25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden

ENERGETIC ANALYSIS OF INNOVATIVE HYBRID BIOMASS/SOLAR ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLES

(ORCS) FOR MICRO-SCALE CHP APPLICATIONS

Angelo Algieri, Pietropaolo Morrone, Francesco Rovense

Department of Mechanical, Energy and Management Engineering - University of Calabria
Via P. Bucci - Cubo 46C – 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS) - Italy
Email: a.algieri@unical.it; pietropaolo.morrone@unical.it; francesco.rovense@unical.it

ABSTRACT: The work aims at investigating the performances of an innovative hybrid biomass/solar energy
production system for domestic micro-scale combined heat and power (CHP) generation. The system is based on
Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology that represents an attractive option for sustainable and reliable energy
supply in small-scale applications, where traditional plants are technologically and economically unfeasible.
The proposed ORC can be fuelled by a biomass burner and a concentrated solar power (CSP) system. A parametric
analysis has been carried out to define proper ORC configurations and suitable operating conditions.
The performances of the innovative system have been compared with the traditional biomass-fired ORC unit. The
investigation demonstrates that hybrid biomass/solar ORC system is an effective solution for micro-scale CHP
generation. The possible application to the Italian residential sector has been analysed.
Results illustrate that hybridisation permits to overcome the intermittency of the solar source, reduce the biomass
consumption, and improve the global system efficiency.
Keywords: Biomass, organic Rankine cycle (ORC), combined heat and power generation (CHP), efficiency.

1 INTRODUCTION 2 METHODOLOGY

Nowadays, the combined heat and power production
(CHP) is considered an efficient alternative to
conventional systems with separate electric and thermal
generation owing to the higher energy efficiency and
saving capability, and to the lower pollutant emissions.
In this context, Organic Rankine Cycles (ORCs)
represent an interesting and attractive solution for
sustainable and reliable energy supply in small CHP
applications, where traditional plants are technologically
and economically unfeasible [1]. Specifically, ORC
systems offer different advantages compared with
conventional installations due to the lower costs and
maintenance requirements, better partial load
performances, faster start-up and stop procedures and
higher flexibility and safety.
In this framework, ORC hybridisation appears a very
innovative and interesting solution, able to assess larger
operation flexibility and lower costs [2]-[3]. Specifically,
biomass and solar sources offer a significant integrability
level: during daylight time the solar radiation is high and
the ORC system can be fuelled with a low amount of
biomass. Furthermore, the adoption of biomass permits to
satisfy the energy demand also when the solar radiation is
absent or insufficient.
Nevertheless, few investigations on this topic are
present both in industrial practice and in research
activities and further studies are necessary [4].
To this purpose the work aims to investigate the
performances of an innovative hybrid biomass/solar
energy system for domestic micro-scale combined heat
and power (CHP) generation.
The system is based on the Organic Rankine Cycle
while a biomass burner and a concentrated solar power
(CSP) system are arranged in series to produce the
thermal energy and feed the ORC unit. The performances
of hybrid configurations have been compared with the
traditional ORC fuelled with biomass
The work aims at analysing the performances of an
innovative hybrid energy system for domestic micro-
scale combined heat and power (CHP) generation.
Figure 1 shows the simplified scheme of the proposed
system that consists of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC)
fuelled by a concentrated solar power (CSP) system and a
biomass burner, arranged in series. Priority is given to
CSP section while the biomass burner works when the
solar radiation is not sufficient to satisfy the energy
demand of domestic users. Furthermore, electric energy
can be exchanged with the grid and an auxiliary boiler is
used to cover the thermal demand if the CHP output is
low.
The system performances have been expressed in
terms of electric power and efficiency, energy utilisation
factor, cogeneration efficiency, and primary energy
saving index.
2.1 Biomass-fired ORC model
The Organic Rankine Cycle consists primarily of a
pump system, an evaporator, an expander, and a
condenser. The pump supplies the organic fluid to the
evaporator, where the fluid is preheated and vaporised.
The vapour flows into the expander where it is expanded
to the condensing pressure and, finally, it is condensed to
saturated liquid. A biomass boiler provides the energy
input to the evaporator through a thermal oil circuit in
order to avoid local overheating and to prevent organic
fluids from becoming chemically unstable.
A thermodynamic model has been developed to
characterise the performances of biomass ORC section
[5]-[7]. To this purpose, the REFPROP database has been
integrated with the energy model to define the properties
of the organic fluid [8]. For the analysis, a steady state
condition has been assumed, while pressure drops and
heat losses in the system components have been
neglected.
The ORC electric and cogeneration efficiency have
been evaluated as follows [9]-[11]:

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 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden

Pel
hel = (1)
Qth

Figure 1: Simplified scheme of the hybrid CHP system.

