Exergetic analysis of the refrigeration system in ethylene and propylene production process

The exergetic analysis is a tool that has been used successfully in many studies aiming a more rational energy use reducing the cost of the processes. With this analysis it is possible to perform an evaluation of the overall process, locating and quantifying the degradation of exergy. In this context, the present work aimed the exergetic analysis of the refrigeration cycles in ethylene and propylene production process, calculating the loss of exergy, in order to propose changes in the operational variables of the cycles used, trying to reduce the rate of destroyed exergy in the process. The commercial simulator Hysys^© (version 3.2) was used to obtain thermodynamic properties of the process streams and to perform mass and energy balances. The application of new operational conditions in these cycles resulted in a reduction of about 13% of the losses of exergy for the refrigeration system of the process.     

Thermodynamic performance assessment of ocean thermal energy conversion based hydrogen production and liquefaction process

In the proposed study, the thermodynamic performance assessment of ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) based hydrogen generation and liquefaction system are evaluated. In this context, the energetic and exergetic analyses of integrated system are conducted for multigeneration. This integrated process is consisted of the heat exchangers, turbine, condenser, pumps, solar collector system, hot storage tank, cold storage tank and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. In addition to that, the impacts of different design indicators and reference ambient parameters on the exergetic performance and exergy destruction rate of OTEC based hydrogen production system are analyzed. The energetic and exergetic efficiencies of integrated system are founded as 43.49% and 36.49%, respectively.     

Energetic and exergetic assessments of a novel solar power tower based multigeneration system with hydrogen production and liquefaction

In this article, a thermodynamic investigation of solar power tower assisted multigeneration system with hydrogen production and liquefaction is presented for more environmentally-benign multigenerational outputs. The proposed multigeneration system is consisted of mainly eight sub-systems, such as a solar power tower, a high temperature solid oxide steam electrolyzer, a steam Rankine cycle with two turbines, a hydrogen generation and liquefaction cycle, a quadruple effect absorption cooling process, a drying process, a membrane distillation unit and a domestic hot water tank to supply hydrogen, electrical power, heating, cooling, dry products, fresh and hot water generation for a community. The energetic and exergetic efficiencies for the performance of the present multigeneration system are found as 65.17% and 62.35%, respectively. Also, numerous operating conditions and parameters of the systems and their effects on the respective energy and exergy efficiencies are investigated, evaluated and discussed in this study. A parametric study is carried out to analyze the impact of various system design indicators on the sub-systems, exergy destruction rates and exergetic efficiencies and COPs. In addition, the impacts of varying the ambient temperature and solar radiation intensity on the irreversibility and exergetic performance for the present multigeneration system and its components are investigated and evaluated comparatively. According to the modeling results, the solar irradiation intensity is found to be the most influential parameter among other conditions and factors on system performance.     

Hydrogen production with CO2 capture by coupling steam reforming of methane and chemical-looping combustion: Use of an iron-based waste product as oxygen carrier burning a PSA tail gas

In this work it is analyzed the performance of an iron waste material as oxygen carrier for a chemical-looping combustion (CLC) system. CLC is a novel combustion technology with the benefit of inherent CO₂ separation that can be used as a source of energy for the methane steam reforming process (SR). The tail gas from the PSA unit is used as fuel in the CLC system.The oxygen carrier behaviour with respect to gas combustion was evaluated in a continuous 500 W_th CLC prototype using a simulated PSA off-gas stream as fuel. Methane or syngas as fuel were also studied for comparison purposes. The oxygen carrier showed enough high oxygen transport capacity and reactivity to fully convert syngas at 880 °C. However, lower conversion of the fuel was observed with methane containing fuels. An estimated solids inventory of 1600 kg MW_th⁻¹ would be necessary to fully convert the PSA off-gas to CO₂ and H₂O. An important positive effect of the oxygen carrier-to-fuel ratio up to 1.5 and the reactor temperature on the combustion efficiency was found.A characterization of the calcined and after-used particles was carried out showing that this iron-based material can be used as oxygen carrier in a CLC plant since particles maintain their properties (reactivity, no agglomeration, high durability, etc.) after more than 111 h of continuous operation.     

