Flow measurements in Organic Rankine Cycle power systems (ORCs) are employed for renewable power generation (from, for example, geothermal reservoirs, solar radiation, biomass combustion and industrial waste heat) are challenging due to the non-ideal nature of the involved fluid dynamic phenomena. This can lead to inaccuracies in plant performance measurements, with consequent inefficiencies, costs and related CO2 emissions.
To tackle the issue of non-ideal flow measurements, our team has conceived a standardized methodology for the design and calibration of an accurate multipurpose probe for non-ideal flows: the Non-Ideal Pitot Probe (NIPP), for accurate and reliable data acquisition.
The PROVA project allowed to:
1) to advance the NIPP maturity level by demonstrating a proof of concept in a laboratory setting, laying the foundation for experimental pressure probe testing in non-ideal flows;
2) to demonstrate novel know-how on non-ideal flow measurements through the first ever measurement of shock total pressure losses in supersonic non-ideal flows of siloxane MM, setting the basis for future characterization of non-ideal flows of interest in ORC turbines and providing important experimental data for numerical tools evaluation;
3) to set up a commercialization strategy, which involved a detailed ORC market analysis, a competitiveness analysis, stakeholder mapping, scouting of possible funding opportunities and business model canvas creation.
Overall, the project dissemination involved participation and presentation of results to the main field conferences, paper writing and submission to leading sectorial journals, with a final scientific output of 3 Msc theses, 1 Phd thesis, 1 conference paper and 3 journal articles. Outreach also included an update through a newsletter to interested parties (namely, companies that signed the letter of interest included in the proposal) and preliminary contacts with Politecnico di Milano’s Technology Transfer Office to explore possible intellectual property protection strategies.
The team participated to the Switch2Product innovation challenge of Politecnico di Milano, see
https://s2p.it/en/home-s2p-english/(opens in new window). Out of more than 250 projects aimed at transferring to market innovative ideas and products, 15 projects were selected, including our NICE-T project aimed at creating a start-up to market the NIPP designed during the current ERC PoC PROVA.
