eBook
Digital Version

Micro turbo expander design for small scale ORC : Tesla turbine

2020 - Firenze University Press

228 p. : ill.

  • Includes bibliographical references (p. 205-216).
  • The Tesla expander was first developed by N. Tesla at the beginning of the 20th century. In recent years, due to the increasing appeal towards micro power generation and energy recovery from wasted flows, this cost effective expander technology rose a renovated interest. In the present study, a 2D numerical model is realized and a design procedure of a Tesla turbine for ORC applications is proposed. A throughout optimization method is developed by evaluating the losses of each component. The 2D model results are further exploited through the development of 3D computational investigation, which allows an accurate comprehension of the flow characteristics.