Second law-based thermodynamic analysis of ammonia/sodium thiocyanate absorption system

In this study, the first and second law of thermodynamics are used to analyze the performance of a novel absorption system for cooling and heating applications. The active component of the sorbent used in this study is sodium thiocyanate (NaSCN). Ammonia (NH₃) is chosen as sorptive. A mathematic model based on exergy analysis is introduced to analyze the system performance. Enthalpy, entropy, temperature, mass flow rate and exergy loss of each component and the total exergy loss of the system are evaluated. Furthermore, the coefficient of performance (COP) and exergetic efficiency of the absorption system for cooling and heating processes are calculated from the thermodynamic properties of the working fluids under different operating conditions. The results show that the COP of cooling and heating increases with the heat source temperature and decreases with the cooling water inlet temperature, but the system exergetic efficiency does not show the same trends for both cooling and heating applications. The simulation results can be used for the thermodynamic optimization of the current system.     

Analysis and performance assessment of a combined geothermal power-based hydrogen production and liquefaction system

In this paper, the thermodynamic study of a combined geothermal power-based hydrogen generation and liquefaction system is investigated for performance assessment. Because hydrogen is the energy of future, the purpose of this study is to produce hydrogen in a clear way. The results of study can be helpful for decision makers in terms of the integrated system efficiency. The presented integrated hydrogen production and liquefaction system consists of a combined geothermal power system, a PEM electrolyzer, and a hydrogen liquefaction and storage system. The exergy destruction rates, exergy destruction ratios and exergetic performance values of presented integrated system and its subsystems are determined by using the balance equations for mass, energy, entropy, energy and exergy and evaluated their performances by means of energetic and exergetic efficiencies. In this regard, the impact of some design parameters and operating conditions on the hydrogen production and liquefaction and its exergy destruction rates and exergetic performances are investigated parametrically. According to these parametric analysis results, the most influential parameter affecting system exergy efficiency is found to be geothermal source temperature in such a way that as geothermal fluid temperature increases from 130 °C to 200 °C which results in an increase of exergy efficiency from 38% to 64%. Results also show that, PEM electrolyzer temperature is more effective than reference temperature. As PEM electrolyzer temperature increases from 60 °C to 85 °C, the hydrogen production efficiency increases from nearly 39% to 44%.     

A thermal performance evaluation of a new integrated gas turbine-based multigeneration plant with hydrogen and ammonia production

In this study, a new combined system driving a gas turbine cycle has been proposed for seven useful outputs of power, hydrogen, ammonia, heating-cooling, drying and hot water. The proposed integrated plant mainly consists of the gas turbine cycle, Rankine cycle, two organic Rankine cycles, ejector-based cooling, hydrogen production and liquefaction, ammonia production and storage, drying and hot water generation sub-systems. In order to demonstrate that the designed system is an efficient and environmentally plant, the performance analysis was performed by using a software package. Before performing the performance assessment of the plant, the mathematical model of the integrated plant is prepared in accordance with thermodynamic equations. Basic equilibrium equations are used for the thermodynamic equations used. Obtaining multiple useful outputs from the system also have the positive effect on the system effectiveness. The energetic effectiveness of integrated plant for multigeneration with hydrogen and ammonia production is computed to be 62.18% and exergetic efficiency is 58.37%. In addition, the energetic and exergetic effectiveness of hydrogen production and liquefaction process are 57.92% and 54.23%, respectively.     

EXERGY ANALYSIS OF AMMONIA-BASED SOLAR THERMOCHEMICAL POWER SYSTEMS

The reversible dissociation of ammonia is one of the candidate reactions for use in closed loop solar thermochemical energy storage systems. The major determinant of achievable performance for such a system is the degree of thermodynamic irreversibility associated with the heat recovery process. Exergy analysis of a semi realistic 30 MPa isobaric system has revealed that the major irreversibilities occur within the exothermic reactor and the counterflow heat exchanger between ingoing and outgoing reactants. In this study, optimum reactor control yielded exergetic efficiencies up to 71%, which should translate to overall solar to electric conversion efficiencies of around 20%.     

