even so, there are still tremendous amount of scattered lowgrade but available energy all over the world, such as industrial

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 886 2 2771 2171x2021; fax: 886 2 2731 7191.
E-mail addresses: tchung@ntut.edu.tw, smallstst@gmail.com (T.-C. Hung).
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2014.08.050
1359-4311/ 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

process or internal combustion engine. As a result, ORCs with the

scale of few-kWe could provide vast market potential.
Since the selection of working uids has very wide spectrum,
ORCs can be operated with low-temperature waste heat. Some of
them can even operate without superheating at turbine inlet
particularly for the use of dry uids [1,2]. On the other hand, wet
uids with steep saturated vapor curves in Tes diagram have a
better performance [3]. There seems without best guideline for
selection of suitable working uid in various temperature ranges,
because the select of working uids is sensitive by their thermodynamic properties. However, as system efciency is concerned, a
dimensionless Figure of Merit has been proposed to predict the
ORC efciency [4].
The small-scale ORC systems being established and investigated
mainly focus on the performance study of various expanders or

J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

Nomenclature
h
k
m_
P
T
t
V
.
V
_
W

enthalpy, kJ/kg
thermal conductivity, W/m K
mass ow rate, kg/s
pressure, bar
temperature,  C
time, s
volume, mm3
velocity vector
work, kW

Greek symbols
h
efciency
r
density, kg/m3
m
dynamic viscosity, N s/m2
Subscript
exp
in
out
abs
d
s
th
V

expander
inlet
outlet
absolute
discharge
isentropic
theoretical
volumetric

applications. Generally, the expanders of positive-displacement

type are characterized by relatively lower ow rate, higher pressure ratio and much lower rotational speeds compared with the
dynamic-type turbines [5]. Therefore, several types of expanders
have been tested in laboratories. Badr et al. reported that the vanetype expanders have the characteristics of less noise, slighter vibration, and less balancing problems [6]. Furthermore, they had
numerically investigated the multi-vane expander, and systematically discussed the effects of the geometrical parameters on their
performances [7]. Qiu et al. [8] employed a vane-type air motor as
the expander, integrated with a 50 kWth biomass-pellet boiler as a
heat source of ORC. The efciency of the expander was 53.9% with a
corresponding pressure ratio of 2.06, and consequently obtained an
ORC efciency of 3.78%. Wang et al. [9,10] tested rolling-piston
expander in the solar ORC using R245fa as working uid. The results showed for the expansion power of 1.73 kW, the expander had
an isentropic efciency of 45.2%. Wang et al. [11] tested a single
screw expander by the compressed air. Results indicated that the
shaft power reached the maximum of 5 kW at rotational speed of
2850 RPM with an adiabatic efciency of 59%.
Recently, the scroll-type expanders have been widely studied.
Peterson et al. [12] tested a scroll expander in a regenerative ORC
system with the power output of the expander ranging from 187 to
256 Watt and the expander efciency between 45 and 50%. Kane
et al. [13] integrated solar concentrators and the exhaust waste heat
of an internal combustion engine as heat source of ORCs. The power
cycle utilized a cascaded loop with R123 as working uid for the
high-temperature cycle and the working uid of R134a operating in
the low-temperature cycle. The maximum efciency of the cascade
cycle approached 14% with the expander efciency of 67%, the
corresponding temperature range between heat source and heat
sink is from 7 to 150  C. Lemort et al. [14] demonstrated the impact
of lubricant mass fraction in a hermetic scroll expander using
R245fa as working uid; the maximum efciency was founded to
be 71%. Bracco et al. [15] tested a domestic-scale ORC system using
hermetic scroll type expander, and the circuit of the ORC has been

