Planning for Multiple Waste Energy Resources Considering Off Design Characteristics of Devices

To make the most of waste energy resources from both an economic and efficiency standpoint, it is important to properly plan the utilization system, given the complex coupling mechanisms and fluctuations involved. However, the existing studies have shown limitations in accurately depicting the matching relationship between input conditions and operational characteristics for key devices. The constant efficiency model, which is commonly used to optimize waste energy utilization system, fails to account for these complexities. Therefore, in the present study, off-design models were established to describe the off-design characteristics of key devices in the system, such as organic Rankine cycle generators and absorption chillers. The study findings indicated that steam-based organic Rankine cycle units were highly sensitive to the variations in thermal source temperature, which directly affected the optimized capacity. In contrast, the absorption heat pump was sensitive to the changes in flue gas temperature, while the performance of the steam-based and the hot water-based absorption units was less affected by the temperature of the waste energy resource.