Investigation of a new integrated system for multiple outputs with hydrogen and methanol

In this study, an integrated multigeneration system that can produce hydrogen, electricity, heat, and methanol simultaneously is thermodynamically investigated. This integrated multigeneration system consists of three subsystems, namely: (i) electrolyzer, (ii) thermal power plant; and (iii) methanol production reactor. Energy and exergy analyses of all system components, as well as the sustainability analysis of the whole system, is performed thoroughly. The integrated system's thermodynamic performance is thoroughly investigated by changing some critical operational and environmental parameters in parametric studies. Based on the results of this study, recommendations for better energetic, exergetic, and environmental performance are presented for better sustainability. The results of this study show that the integrated multigeneration system is capable of producing hydrogen, heat, electricity, and methanol with overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies about 68% and 47%, respectively.     

Application of the concept of a renewable energy based-polygeneration system for sustainable thermal desalination process—A thermodynamics' perspective

Fossil fuel-powered thermal desalination processes have many harmful environmental effects including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and high-salinity brine discharge resulting in biological damages, in addition to energy losses because of the high temperatures of the streams leaving the desalination unit. In this study, a solar energy-based polygeneration approach has been proposed to address these issues. In the proposed system, concentrated solar parabolic trough technology is used to drive a multi-stage flash (MSF) desalination unit for production of fresh water. To recover the waste heat carried by the produced clean water, an organic Rankine cycle is integrated to produce electricity. In addition, to recover the waste heat carried by brine, an absorption cooling system is employed to provide cooling. In order to mitigate the effects of high-salinity brine, a pressure retarded osmosis (PRO) unit is installed, which reduces the salinity of the discharge and produces additional electrical energy. To ensure stable nighttime operations, a thermal energy storage (TES) system is also added to the system. A comprehensive thermodynamic analysis is conducted through mass, energy, and entropy, as well as exergy balances along with energetic and exergetic efficiencies to assess the overall performance of the system. The attained results show that at reference conditions with an overall parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) area of 100 000 m², the system produces 583.3 kW of electricity, approximately 4284 kW of cooling, and 1140 m³ of freshwater daily. Furthermore, the effects of changing operational conditions on the overall performance of the system are investigated. At design conditions, the overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system are found to be 34.54% and 14.55%, respectively.     

An energy and exergy analysis of the supercritical water reforming of glycerol for power production

As a continuation of a previous work, a conceptual design is proposed for reforming glycerol using supercritical water to produce maximum electrical power in an energy self-sufficient system. The scheme of the process is simulated after discussing some routes to achieve the aim. The selected way takes advantage of the huge pressure energy of reformate products just at the outlet of the reforming process. The expanded product gas is used as a fuel gas to provide the thermal energy required by the reforming process. The evaluation of the thermodynamic performance of the process is carried out by an energy and exergy analysis. As relevant outputs measurements of the process performance, the net work and exergetic efficiencies as well as the mole fraction and molar flow-rates of hydrogen obtained. Glycerol feed concentration in aqueous solution at which no external heat source is needed was obtained, both for pure and pretreated crude glycerol, at 800 °C and 240 atm. The effect of the main operating parameters has been investigated by sensitivity analysis to identify optimal conditions that maximize power production. In the exergy analysis, the thermodynamic efficiencies used for the overall process and for its individual units are suitably discussed. The computation has been made with the aid of AspenPlus™, using the predictive Soave-Redlich-Kwong equation of state as thermodynamic method in the simulation of the supercritical region. The next study in this series of glycerol reforming using SCW will aim to maximize hydrogen production, including the syngas purification, to generate electricity via fuel cells.     

Exergetic performance assessment of a ground‐source heat pump drying system

In evaluating the efficiency of heat pump (HP) systems, the most commonly used measure is the energy (or first law) efficiency, which is modified to a coefficient of performance (COP) for HP systems. However, for indicating the possibilities for thermodynamic improvement, energy analysis is inadequate and exergy analysis is needed. This study presents an exergetic assessment of a ground‐source (or geothermal) HP (GSHP) drying system. This system was designed, constructed and tested in the Solar Energy Institute of Ege University, Izmir, Turkey. The exergy destructions in each of the components of the overall system are determined for average values of experimentally measured parameters. Exergy efficiencies of the system components are determined to assess their performances and to elucidate potentials for improvement. COP values for the GSHP unit and overall GSHP drying system are found to range between 1.63–2.88 and 1.45–2.65, respectively, while corresponding exergy efficiency values on a product/fuel basis are found to be 21.1 and 15.5% at a dead state temperature of 27°C, respectively. Specific moisture extraction rate (SMER) on the system basis is obtained to be 0.122 kg kW^?1 h^?1. For drying systems, the so‐called specific moisture exergetic rate (SMExR), which is defined as the ratio of the moisture removed in kg to the exergy input in kW h, is also proposed by the authors. The SMExR of the whole GSHP drying system is found to be 5.11 kg kW^?1 h^?1. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development and performance analysis of a new solar tower and high temperature steam electrolyzer hybrid integrated plant