1445

lled by a mixture of R245fa and lubricant to lubricate the

expander. Result showed a mean ORC efciency of 8% in the range
of evaporator outlet temperature of 120e150  C. Lemort et al. [16]
has reported a semi-empirical model to describe the performance
of an oil-free open-drive scroll expander with built-in volume ratio
of 4.05 being integrated in the ORC prototype. HCFC-123 was used
as the working uid, of which the overall isentropic efciency of
scroll expander was 68% with corresponding maximum delivered
shaft power of 1.82 kW [16,17]. Clemente et al. [18] reported that an
expander with longer scroll warp could be an interesting solution
to improve the matching between cycle and machine performance.
Currently, the investigators were aggressively to study the
small-scale ORC system in various system components. The
experimental studies on turbine/expander and ORC performance
are summarized in Table 1, which shows the efciencies associated
with operating temperature range and the use of working uids.
This paper mainly focuses on experimentally performance of the
scroll expanders into an ORC cycle. On the other hand, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) approach has been employed to
simulate the dynamic thermal-hydraulic behavior of the expanders.
2. Experimental facilities of ORC
2.1. Description of the test bench
In the present paper, two scroll expanders with different built-in
volume ratio have been experimentally tested and investigated in
the ORC system. Refrigerant R245fa has been used as the working
uid because of its thermo-physical, safety and relatively environmental friendly features. The schematic diagram of the experiment
system is shown in Fig. 1. The plunger pump is used for pumping
liquid working uid. This pump has characteristics of high volume
ratio, smaller ow rate, and good performance curve. The pump
was connected with an inverter, which adjusts its rotational speed
by converting the frequency. The brazed at plat heat exchanger is
composed of 80 plates and is employed to be the evaporator and
condenser. The three-phase permanent magnetic generator is
drives by the expander, which transmits power via pulley-and-belt
using rotational speed ratio of 1:1. It is not necessary that the
generator be excited and suitable for wide range of rotational
speed.
In this experimental circuit, the pipe diameter of 3/4 inch has
been used from pump inlet to expander inlet; whereas the 1 inch
pipes are connected from the expander outlet to condenser inlet.
The electrical heater with 20 kW input power is employed for
heating water which is served as dummy waste heat source. The

Table 1
List of experimental performances on ORC system.
Authors
Nguyen et al. [19]
Kang [20]
Pei et al. [21]
Li et al. [22]
Li et al. [23]
Qiu et al. [8]
Peterson et al. [12]
Kane et al. [13]
Lemort et al. [14]
Quoilin et al. [17]
Declaye et al. [24]
Manolakos et al. [25]
Saitoh et al. [26]
Wang et al. [9]
Zheng et al. [10]

Working
uid

Temperature
range ( C)

Type of
expander

hexp (%)

n-Pentane
R245fa
R123
R123
R123
HFE-7000
R123
R123/R134a
R245fa
R123
R245fa
R134a
R113
R245fa
R245fa

31e81
37.4-85.4
28.2e101
14e119.6
3.8e99.5
46.2e118.6
35.3e168.9
7e165
68.4e139
25e130s
26.6e97.5
37e60
35e136
14e115
23e87.7

Turbine
Turbine
Turbine
Turbine
Turbine
Multi-vane
Scroll
Scroll
Scroll
Scroll
Scroll
Scroll
Scroll
Rolling-piston
Rolling-piston

49.8
82.2
62.5
58.53
68
53.92
49.9
67
71.03
68
75
50
65
45.2
43.3

Max.

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J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the ORC experimental system.

cooling tower is employed for condensing working uid via a

brazed at plat heat exchanger.
The expander power is determined by measuring the thermoproperties of the working uid (i.e., temperature, pressure and ow
rate). The rotational speed of the expander is simultaneously
recorded by a tachometer. The refrigerant ow rate is measured by
a turbine ow meter which located on the downstream of the
pump. Temperature and pressure are measured by T-type thermocouples and piezo-resistive pressure transmitter. Each sensor
has been carefully calibrated in the range of experimental conditions. The accuracy of the sensors involved in the evaluation of the
experimental performance is listed in Table 2.
2.2. Scroll expander
Table 3 lists the basic parameters of the scroll expanders. The
Vr2 expander is originally the open-drive compressor from the
vehicle air-conditioning, which is modied by means of removing
the discharge valve to be as expander. The Vr3 expander is modied
from hermetic type compressor by removing electric motor, check
valve and rebuilt the housing to be an open-drive scroll expander.
The suction volume of the expanders of Vr2 and Vr3 are 40.81 and
35 cm3/rev, respectively. Although two expanders have slight difference for the suction volume, it is believed that the small deviation is tolerable for parametric evaluation in the overall
performance of the ORC system.
Table 2
Accuracy and range of measure devices.

