This paper used the energy, exergy, and economic analysis of a carbon dioxide (CO₂) transcritical two-stage compression system based on organic Rankine cycle (ORC) waste heat recovery technology. When the intermediate pressure and high-pressure compressor outlet pressure were changed, respectively, this study simulated the change in system energy efficiency by adding the ORC for waste heat recovery, calculated the ratio of exergy loss of each component, and performed an economic analysis of the coupled system. The results show that adding waste heat recovery can effectively increase the energy efficiency of the system, and among all components, the heat exchanger had the largest exergy loss, while the evaporator had the highest capital investment and maintenance costs.

Spray cooling is effectively utilized in evaporative condensers to achieve efficient heat and mass transfer transmission, while also effectively preventing performance degradation caused by packing blockage. The heat transfer efficiency is strongly affected by the relative flow direction between the spray and air flow. This work employs computational fluid dynamics to evaluate and examine the heat transfer effects of parallel and countercurrent air and spray flow in evaporative condensers. The findings indicate that increasing spray density and wall temperature enhances heat transfer efficiency. Smaller droplets with lower initial velocity exhibit superior heat transfer capabilities in parallel flow, while smaller droplets also perform well in countercurrent flow as long as the initial velocity is not too high. Additionally, a slight increase in air velocity improves heat transfer efficiency in both parallel and countercurrent flow conditions. It is important to note that the countercurrent condition has a larger heat transfer effect than the parallel flow.

The use of ammonia in large-scale refrigeration systems (such as those used for a stadium) requires adequate ammonia leakage prevention mechanisms are put in place. In the present study, numerical simulations have been conducted to study the dispersion law in the ammonia machinery room of the refrigeration system for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The wind speed, and release location have been varied to investigate their effects on the dispersion profile. Different positions of the leakage points in the ammonia storage tank have been found to lead to different areas affected accordingly. In general, the dangerous region area decreases with an increase in the wind speed. However, when the wind is aligned with the leakage direction, this trend is reverted. The study may offer an effective method to predict the impact of ammonia dispersion and implement the safe operation of such large-scale systems.

Latent thermal energy storage (LTES) devices can efficiently store renewable energy in thermal form and guarantee a stable-temperature thermal energy supply. The gravity-driven motion melting (GDMM) process improves the overall melting rate for packaged phase-change material (PCM) by constructing an enhanced flow field in the liquid phase. However, due to the complex mechanisms involved in fluid–solid coupling and liquid–solid phase transition, numerical simulation studies that demonstrate physical details are necessary. In this study, a simplified numerical model based on the Eulerian method is proposed. We aimed to introduce a fluid deformation yield stress equation to the “solid phase” based on the Bingham fluid assumption. As a result, fluid–solid coupling and liquid–solid phase transition processes become continuously solvable. The proposed model is validated by the referenced experimental measurements. The enhanced performance of liquid-phase convection and the macroscopic settling of the “solid phase” are numerically analyzed. The results indicate that the enhanced liquid-phase fluidity allows for a stronger heat transfer process than natural convection for the pure liquid phase. The gravity-driven pressure difference is directly proportional to the vertical melting rate, which indicates the feasibility of controlling the pressure difference to improve the melting rate.