The performance of a single crew expander

which is among the most suitable types of expander in the organic Rankine cycle system

plays an important role in the system. One of the essential factors influencing a single crew expander performance is heat loss. This study experimentally investigated the heat losses of shell and lubricating oil based on the different inlet parameters of the single screw expander. Results demonstrated that the heat loss in the single screw expander would increase with higher inlet temperature within the 80–123 ℃ range. Heat loss in lubricating oils was found to be the main form of heat loss

increasing from 0.5 to 1.05 kW. In addition

an increase in the inlet temperature would lead to a greater expansion ratio of the single screw expander

eventually leading to an increase inthe output power. On the contrary

the proportion of each heat loss decreased. In particular

the shell and lubricating oil heat loss ratio decreased from 5.1% to 2.5% and from 16.1% to 9.5%

respectively

when the inlet temperature increased from 80 ℃ to 123 ℃. This indicates that with an improvement in the performance of the single screw expander

even when the heat loss increased

its effect on the performance of the expander tend to decrease gradually.