It seems that positive-displacement type expander is a relatively favorable expansion machine for small-scale ORCs because
it has characteristics of small ow rate and high built-in volume
ratio. However, to the authors' knowledge, it should be properly
mixed with moderate lubricant especially during high rotational
speed. Up to now, only few researchers used the lubricant in the
ORC cycle [12,13,15,23]. Since the lubricant has advantages such
as sealing and lubricating the moving part of the expander, the
present cycle has been lled by a mixture of R245fa and lubricant at a moderate concentration in order to satisfy smooth
operation of the expanders. Fig. 2 shows the picture of experimental layout of the system and geometries of scroll expanders.
Comparing both expanders, the scroll wrap of Vr3 has longer
crank angle and with modication in scroll tip, which effects
would be numerically simulated to compare the expansion
behavior.
3. Mathematic model and numerical approach
3.1. Fundamental equations
The state of the working uid in the cycle could be determined
by any two intensive thermodynamic properties:

x f 2; f

(1)

Table 3
Basic parameters of the scroll expanders.

Measure device

Range

Accuracy

Symbols

Pressures
Refrigerant ow rate
Temperature
Rotational speed

0-30 bar
1.9e37.9 L/min
160 to 400  C
10 to 99,999 RPM

0.5% full scale

1% full scale
0.5  C
0.04%

Basic circle
radius (mm)

Wrap
height
(mm)

Pitch
(mm)

Wall
thickness
(mm)

Suction
volume
(cm3/rev)

Built-in
volume
ratio ()

Vr2
Vr3

3.21
2.59

33
41

20.17
16.27

4.58
4.0

40.81
35

2.12
2.95

J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

1447

Fig. 3. A sample of computational domain of the scroll expander.

variation of the pressure in scroll chamber. Therefore, the heat

transfer on the scroll wrap has been preliminary neglected in CFD
simulation. Non-slip condition is applied on the scroll wrap and the
shell of the expander. The simulated initial temperature, pressure
and velocity at inlet, and rotational speed of the scroll are obtained
from the experiment data.
The physical conditions are modeled mathematically with the
following conservation equations for mass, momentum and energy
in each cell.
Fig. 2. Photograph and CAD models of the experimental apparatus: (a) ORC system, (b)
Vr2 scroll expander, (c) Vr3 scroll expander.

The power output of the scroll expander is determined by the

conservation equation of energy:

_ exp
W




m_ hexp;in  hexp;out

(2)

In which hexp,in and hexp,out represent the enthalpy at the inlet

and exit of the expander, respectively. Expander efciency per unit
ow rate is dened as

hexp

hexp;in  hexp;out
hexp;in  hexp;out;s

(3)

where, hexp,out,s means the state of uid is calculated by isentropic

expansion process. The volumetric efciency could be determined
the leakage level of a scroll expander. This is dened as the ratio of
theoretical mass ow rate and the actual one:

hV

m_ th
m_ actual

(4)

Fig. 3 presents the mesh distribution and corresponding boundary

conditions of the scroll expander in the CFD approach. The scroll
expander normally exist both axial and radial clearances. However, in
the present simulations, two-dimensional computational model has
been implemented. It means that the scroll height in terms of z-coordinate in CFD approach has been simplied as a constant. In order
to avoid the potential divergence due to highly skew meshes, the
radial clearance has been remaining constant of 0.15 mm. Therefore,
the axial clearance between scroll wraps has been set to zero.
Since the orbiting scroll is operated at relatively high rotational
speed mode, the variation of thermophysical property of the
working uid is mainly dependent on the rotational speed and the

Continuity equation:

 
.
vr
V$ r V 0
vt

(5)

Momentum equation:

1
0 .


.
.
vV .
@
V V$ V A VP mV2 V
r
vt

(6)

Energy equation:





.
v
rh V$ rV h V$ kVT
vt

(7)

In the present study, since the expanders are operated at high

rotational speed, turbulent ow may occur in the chambers and
thus cause turbulent dissipation in the expander. Therefore, the
present study has employed the ke model in the simulations
[27,28]. Similar treatment to solve turbulent problem have been
also investigated in scroll compressor [29e31]. Turbulent problems
has been investigated and numerically studied in passive heat
removal in a sodium-cooled fast reactor by authors [32]. Dynamic
mesh technique has been employed to solve the transient thermalhydraulic behavior of scroll expander [33,34]. This feature is to
rene both in space and in time to investigate the phenomena of
ow eld in the expander. In the present simulations, rotational
frequency is given from the measured value of experimental results
and the friction loss of the expander was neglected in CFD
simulation.
3.2. Numerical approach
In the two-dimensional (2D) planar simulation model for the
orbiting scroll expander, its moving behavior is time-dependent

