Introduction

Welcome to our team website! Team 14 will use this website in order to help keep you up to date with all of our progress on our senior design project throughout the year.

Team 14 from the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering is working closely with the engineers at Verdicorp Enviromental Technologies to help solve real-world engineering problems using a hands-on engineering design method approach.

What We're Doing

UPDATE: The noise mitigation prototype has been manufactured and installed on the ORC system. See our latest presentation and poster documents to check out the results!

Reducing and eliminating waste heat has become a primary concern for industry over the past few decades. With more research being done on the subject, industries are making the push to clean up and improve efficiencies. Though there are many solutions implemented into cleaner energy, many sources generate byproducts (disturbs wildlife, generates further waste, etc...) which left unchecked limits the development and implementation of environmental waste heat management.

The byproduct of Verdicorps Organic Rankine Cycle systems (ORC) is an excess noise production during the system start up and shutdown. During these phases of the system operation gases are rerouted to the bypass line rather than through the turbine which results in an unacceptably loud noise. The deadening of the bypass line will require extensive analysis of the existing hardware and acoustic research to locate the exact location(s) where the noise is being generated. After the problem area(s) are located, various solutions will be designed, prototyped, and tested to determine the best noise reducing method. An overall reduction in the noise produced by this ORC in bypass will result in quieter operation enabling further distribution of these systems in noise sensitive environments.

Our Goal Statement

When operating in bypass, the ORC system generates an unacceptably loud amount of noise. A solution needs to be found to mitigate the bypass line noise while not impeding the performance of the system or requiring significant modifications of exiting components.

What is an ORC?

The organic rankine cycle is a thermodynamic process where heat is transferred to a fluid at a constant pressure. The fluid is evaporated and then expanded through a vapor turbine which drives a generator, producing electricity which is then stepped up to grid level.

As explained by Verdicorp, the system is described as a chiller running backwards, instead of using electrical energy to produce cooling, the organic rankine cycle takes heat from different sources and turn it into economical electrical energy. This system is often used by companies who have significant waste heat and want to increase the efficiency of their systems. The heat sources vary from solar concentrators, waste engine heat, manufacturing processes, or even waste steam.

Compared to various other forms of waste heat electrical generation, Verdicorp ORCs are unique in the fact that they do not depend on a stand-alone heat sources to power them, but are only fed with byproduct heat of another process. In this way the ORC is self-sufficient and only adds efficiency and a reduction in thermal waste for a company. Although not implemented widely in the United States where energy costs are lower than other parts of the world, at around 12 cents per kWh, overseas the cost of electricity is around 18 to 20 cents per kWh. With this system installed the monetary return on electricity alone can pay for the system in a few years.