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.

2.7. An organic Rankine cycle (ORC), is fundamentally the same as a steam Rankine cycle; however, it uses a lower boiling point organic fluid to better match its operation to lower temperature heat sources. ORC systems can achieve better efficiencies than steam turbines for smaller systems (less than a few MW_e).

The working principle of the organic Rankine cycle is the same as that of the Rankine cycle: the working fluid is pumped to a boiler where it is evaporated, passed through an expansion device (turbine, screw, scroll, or other expander), and then through a condenser heat exchanger where it is finally re-condensed.

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.