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J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

but periodical; i.e., the transient behavior should be simulated in

this model. Numerical algorithm, PISO is used in the present work
[35], which is basically a time-accurate and does not require iterations to march from one time step to another. Basically, PISO uses
discretized momentum equations that are substituted into the
continuity equation to yield a new pressure-linked equation. This
study also has been carefully solving the transient problem based
on a mature experience gained from our previous practice [36,37].
The real gas model is available with CFD software for evaluating the
thermodynamic properties of refrigerants to compile from the
REFPROP database [38]. The effects of thermo-physical properties
due to the lubricant-refrigerant mixture have been neglected in the
following simulations.
To simplify geometrical complexity and reduce computational
time, 2D geometry has been simplied and investigated in this
study. Fig. 4 illustrates the PeV diagram between 2D and 3D
models from CFD simulations. It should be note that the Vd in this
gure means the volume at the expansion is nished; V means
the volume following the crank angle. It is shown that a small
pressure drop occur in the suction process when the inlet port is
covered by the orbiting scroll. The pressure variation on the
expansion process by 2D geometry is slightly higher than that of
3D model. However, the overall tendency is similar and the deviation is acceptable.
The mesh independent test has been carefully treated over three
mesh distributions on identical rotational speed. As indicated in
Table 4, the deviations of mass ow rate are much less than 1%
between test 2 and test 3; the pressure at the chamber of the end of
the expansion is almost identical. Therefore, the mesh number of
154,730 can be reasonable used in the simulation for reducing
computational time.
Fig. 5 shows the comparison of mass ow rate between
experimental data and CFD simulation results. The given condition is 5.2 bars of pressure difference between the inlet and
exit of the expander. The mass ow rate from CFD is higher than
experimental data with mean deviation around 20%. Main
reason of the deviation is the fact that the inherent restriction of
nite volume approach, which is not allowed to have innitesimal gap. Unlikely leakage would occur at the gaps between
orbiting scroll and xed scroll. Therefore CFD simulation is expected to provide a preliminary observation of the thermalhydraulic behavior in the present study but not pursue for the
accuracy of the results.

Fig. 4. Comparison of PeV behavior between 2D and 3D geometries with identical

rotational speed of expander.

Table 4
Mesh independent test of CFD simulation.

Test 1
Test 2
Test 3

Mesh#

Mass ow rate (kg/s)

Pressure at the end

of expansion (bar)

99,406
154,730
234,512

0.07157
0.07189
0.07197

4.10
4.08
4.08

4. Results
4.1. Experimental performance
In the experiment, the steady-state operating points were
remained for at least 20 min to record the data in order to evaluate
the overall performance with parameters such as system pressure
difference and the rotational speed of expanders. The rotational
speeds of expanders are adjusted through the resistor values of
power resistors. During all tests conditions, the superheating at the
expander inlet is maintained at 3 1 K, which value is adjusted by
means of given heat source and system ow rate.
According to the theory of error propagation, the root-sumsquare method was implemented to calculate measurement uncertainty. In the following equation, uR means the uncertainty; the
variable R is calculated as function of the uncertaintiesuxi [39].

"
uR

L 
X
vR
i1

vxi

2 #0:5
u xi

(8)

Fig. 6 shows the efciency of scroll expanders versus the rotational speed at different pressure difference between inlet and exit
of the expander. Pexp,in and Pexp,out represents the pressures at the
inlet and exit of the expander, respectively. Since the load of the
expander is adjusted by power resistors, the rotational speeds of
the expander can hardly be precisely predicted. As indicated in this
gure, the curves of the efciency of Vr2 expander have similar
trend over the rotational speed. It exhibits a maximum isentropic
efciency as expanders are operated at lower rotational speed. This
implies the fact that at higher rotational speed, the internal friction
loss of the scroll wrap and bearing losses would simultaneously
increases. As indicated in the gure, the isentropic efciency
slightly decreases as inlet pressure of the expander increases,
because a greater interior leakage occurs in the expansion

Fig. 5. Comparison of mass ow rate between experimental data and CFD simulation
at pressure difference of expander of 5.2 bars.