Pel temperature ranges between 80 and 120 °C in order to

hcog = (2) satisfy the thermal request of domestic users [11],[14].
Qcog
Qth - Minimum evaporation temperature has been set to 150 °C
hth,ref while the maximum value (300 °C) has been chosen to
avoid the presence of liquid during the expansion phase
where Pel is the ORC electric power; and it depends on the slope of the saturated vapour curve
Qth is the thermal input of the biomass in the T-s diagram [15].
boiler;
Qcog is the thermal power from the Table I: ORC operating conditions
condensation process used for
cogeneration; Critical conditions
th,ref is the reference efficiency of a
conventional boiler that is used to Critical temperature [°C] 318.6
produce the cogeneration power Critical pressure [bar] 41.26
separately.
Operating conditions
Furthermore, the energy utilisation factor (EUF) and Condensation temperature [°C] 80 ÷ 120
the primary energy saving (PES) index have been used to Condensation pressure [bar] 0.39 ÷ 2.75
characterise the cogeneration performances of the CHP
Evaporation temperature [°C] 150 ÷ 300
units. Specifically, the two dimensionless parameters are
defined as follows: Evaporation pressure [bar] 2.75 ÷ 32.76

Pel + Qcog Table 2 summarises the main assumptions used for

EUF = (3)
Qth the parametric energy analysis.
Specifically, the expander and pump efficiencies have
Qth been imposed equal to 0.70 and 0.60 respectively and the
PES=1- (4)
Pel Q global efficiency of the heating process (from biomass to
+ cog
hel,ref hth,ref organic fluid through the thermal oil circuit) is 0.85,
according to the literature [14],[16].
where hel,ref
is the reference efficiency for the Table II: Main assumptions for the energetic analysis.
separate electric power production in a
conventional energy system.
Expander isentropic efficiency [%] 70
Toluene has been selected as working fluid for the
ORC unit due to its high operating temperatures, Pump isentropic efficiency [%] 60
consistent with the requirements of biomass and hybrid Boiler and thermal oil circuit efficiency [%] 85
systems [12]-[13].
The investigation has been carried out considering Electro-mechanical efficiency [%] 90
saturated conditions at the expander inlet. Table 1 shows Thermal reference efficiency [%] 86
the critical temperature and pressure of the selected Biomass lower heating value [MJ/kg] 18
organic fluid, and the operative conditions assumed
during the investigation. In particular, the condensation Biomass humidity [%] 10

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2.2 Parabolic trough collector (PTC) model and the Primary Energy Saving index (PES) have been
adopted as CHP merit parameters. The figure highlights
A concentrated solar power (CSP) system based on that the Energy Utilisation Factor presents similar values
parabolic trough collectors (PTC) has been integrated in for all the investigated evaporation temperatures
the CHP apparatus. A specific mathematical model has (~ 85.5%). Conversely, PES index is more sensitive to
been developed in order to evaluate the system the operating conditions and the higher saving capability
performances and estimate the thermal power of the PTC (PES = 21.0%) is found at the maximum temperature.
section, as a function of solar radiation and position.
The thermal power of the PTC system ( QPTC ) is
obtained as the difference between the total power at the
receivers ( QRe c ) and thermal losses ( QLos ), according to
the literature [17]-[19]:

QPTC = QRec -QLos (5)

Specifically, the receiver power is a function of the

Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI) and the collecting area
(AC):

QRec = hOpt hEnd hSha hCle AC DNI IAM (6)

