Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Power Systems: Technologies and Applications

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Power Systems: Technologies and Applications provides a systematic and detailed description of organic Rankine cycle technologies and the way they are increasingly of interest for cost-effective sustainable energy generation. Popular applications include cogeneration from biomass and electricity generation from geothermal reservoirs and concentrating solar power installations, as well as waste heat recovery from gas turbines, internal combustion engines and medium- and low-temperature industrial processes. With hundreds of ORC power systems already in operation and the market growing at a fast pace, this is an active and engaging area of scientific research and technical development.

The book is structured in three main parts: (i) Introduction to ORC Power Systems, Design and Optimization, (ii) ORC Plant Components, and (iii) Fields of Application.

• Provides a thorough introduction to ORC power systems
• Contains detailed chapters on ORC plant components
• Includes a section focusing on ORC design and optimization
• Reviews key applications of ORC technologies, including cogeneration from biomass, electricity generation from geothermal reservoirs and concentrating solar power installations, waste heat recovery from gas turbines, internal combustion engines and medium- and low-temperature industrial processes
• Various chapters are authored by well-known specialists from Academia and ORC manufacturers

Ennio Macchi is Emeritus Professor at Politecnico di Milano. He has been full professor of “Energy Conversion” at Politecnico for over 30 years and was the first Director of the Energy Department of Politecnico. He was the founder and the scientific coordinator of the internationally recognized Research Group “GECoS” of the Politecnico di Milano. In the ‘70s, together with his colleagues Prof. Angelino and Prof. Gaia, he initiated the successful Italian activity on ORC. He is the author of more than 200 papers and books on various energy topics and consultant of several Companies, including ORC manufacturers.

Dr Marco Astolfi is an Assistant Professor in the Energy Department of Politecnico di Milano and he is lecturer of Energy Conversion. His studies are focused on the design and the techno-economic optimization of ORC cycles in particular for exploitation of low temperature geothermal sources and solar energy in CSP plants. Besides this topic he is currently working on the design of stand-alone microgrid for rural electrification with a high penetration of renewable energy sources and salinity gradient technologies for energy production.