J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

Fig. 6. Variation of expander isentropic efciency versus rotational speeds for Vr2 and
Vr3 at different operational pressure differences.

chambers. The maximum efciency of Vr2 is 68.4% at 1660 RPM

and pressure difference of 4.2 bars, while minimum efciency is
60.8% at 2946 RPM. Based on experimental results, the overall efciency of Vr3 is higher than Vr2 around 10% over the range of
rotational speed tested. Small deviation occurs at the Vr3 experiment because of an insufcient lubricate on the moving part. The
efciency of Vr3 is located at the range of 72e76% under given test
conditions. During experimental measurements, the Vr2 expander
exists a slightly higher noise and vibration than Vr3. It hence may
be a vital factor to reduce the expander efciency.
As can be seen in the gure, the capability of heat-to-power
conversion can be effectively enhanced as the expander with
bigger built-in volume ratio is employed. Similar simulation results
also can refer to Ref. [18].
Fig. 7 illustrates that as the rotational speed is increased at
specic pressure difference, internal leakage of the expander can
effectively be improved. However, the volumetric efciency would
be reduced as bigger pressure difference, which provides stronger
driving force for uid to leak from high pressure chamber to the
lower pressure one, is operated.
Fig. 8 shows the performance with respect to the pressure difference of two expanders with 2Vr values under two specic
rotational speeds. As can be seen for Vr2 one, the rotational speed
has more signicant inuence to the expander efciency under

Fig. 7. Variation of volumetric efciency of expanders versus rotational speed.

1449

Fig. 8. Performance with respect to the pressure difference of two expanders under
two specic rotational speeds.

smaller pressure difference. Results indicate that when the operation pressure is low, low rotational speed is preferred. Due to that
Vr3 one has greater built-in volume ratio, the inuence of the
rotational speed has the similar trend like that of Vr2. However, as
the pressure difference is greater than about 6 bars, the rotational
speed should be changed to higher value. Otherwise, the internal
leakage would be enhanced to cause a lower efciency for the
expander. Therefore, as pressure difference is operated under the
condition of more than 6 bars, the rotational speed may be
controlled above 2400 RPM to ensure proper performance.
Fig. 9 compares the power produced by two Vr expanders at
pressure difference of 5.2 bars. As rotational speed is increased, i.e.,
the increasing of ow rate, the power produced by expander would
be raised. The maximum power by Vr2 is 1.34 kW at operational
parameter of rotational speed of 2920 RPM and mean inlet pressure
of 7.4 bars, with corresponding electricity delivered by generator of
1 kWe. It can be seen that as rotational speed of Vr3 is higher than
around 2300 RPM, the expander performance would be signicantly higher than Vr2 because of bigger built-in volume ratio.
Under this pressure difference, a maximum shaft power by Vr3 is
1.43 kW and electricity generated by generator of 1.1 kW at rotational speed of 3052 RPM. The mean generator efciency was
measured around 70% overall test conditions.

Fig. 9. Variation of power and electricity delivery versus rotational speed of expanders
at pressure difference of 5.2 bars.

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J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

Fig. 10. Pressure distribution during a cycle of Vr3 expander via CFD simulation: (a)
suction process, (b) suction completed, (c) expansion completed, (d) discharge process.

4.2. Simulation results

Fig. 10 shows the pressure distribution of Vr3 during the period
of the cycle at pressure difference of 5.2 bar and rotational speed of
3052 RPM. This gure indicates the behavior of the expander,
which consists a pair of chambers with a symmetric pressure distribution and smoothly complete an expansion processes. On the
other hand, as indicated in Fig. 11, the unbalance pressure distribution occurs at suction process of Vr2 expander, this is the fact that
the inlet port has been covered by the orbiting scroll. The effect of
the unbalance pressure distribution may cause certain level of vibration or noise; thus the performance may be reduced.
Fig. 12 compares the PeV diagram of two expanders. It should be
note that the chamber A and Chamber B are indicated in Figs. 10(b)
and 11(b) respectively. It can be clearly seen that a better efciency
and power output could be achieved as the expander with bigger
built-in volume ratio is used, and therefore achieves better PeV
prole as a better tip scroll wrap prole is used. The PeV behavior
of Vr3 indicates that suction loss scarcely occurs at the suction
process as better modication of tip scroll wrap modication is
applied. As indicated in this gure, the Vr2 exits pressure drop at
the suction process because of orbiting scroll wrap covers the inlet
port. On the other hand, as can be identied in this PeV diagram,
the power output of Vr2 is relatively less than that of Vr3 because of
inherent shorter scroll wrap.
Fig. 13 compares the PeV behaviors from CFD simulation, in
which Vr3 is operated at different rotational speed. Following given
conditions that were obtained from experimental results are
slightly different, so the gure shows the result of pressure ranges

Fig. 11. Pressure distribution during the suction process of Vr2 expander: (a) suction
process, (b) suction completed.