In this article, an extensive thermodynamic performance assessment for the useful products from the solar tower and high-temperature steam electrolyzer assisted multigeneration system is performed, and also its sustainability index is also investigated. The system under study is considered for multi-purposes such as power, heating, cooling, drying productions, and also hydrogen generation and liquefaction. In this combined plant occurs of seven sub-systems; the solar tower, gas turbine cycle, high temperature steam electrolyzer, dryer process, heat pump, and absorption cooling system with single effect. In addition, the energy and exergy performance, irreversibility and sustainability index of multigeneration system are examined according to several factors, such as environment temperature, gas turbine input pressure, solar radiation and pinch point temperature of HRSG. Results of thermodynamic and sustainability assessments show that the total energetic and exergetic efficiency of suggested paper are calculated as 60.14%, 58.37%, respectively. The solar tower sub-system has the highest irreversibility with 18775 kW among the multigeneration system constituents. Solar radiation and pinch point temperature of HRSG are the most critical determinants affecting the system energetic and exergetic performances, and also hydrogen production rate. In addition, it has been concluded that, the sustainability index of multigeneration suggested study has changed between 2.2 and 3.05.     

Thermodynamic analysis of R422 series refrigerants as alternative refrigerants to HCFC22 in a vapour compression refrigeration system

In the present study, the first and second law analysis of R422 series refrigerants (R422A, R422B, R422C and R422D) is presented as an alternative to HCFC22. A computational model, developed in engineering equation solver software, is employed for comparing the performance of these refrigerants in vapour compression refrigeration cycle. The thermodynamic properties of the R422 series refrigerants are computed using Refprop version 7.0. The parameters computed are volumetric cooling capacity (VCC), compressor discharge temperature, coefficient of performance (COP), exergetic efficiency and efficiency defects in system components. The results indicate that VCC, COP and exergetic efficiency for HCFC22 are higher in comparison with R422A, R422B, R422C and R422D. The efficiency defects in the condenser are largest followed by throttle valve, compressor and evaporator. Thus, the design improvement of condenser is of utmost importance to reduce the overall irreversibility and improve the system performance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design and analysis of a new solar hydrogen plant for power,methane, ammonia and urea generation

In this paper, a solar power-based combined plant for power, hydrogen, methane, ammonia and urea production is proposed. A parabolic trough collector is utilized for the system prime mover. Moreover, steam Rankine cycle, organic Rankine cycle, hydrogen production and compression subsystem, ammonia, methane and urea production units, single-effect absorption cooling unit, and freshwater production plant are integrated together to develop the present system for better system performance and cost-effectiveness and reduced environmental impact. In order to analyze and evaluate the proposed multigeneration plant, thermodynamic, parametric and economic studies are performed. According to the assessment results, it is found that energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the present multigeneration plant are 66.12% and 61.56%, respectively. The comparisons of the subsystem and overall plant efficiencies show that the highest energetic and energetic efficiencies belong to freshwater production plant by 79.24% and 75.62%, respectively. In addition, the present parametric analysis indicates that an increase in the reference temperature, solar radiation intensity and working pressure of the solar process has a positive effect on the plant's performance. The cost analysis reveals that as the solar radiation intensity and the working pressure of the solar process increase, the hydrogen generation cost decreases. Furthermore, the hydrogen generation cost is achieved to be 1.94 $/kgH₂ at 650 W/m² of the solar radiation intensity, with other parameters remaining constant.     