where Opt is the optical efficiency of

collectors;
End is the end-loss optical efficiency;
Sha is the shadow efficiency;
 is the Incidence Angle Modifier that
is a function of the angle between
solar radiation and the normal Figure 2: Influence of the evaporation temperature on
direction to collectors; ORC electric and cogeneration efficiencies, EUF and
PES index.
while thermal losses QLos take into account the heat
losses of all the solar collectors (qL,Coll) and pipes (qL,Pipe): The analysis has been extended in order to evaluate
the influence of the condensation temperature on the
QLos = (qL,Coll - qL,Pipe ) AC (7) system performances.
To this purpose, the evaporation temperature has been set
The PTC thermal power is transferred to the thermal oil to 300 °C whereas the condensation temperature ranges
circuit and, then, to the ORC evaporator, as shown in between 80 °C and 120 °C.
Figure 1. Figure 3 illustrates the increase in electric efficiency
and PES index when the condensation temperature is
reduced. In particular, the electric efficiency raises from
3 RESULTS 11.6% to 14.6% and PES upsurges from 17.3% to 21.0%.
On the other hand, the analysis highlights the negligible
The energetic performances of biomass and hybrid influence of the condensation temperature on
biomass/solar ORC systems for single-family CHP cogeneration performances (EUF ~ 85% and ηcog ~ 82%).
applications have been analysed. Toluene has been
adopted as working fluid due to its high operating
temperatures, consistent with the requirements of
biomass systems [20]-[21].
To this purpose, a parametric investigation has been
performed to define the proper operating conditions and
the suitable configurations of biomass-fired and hybrid
ORCs. Particularly, subcritical cycles with saturated
conditions at the expander inlet have been adopted.
Figure 2 illustrates the effect of the evaporation
temperature on the system behaviour when the
condensation temperature is equal to 80 °C. Results show
the progressive increase in electric and thermal
performances with the evaporation temperature,
according to the literature [14].
At 150 °C the electric and cogeneration efficiencies are
8.4% and 81.1%, respectively, while the corresponding
values reach 14.6% and 82.6% at the maximum
temperature (300 °C).
Furthermore, the Energy Utilisation Factor (EUF)

