Organic Rankine Cycles (ORC) are systems that can effectively recover low-grade heat for electric power generation. For ORC to be a viable technology, it should operate safely and efficiently under variable operating conditions due to exogenous and operating specifications changes.

The Rankine cycle, also called the Rankine vapor cycle, is a thermodynamic cycle that converts heat into mechanical energy. The Rankine cycle is name after William Johnson Macquorn Rankine, a 19th century Scottish engineer and physicist known for his research in the thermodynamic properties of steam.

Cogeneration, or combined heat and power (CHP), is a system that produces heat and electricity simultaneously in a single plant, powered by just one primary energy source, thereby guaranteeing a better energy yield than would be possible to achieve from two separate production sources.