Organic Rankine cycle

The organic Rankine cycle (ORC) applies the principle of the steam Rankine cycle to organic fluids that have low boiling points. These fluids are used as the working media to generate power from low-grade heat sources, such as biomass combustion, industrial waste heat, and geothermal heat. The advantage of ORC is that, unlike steam, refrigerants and organic fluids can be dry or isentropic. These fluids can be expanded without the risk of creating condensation in the turbine and may become superheated during isentropic expansion. Because these fluids have lower boiling points than water, they evaporate at lower temperatures and also expand further, delivering ideal performance in low-temperature systems.