The Kalina cycle is a thermodynamic process for converting thermal energy into usable mechanical power.
It uses a solution of 2 fluids with different boiling points for its working fluid. Since the solution boils over a range of temperatures as in distillation, more of the heat can be extracted from the source than with a pure working fluid. The same applies on the exhaust (condensing) end. This provides efficiency comparable to a Combined cycle, with less complexity.
By appropriate choice of the ratio between the components of the solution, the boiling point of the working solution can be adjusted to suit the heat input temperature. Water and ammonia is the most widely used combination, but other combinations are feasible.
Because of this ability to take full advantage of the temperature difference between the particular heat source and sink available, it finds applications in reuse of industrial process heat, geothermal energy, solar energy, and use of waste heat from power plants (Bottoming cycle).
Read more about Kalina Cycle: Kalina Cycle Power Plants, Licensing
Famous quotes containing the word cycle:
“The cycle of the machine is now coming to an end. Man has learned much in the hard discipline and the shrewd, unflinching grasp of practical possibilities that the machine has provided in the last three centuries: but we can no more continue to live in the world of the machine than we could live successfully on the barren surface of the moon.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)