Thermodynamic analysis of hybrid heat source driven organic Rankine cycle integrated flash tank vapor-compression refrigeration system.

• Use of environment friendly hydrocarbons as working fluids in the system. • Hybrid heat source of the solar collector and the biomass burner system. • Heptane is the most suitable fluid for the higher thermal performance of the system. • Hybrid heat source system contributes 88% to total exergy destruction of the system. In this study, a thermodynamic analysis of the hybrid heat source driven organic Rankine cycle integrated flash tank vapor compression refrigeration (ORC-FTVCR) system is conducted using five different hydrocarbon fluids such as hexane, heptane, octane, nonane, and decane. The hybrid heat source consists of a solar collector and a biomass burner system. The system coefficient of performance (COP s), overall exergetic efficiency (η oex), are taken as the indices of the thermal performance of the system. The impact of the operating parameters such as the intensity of solar radiation, inlet temperatures of expander and VCR evaporator, isentropic efficiencies of the compressor and expander, and the condenser saturated vapor temperature on system performance is also investigated. The results indicate that the system performs better using heptane as the working fluid. The values of COP s , η oex , for ORC-FTVCR system using heptane are 0.551 and 4.21%, respectively. The solar collector and the biomass burner system contribute 88% to the total exergy destruction of the system. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]