Thermoeconomic analysis of a power/water cogeneration plant

Cogeneration plants for simultaneous production of water and electricity are widely used in the Arabian Gulf region. They have proven to be more thermodynamically efficient and economically feasible than single purpose power generation and water production plants. Yet, there is no standard or universally applied methodology for determining unit cost of electric power generation and desalinated water production by dual purpose plants.A comprehensive literature survey to critically assess and evaluate different methods for cost application in power/water cogeneration plants is reported in this paper. Based on this analysis, an in-depth thermoeconomic study is carried out on a selected power/water cogeneration plant that employs a regenerative Rankine cycle. The system incorporates a boiler, back pressure turbine (supplying steam to two MSF distillers), a deaerator and two feed water heaters. The turbine generation is rated at 118 MW, while MSF distiller is rated at 7.7 MIGD at a top brine temperature of 105 °C. An appropriate costing procedure based on the available energy accounting method which divides benefits of the cogeneration configuration equitably between electricity generation and water production is used to determine the unit costs of electricity and water. Capital charges of common equipment such as the boiler, deaerator and feed water heaters as well as boiler fuel costs are distributed between power generated and desalinated water according to available energy consumption of the major subsystems. A detailed sensitivity analysis was performed to examine the impact of the variation of fuel cost, load and availability factors in addition to capital recovery factor on electricity and water production costs.     

Performance and Service Life Considerations—Closed Feedwater Heaters

Because of the potential restriction of plant capacity and increases in fuel consumption cost that result from the removal of closed feedwater heaters from service, there is a need for the application of new design and operation concepts that enhance both the thermal performance and the availability of heaters and their associated systems. Practical operating practices, which take into consideration the highly localized environments in closed feedwater heaters and the individual susceptibilities to failure of the various tube materials in common use, have evolved from direct experience with closed feedwater heater problems. Many electric utilities have adapted these operating concepts in their standard operating procedure. Life extension programs for feedwater heaters that are repaired or to be replaced must include the provision for new operating concepts. Heaters that are subjected to the same operation conditions that led to the original failures may be expected to fail for the same reasons, often in a much shorter time. The acquisition of accurate data on operating performance, the location of tube distress, combined with the application of new, successful practices in feedwater heater design, operation, and maintenance, have provided the best assurance of a satisfactory service life of closed feedwater heaters.     

Thermo‐Economic Analysis and Multiobjective Optimization of Dual Pressure Combined Cycle Power Plant with Supplementary Firing

The heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and duct burner are parts of a combined cycle which have considerable effect on the steam generation. The effect of the gas turbine, duct burner and HRSG on power generation is investigated to reduce exergy destruction and power loss in the gas turbine. The results show that with an increase in duct burner flow rate, pressure loss in the recovery boiler increases, steam generation increases on the HP side while it decreases on the LP side. With a reduction in the HP pinch point, thermal recovery increases while the LP pinch point does not have a significant effect. Then, power loss due to pressure drop in the gas turbine and the electricity cost are considered as two objective functions for optimization. Finally, the sensitivity analysis on ambient temperature, compressor pressure ratio, fuel lower heating value, duct burner fuel rate, condenser pressure and main pressure are performed and results are reported. It is concluded that with an increment in compressor pressure ratio, the duct burner flow rate and consequently steam generation increases while electricity cost decrease.     

Evaluation of solar aided thermal power generation with various power plants

Solar aided power generation (SAPG) is an efficient way to make use of low or medium temperature solar heat for power generation purposes. The so‐called SAPG is actually ‘piggy back’ solar energy on the conventional fuel fired power plant. Therefore, its solar‐to‐electricity efficiency depends on the power plant it is associated with. In the paper, the developed SAPG model has been used to study the energy and economic benefits of the SAPG with 200 and 300 MW typical, 600 MW subcritical, 600 MW supercritical, and 600 and 1000 MW ultra‐supercritical fuel power units separately. The solar heat in the temperature range from 260 to 90°C is integrated with above‐mentioned power units to replace the extraction steam (to preheat the feedwater) in power boosting and fuel‐saving operating modes. The results indicate that the benefits of SAPG are different for different steam extracted positions and different power plants. Generally, the larger the power plant, the higher the solar benefit if the same level solar is integrated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance modelling of a carbon dioxide removal system for power plants