Fig. 12. PeV diagram of different expanders at 3000 50 RPM.

are also varied not precisely coincident. As indicated in the gure,

lower rotational aped of expander results in a slightly higher
pressure at the location where the expansion process is completed
because of the leakage of working uid from upstream to the
downstream chambers. Notice that the effect of friction loss is
neglected in the CFD simulations. Based on the results as shown in
this gure, if the practical expanders have innitely small friction
loss, are operated at higher rotational speed with a suitable operating pressure range, the isentropic efciency may be improved
because the outlet pressure is going to match condenser pressure
like that described by Ref. [24].
Fig. 14 shows the Tes diagram of experimental result using Vr3
expander. For this case, unlikely large subcooling occurs at the
pump inlet is observed. Slight amount of superheating is needed for
practical system operation and it is also found this will obtain
better cycle efciency unlike what mentioned theoretically by
Hung [2].
Fig. 15 summarizes the published data of ORC thermal efciency and the result of the present study. Corresponding conditions of working uid, temperature range, and the power
generation are listed in Table 5. In this gure, the error bars cover
all the range of rotational speeds from experimental results under a specic expander pressure difference. As indicated in this

Fig. 13. PeV behavior of Vr3 expander operating at different rotational speeds.

J.-C. Chang et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering 73 (2014) 1444e1452

1451

5. Conclusions
This study focuses on the performance investigation of two Vrtype of scroll expanders, which has been tested on ORC system. The
expanders are modied from the refrigerant compressor of automobile HVAC system. Main conclusions are given below:

Fig. 14. Tes diagram with the states of ORC experiment result.

(1) Under a specic pressure difference, the increase in rotational speed of the expander would cause its efciency lower.
However, as lowering shaft speed, the internal leakage would
be increased. Therefore, optimal operational region has to be
identied to achieve better efciency.
(2) PeV diagram from simulation results shows that bigger Vr of
expander can effectively enhance the capability of heat-topower conversion,
(3) So far, a maximum cycle efciency of 7.77% was reached at
the system temperature difference of 60.6  C by the use of
Vr3 expander. Higher ORC efciency is expected by the use of
bigger Vr-type expander greater range in temperature
difference.
(4) Slight deviation exists between the results of experiment and
CFD simulations. CFD simulations indicate that a better
involute scroll wrap could efciently improve the suction
loss. CFD simulation also indicates that the performance of
the expander would be improved by the increase of built-in
volume ratio.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the National Science
Council of the Republic of China, Taiwan for their nancial support
of this research under Contract No. NSC101-2221-E-027-039.
References

Fig. 15. Cycle efciency with respect to the expander pressure difference for different
studies (see Table 5).

gure, the maximum cycle efciency of 7.77% was achieved at

pressure difference of 6.45 bar, with corresponding system temperature difference (i.e., between expander inlet and pump inlet)
of 60.6  C. Shaft power produced by expander was 1.74 kW and
1.375 kWe of electricity was delivered by generator. Whereas, Vr2
one obtained the maximum cycle efciency of 6.12% at the
pressure difference of 5.3 bars. Based on present experience by
the authors, the system performance could be expected to be
effectively enhanced as the bigger Vr of expander is used for the
ORC power generation.

Table 5
Some experiment studies for ORC system.
Authors

System
temperature
difference

Working
uid

Power
output (kW)

ORC
efciency (%)

Zheng et al. [10]

Peterson et al. [12]
Quoilin et al. [16,17]
Kang [20]
Pei et al. [21]
Declaye et al. [24]
Present study

23e87.7
35e168.9
13.2e165
37.4e85.4
28.2e101
26.6e97.5
25.8e86.4

R245fa
R123
R123
R245fa
R123
R245fa
R245fa

0.34
0.256
1.82
32.7
1.36
2.1
1.74

5
7.2
7.4
5.22
6.8
8.54
7.77

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