Geothermal power plants with maximized specific power output: Optimal working fluid and operating conditions of subcritical and transcritical Organic Rankine Cycles

In this paper, the design of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is optimized by means of numerical simulations. The systems of interest are the subcritical and transcritical thermodynamic cycles. Optimizations are performed with the objective of determining the design that maximizes the specific power output. The design variables include the operating parameters (pressures, mass flow rates), and the best working fluid is determined by comparing the...