What is Rank®? Rank® equipment is based on organic Rankine cycle (ORC) technology. It allows the combined electrical energy and useful heat production using a low-temperature heat source, with the associated economic and environmental benefits.

This study considered five different working fluids for ORC, such as R245fa, Benzene, Methanol, Ethanol, and Acetone. The ORC generates additional electricity of 9.91 MW e for R245fa, 14.11 MW e for Benzene, 13.71 MW e for Methanol, 14.04 MW e for Ethanol and 13.97 MW e for Acetone.

The ORC turbogenerator uses medium-to-high-temperature thermal oil to preheat and vaporize a suitable organic working fluid in the evaporator (4>5). The organic fluid vapor rotates the turbine (5>6), which is directly coupled to the electric generator, resulting in clean, reliable electric power.

Where heat pumps use electrical power to create thermal energy for various purposes, an ORC system uses heat energy to generate electricity. In a typical ORC design, a thermal energy source feeds an evaporator to drive an expander or “reverse compressor”, which in turn generates the electricity.