Sensitivity analysis of operation parameters on the system performance of organic rankine cycle system using orthogonal experiment

In the present study, a 1 kW-scale experimental system which can be switched between BORC (basic organic Rankine cycle) and RORC (organic Rankine cycle with a regenerator) is employed. In order to analyze the influence of working parameters on the system performance quantitatively, the range analysis based on orthogonal design is adopted. The selected three system parameters are: the temperature at the inlet of the expander, temperature at the outlet of the condenser and the plunger travel of working fluid pump. For the system performance, six indices are selected, including the thermal efficiency, the back-work ratio, output power of the expander, pump work consumption, network and the mass flow of the working fluid. The optimal and worst level constitutions of factors for the six indices are concluded, the orders of the three factors’ sensitivity to the six indices are also obtained. The results show that the temperature at the inlet of the expander is the dominant factor of the thermal efficiency, the back-work ratio, output power of the expander, and network. While the plunger travel of the working fluid pump is the dominant factor of pump work consumption and the mass flow of the working fluid.