Waste Heat Reclamation Via a Small-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle

Harvey Mudd College/University of Iceland Global, 2009-10

Liaison(s): (not listed)
Advisor(s): Anthony Bright, Rnar Unnthrsson
Students(s): Robert Best, Masanori Honda (TL-F), Kristín Jónsdóttir (UI), Visar Jahiu (S), Róbert Kristjánsson (UI), Einar Magnússon (UI), Javier Morquecho (S), Alyssa Pierson (TL-S)

The team designed a small-scale Organic Rankine Cycle to generate usable electricity from waste heat sources. A novel heat transfer fluid, Novec, was used as the working fluid to eliminate the negative environmental effects resulting from traditional refigerants. Capturing waste heat for energy has the potential to increase the efficiency of existing power generation systems.