Waste heat recovery in a cruise vessel

Abstract: In three studies of a cruise ship the author has investigated waste heat recovery (WHR)from exhaust gases using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), and also mapped the energyand exergy flows within the ship. Data were collected from the ship’s machinerysystem for a total extent of one year, and this data were used for simulations andenergy calculations. An off-design analysis was made and an ORC was simulated andoptimised with regards to the ship’s operating conditions. The ORC working fluid wasoptimised in terms for maximum electrical production in the off-design condition. Theoff-design analysis showed that the ship speed and power consumption was far fromits original design. The results indicate that there is a potential for significant savingsby using an organic Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery. The energy and exergyanalysis gave a better understanding of the energy flows and showed that the singlelargest exergy destruction occurs in the ship’s diesel engines.