Benefit analysis of organic Rankine cycle power generation by using waste heat recovery in Refinery

¹ State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing and Beijing, China University of Petroleum, Beijing 102249, China
² Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
³ Research Institute of Safety & Environment Technology, China National Petroleum Corporation, Beijing 102206, China
⁴ School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing 100029, China

^* Corresponding author: maqiancup@126.com

Abstract

Under the goal of achieving “carbon neutrality”, increasing energy-saving and reducing emissions has become a long-term strategy to ensure the sustainable development of China’s social economy. The unrecycled waste heat leads to a high energy penalty in refinery. This paper presents an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) power generation technology, which through the thermodynamic cycle to recover the waste heat from the Aromatics Complex units. This process is simulated and analysed from the environmental point. The results indicate that the application of ORC in aromatics combined units can indirectly save 41040 tons of coal every year. The annual emission of CO₂ is reduced by 94455 tons. The proposed ORC system provides technological route for refineries to achieve waste heat recovery, thus advancing the green transition of the petrochemical plants.