Current Status and Applications of Organic Rankine Cycles in the Global Cement Industry

The cement industry is an energy-intensive sector characterized by high energy consumption and significant greenhouse gas emissions.Waste heat generated during cement production can be recovered and utilized as a valuable energy source, potentially supplying approximately 20 % of the electricity demand of cement plants, while reducing electricity costs and associated emissions.Korea's cement industry, the Steam Rankine Cycle (SRC) has been primarily employed for waste heat recovery; however, the SRC has several limitations under actual waste heat temperature and operating conditions, including efficiency loss, the potential turbine blade erosiong due to wet steam, and dependence on water-cooled condensers.The Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is a power generation system that uses low-boiling-point organic working fluids instead of water, making it suitable for recovering low-to medium-temperature waste heat.In addition, because it is more likely to maintain a dry or superheated vapor state during the expansion process, ORC can reduce the risk of turbine damage caused by wet vapor and is regarded as a promising alternative for overcoming the operational and structural limitations of SRC.This study comparatively