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 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden
Figure 3: Influence of the condensation temperature on
ORC electric and cogeneration efficiencies, EUF and
PES index.
3.1 A micro-scale CHP application in Southern Italy
A possible application of the biomass-fired ORC
system for micro-scale generation has been investigated.
To this purpose, the thermal input to the CHP unit has
been fixed to 100 kWth, while the design evaporation and
condensation temperatures have been set to 300 °C and
80 °C, respectively, in order to maximise the energetic
performances, according to the previous investigation
(ηel = 14.6%, ηcog = 82.6% and PES = 21.0%). In this
condition, the design electric and thermal power of the
selected ORC system are 14.6 kWel and 70.8 kWth.
The analysis has been focused on a possible domestic
application in Naples (Southern Italy). The thermal
demand takes into account the typical space heating and
hot water request while the electric demand considers the
consumption of domestic lighting system and appliances,
including air conditioners during the hot season [22].
Figure 4 shows the daily thermal (a) and electric (b)
load of a single apartment during winter, summer and
intermediate seasons. The annual thermal and electric
demands have been evaluated equal to 9177 kWhth and
2703 kWhel, respectively.
The CHP unit has been defined in order to satisfy the
thermal request of residential users and the maximum
rectangle method has been employed, considering also
partial load operations (Te = 150 ÷ 300°C) [23]. To this
purpose, the load-duration diagram, with the hourly heat-
demand values, has been used and a 2.83 kWth has been
found as the suggested value of the heating unit for a
single apartment.
As a consequence, the selected CHP system
(Pth = 70.8 kWth and Pel = 14.6 kWel) is able to satisfy the
energetic request of 25 apartments.
Figure 5 shows the percentage annual energy balance
with respect to the global demand, considering both
electric- and heat-driven operation strategies.
Specifically, for the electrically-driven mode, the self-
consumed electric and thermal energy are 85.9% and
83.6% of the annual demand, respectively. Consequently,
Figure 4: Daily profiles of thermal (a) and electric (b) demand of a single apartment during a typical day in winter, summer
and intermediate seasons - Naples (Southern Italy).
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the energy integration is lower than 17% (from the grid
for the electric load, from the auxiliary boiler for the
thermal request). Furthermore, results highlight that an
energy surplus is found, owing to the ORC characteristics
at partial load.
When the heat-driven mode is adopted, the CHP unit
is able to satisfy up to 92.4% of the domestic thermal
request, whereas the self-consumed electricity drops to
57.5%. As already observed, energy integration is
necessary to fulfil residential loads and a surplus
production always exists.
The analysis has been extended considering the
possible coupling of the biomass-fired ORC unit with a
concentrated solar power (CSP) system based on
parabolic trough collectors. Particularly, the biomass
burner and CSP system are arranged in series to produce
the thermal energy and feed the ORC system, as shown in
Figure 1.
The solar multiple has been fixed to 2 while the
design Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI) has been set to
800 W/m2 according to the literature [17]. Priority is
given to the solar source when the radiation is high, while
the biomass boiler works when the solar irradiance is not
sufficient to satisfy the demand of domestic users. The
idea is to improve the performances of the biomass ORC
system considering the high integrability level of biomass
and solar source.
As expected, the investigation reveals that the
biomass consumption in the hybrid configuration reduces
with respect to the biomass-fired CHP system (Figure 6),
owing to the significant contribution of the solar field,
whereas energy performances (self-consumption,
integration, and surplus) of biomass and hybrid units are
the same. Specifically, the biomass saving percentage is
18.7% (from 168.2 to 136.7 t/year) when the electric-
driven strategy is adopted, and 18.2% (from 162.4 to
132.9 t/year) for the heat-driven mode.
It is worthy to notice that the selected ORC systems
guarantee 77 MWhel and 529 MWhth per year, when
CHPs are operated following the electric load. On the
other hand, thermal-driven units produce 69 MWhel and
515 MWhth.
 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden
Figure 5: Annual energy balance in terms of percentage
self-consumed, surplus, and integrated energy with
respect to the energy demand in electric-driven and
thermal-driven modes.
Figure 6: Annual biomass consumption of biomass-fired
and hybrid ORC system for both electric- and thermal-
driven operating strategy.
Finally, the performances of CHP units have been
analysed in terms of monthly energy balance. As an
example, the behaviour of the hybrid system in electric-
driven configuration is shown in Figure 7. The electric
demand is almost totally satisfied during winter and
intermediate seasons. Conversely, a not negligible
integration from the grid is necessary during the summer
months, when the energy withdrawn from the grid ranges
from 1.0 to 2.9 MWhel. At the same time, the electric
surplus is always present, with the maximum value equal
to 1.7 MWhel in January.
Results illustrate that the proposed hybrid system
allows to overcome the intermittency of the solar source
and save a significant amount of biomass.
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4 CONCLUSIONS
A hybrid biomass/solar ORC system for combined
heat and power (CHP) generation has been proposed.
A biomass burner and a concentrated solar power
(CSP) system with parabolic trough collectors operate in
series to assure the thermal input to the ORC apparatus.
When the solar radiation is high, the solar source has the
priority, whereas the biomass boiler works when the
irradiance is not sufficient to satisfy the users energy
request.
The thermal power of the combined heat and power
unit (70.8 kWth) has been defined to satisfy the heat
request of typical Italian residential users (in Naples,
Southern Italy), adopting the maximum rectangle
method. In particular, a 25 apartments block has been
considered and two different operating strategies have
been investigated, electric-driven and thermal-driven
modes. A conventional boiler has been used when the
hybrid CHP is not able to satisfy the thermal demand and
an electric exchange with the grid has been considered.
Energy production of hybrid and biomass ORC
systems have been analysed and a comparison in terms of
biomass consumption has been performed.
A significant biomass saving is found for the hybrid
configuration with respect to the biomass-fired ORC
system, due to the contribution of the solar energy input,
whereas the energy production (in terms of self-
consumption, integration, and surplus) of the two
arrangements are the same. Particularly, the biomass
consumption of the hybrid CHP unit lowers from 168.2
to 136.7 t/year when the electric-driven strategy is
adopted, and from 162.4 to 132.9 t/year for the heat-
driven mode. As far as the electric and thermal energy
balance is concerned, the self-consumed electric and
thermal energy reach 85.9% and 83.6% of the annual
demand, respectively, when the electrically-driven mode
is adopted. An energy surplus is found, due to the ORC
performances at partial load.
When the heat energy demand is the priority, the
CHP unit is able to satisfy the 92.4% of the domestic
thermal request. On the other hand, the self-consumed
electricity is significantly lower (57.5%) than the
corresponding electric-driven strategy value. A thermal
energy integration is necessary and a surplus production
is present.
The investigation demonstrates that the hybrid ORC
system allows to overcome the intermittency of the solar
radiation and save a significant biomass amount with
respect to a biomass-fired ORC. When the solar radiation
is high, the biomass input of the ORC system is reduced
and the biomass boiler can be switched off or operated at
part-load.
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 25th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 12-15 June 2017, Stockholm, Sweden
Optimization of solar integration in biomass fuelled
Figure 7: Monthly electric (a) and thermal (b) balance for the hybrid CHP system for the electric-driven strategy.
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