ORC Systems for Waste Heat Recovery: Turning Waste Heat into Power
ORC Waste Heat Recovery
An Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system turns low- and medium-temperature heat that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere into electricity. In the waste-to-value space, where pyrolysis, gasification and combustion release a continuous stream of process heat, an ORC module captures that energy and returns it to the plant as power, cutting energy costs and lifting overall efficiency.
How an ORC System Works
An ORC works on the same principle as a conventional steam turbine but runs on an organic working fluid with a much lower boiling point than water. Waste heat, typically between about 80 °C and 400 °C, vaporises the fluid in a heat exchanger; the pressurised vapour then expands through a turbine to drive a generator, and the cooled fluid is condensed and pumped back around the closed loop. Because the fluid boils at a low temperature, the cycle makes useful power from heat sources a conventional steam cycle cannot touch.
Where Waste Heat Becomes Power
ORC systems recover energy from a wide range of process and combustion sources:
- Pyrolysis and gasification plants, where syngas and non-condensable combustion heat is recycled to power.
- Engine and turbine exhaust, with flue gas and generator heat recovered into additional electricity.
- Industrial process heat, from cement, steel, glass and other energy-intensive operations.
- Biomass plants, upgrading heat output into combined heat and power (CHP).
Why ORC Fits Waste-to-Energy and Pyrolysis Plants
The waste-to-value process is a natural home for ORC. Pyrolysis and gasification are designed to liberate hydrocarbons from waste, and the heat they release is part of that energy yield, but only if it is captured. Coupling an ORC module to the process turns otherwise-lost thermal energy into the electricity that runs the plant’s shredders, dryers and controls, making the facility more self-sufficient and improving its net energy balance.
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Turn Waste Heat into Revenue
Every megawatt of recovered heat is electricity you no longer have to buy, but only a properly sized ORC matched to your process temperatures captures it efficiently.
Klean Industries engineers turn-key pyrolysis, gasification and waste-to-energy systems and integrates power recovery across its project base, which includes three recovered carbon black plants delivered in India over the past two years, with a further five under letter of intent.
Ready to put your process heat to work?
Contact Klean Industries about ORC waste heat recovery systems » GO.
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