Hydrogen from ethanol: Theoretical optimization of a PEMFC system integrated with a steam reforming processor

In this paper the energetic optimization of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell integrated with a steam reforming system using ethanol as fuel is analysed. In order to obtain high hydrogen production, a thermodynamic analysis of the steam reforming process has been carried out and the optimal operating conditions has been defined. Moreover, the overall efficiency of the PEMFC-SR system has been investigated as a function of the fuel utilization factor and the effects of the anodic off-gas recirculation have been evaluated.     

Exergy analysis of Joule–Thomson cryogenic refrigeration cycle with an ejector

In this paper, exergy method is applied to analyze the ejector expansion Joule–Thomson (EJT) cryogenic refrigeration cycle. The exergy destruction rate in each component of the EJT cycle is evaluated in detail. The effect of some main parameters on the exergy destruction and exergetic efficiency of the cycle is also investigated. The most significant exergy destruction rates in the cycle are in the compressor and ejector. The ejector pressure ratio and compressor isothermal efficiency have a significant effect on the exergetic efficiency of the EJT cycle. The exergy analysis results show the EJT cycle has an obvious increase in the exergetic efficiency compared to the basic Joule–Thomson refrigeration cycle. A significant advantage from the use of the ejector is that the total exergy destruction of the EJT cycle can be reduced due to much more decreasing of the exergy destruction rates in the compressor and expansion valve. The exergy analysis also reconfirms that applying an ejector is a very important approach to improve the performance of the Joule–Thomson cryogenic refrigeration cycle.     

Analysis and optimization of solid oxide fuel cell-based auxiliary power units using a generic zero-dimensional fuel cell model

Fuel-cell-based auxiliary power units can help to reduce fuel consumption and emissions in transportation. For this application, the combination of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) with upstream fuel processing by autothermal reforming (ATR) is seen as a highly favorable configuration. Notwithstanding the necessity to improve each single component, an optimized architecture of the fuel cell system as a whole must be achieved. To enable model-based analyses, a system-level approach is proposed in which the fuel cell system is modeled as a multi-stage thermo-chemical process using the “flowsheeting” environment PRO/II™. Therein, the SOFC stack and the ATR are characterized entirely by corresponding thermodynamic processes together with global performance parameters. The developed model is then used to achieve an optimal system layout by comparing different system architectures. A system with anode and cathode off-gas recycling was identified to have the highest electric system efficiency. Taking this system as a basis, the potential for further performance enhancement was evaluated by varying four parameters characterizing different system components. Using methods from the design and analysis of experiments, the effects of these parameters and of their interactions were quantified, leading to an overall optimized system with encouraging performance data.     

An analysis of SOFC/GT CHP system based on exergetic performance criteria

In this study, we first consider developing a thermodynamic model of solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine combined heat and power (SOFC/GT CHP) system under steady-state operation using zero-dimensional approach. Additionally, energetic performance results of the developed model are compared with the literature concerning SOFC/GT hybrid systems for its reliability. Moreover, exergy analysis is carried out based on the developed model to obtain a more efficient system by the determination of irreversibilities. For exergetic performance evaluation, exergy efficiency, exergy output and exergy loss rate of the system are considered as classical criteria. Alternatively, exergetic performance coefficient (EPC) as a new criterion is investigated with regard to main design parameters such as fuel utilization, current density, recuperator effectiveness, compressor pressure ratio and pinch point temperature, aiming at achieving higher exergy output with lower exergy loss in the system. The simulation results of the SOFC/GT CHP system investigated, working at maximum EPC conditions, show that a design based on EPC criterion has considerable advantage in terms of entropy-generation rate.     

Exergetic comparison of two different cooling technologies for the power cycle of a thermal power plant

Exergetic analysis is without any doubt a powerful tool for developing, evaluating and improving an energy conversion system. In the present paper, two different cooling technologies for the power cycle of a 50 MWe solar thermal power plant are compared from the exergetic viewpoint. The Rankine cycle design is a conventional, single reheat design with five closed and one open extraction feedwater heaters. The software package GateCycle is used for the thermodynamic simulation of the Rankine cycle model. The first design configuration uses a cooling tower while the second configuration uses an air cooled condenser. With this exergy analysis we identify the location, magnitude and the sources or thermodynamic inefficiencies in this thermal system. This information is very useful for improving the overall efficiency of the power system and for comparing the performance of both technologies.