In recent years, the ORC market expanded rapidly in terms of installed plants, power and number of ORC manufacturers. New markets, like the waste heat recovery from industrial process or endothermic engines, are growing very fast, but the biomass combustion and the exploitation of geothermal brines have been confirmed as the two main fields of application.
Regarding the latter, the presence of monetary subsidies is making attractive the exploitation of geothermal brines with temperatures as low as 100°C, but it is mandatory to maximize the plant efficiency in order to payback the relevant cost of exploration and drilling.
Efficiency of low-medium temperature geothermal plants can be enhanced: