Thermo-economic study of a regenerative dual-loop ORC system coupled to the main diesel engines of a general support vessel

A thermo-economic analysis of a regenerative dual-loop organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is conducted, which will be coupled with the main diesel engines of a general support vessel. An energy and exergy analysis of the regenerative dual-loop ORC is conducted. The energy and exergy analysis results of the regenerative dual-loop ORC are compared with pertinent results for a simple dual-loop ORC without regeneration. A mission analysis that was based on a vessel speed profile with the proposed ORC was conducted. A heat transfer analysis was performed for dimensioning the heat exchangers of both ORC loops. Finally, an economic analysis is conducted to calculate the total capital cost and the payback period of the proposed ORC. The results showed that the proposed ORC is thermodynamically superior in both energetic and exergetic terms compared to the simple dual-loop ORC. The total fuel cost saving is 337,493 Euros, the totalCO2 emission saving is 1,153,416.4 kg, and the SO2 emission saving is 36,044.3 kg. The total capital cost of the proposed ORC is 2,546,000 Euros. Finally, the installation of the proposed ORC in the examined vessel is economically feasible because it results in a reasonable payback period, which is less than nine years.