In this paper, a carbon dioxide removal and liquefaction system, which separates carbon dioxide from the flue gases of conventional power plants, was modelled. The system is based on an amine chemical absorption stripping system, followed by a liquefaction unit to treat the removed CO₂ for transportation and storage. The effect of the main parameters on the absorption and stripping columns is presented. The main constraints set for the model are a capture efficiency of 90% and the use of an aqueous solution with a maximum 30% amine content by weight. The goal of this study is to remove the CO₂ with minimum energy requirements for the process when it is integrated in a fossil fuel fired power plant. Results of the simulation are compared to experimental and literature data from feasibility studies and existing plants.

The power plant to which the removal system is connected is a 320 MW steam power plant with steam reheat and 8 feedwater heaters. Two different fossil fuels were considered: coal and natural gas. The effect of the modifications necessary to integrate the CO₂ removal system in the power plant is also studied.

The capital cost of the removal and liquefaction system is estimated, and its influence on the cost of generated electricity is calculated.     

The impact of fouling on performance evaluation of multi-zone feedwater heaters

A numerical method for analyzing closed system feedwater heaters is presented. A general approach to determine area allocations among the desuperheating, condensing and subcooling zones under a known set of operating conditions is presented for a feedwater heater in a steam power plant. A significant amount of heat duty is handled by the condensing zone, whereas the subcooling zone handles a least amount of heat duty which essentially vanishes at low steam pressures. Fluids mass flow rates and accordingly the overall heat transfer coefficients have significant effects on the areas needed for desuperheating, condensing and subcooling in a feedwater heater. Two fouling models are considered to examine their effect on the heat exchanger performance. Insignificant changes were noticed when comparing the heat transfer rate and outlet temperature results of both the models. It is found that heat duty of the heat exchanger decreases by 2.7% in 3 years when we use the recommended fouling resistance, while the outlet shell-side fluid temperature increased by 6.3%.     

1 000 MW机组不同BEST级数下变工况回热特性研究

为了寻找抽汽背压式汽轮机(back pressure extraction steam turbine,BEST)最佳的级数方案,以配置BEST的二次再热机组为设计基础,保持总回热级数不变,BEST级数从4级增加到8级,对比不同BEST级数下机组的可行性、变工况特性及热经济性.结果表明:从BEST功率相对给水泵功率的裕...     

驱动给水泵用汽轮机效率的测量方法

提出了从给水泵端着手，用测取给水泵轴功率的方法来测量小汽轮机的效率，对该测量方法的原理和计算公式进行了阐述。多台小汽轮机效率测试实践表明，该方法切实有效，解决了现场小汽轮机效率无法测量的问题。     

An option for solar thermal repowering of fossil fuel fired power plants

Global climate change urges immediate measures to be taken to limit greenhouse gas emission coming from the fossil fuel fired power plants. Solar thermal energy can be involved in different ways in existing power generation plants in order to replace heat produced by fossil fuels.Solar field feed water preheating is mainly discussed in this paper as an option for fast and feasible RES penetration. Rankine regenerative steam cycled power plant has been modelled with Thermoflow software. The plant model incorporates also a field with solar Fresnel collectors that directly heats boiler’s feed water. The proposed plant modification yields substantial fossil fuel input reduction. The best results can be obtained when the group of high pressure heaters is replaced and feed water temperature exceeds its original design value. The solar power generation share can reach up to 23% of the power plant capacity in this case, having efficiency higher than 39% for the best solar hour of the year.     

Thermodynamic analysis of an LNG fuelled combined cycle power plant with waste heat recovery and utilization system

This paper has proposed an improved liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled combined cycle power plant with a waste heat recovery and utilization system. The proposed combined cycle, which provides power outputs and thermal energy, consists of the gas/steam combined cycle, the subsystem utilizing the latent heat of spent steam from the steam turbine to vaporize LNG, the subsystem that recovers both the sensible heat and the latent heat of water vapour in the exhaust gas from the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) by installing a condensing heat exchanger, and the HRSG waste heat utilization subsystem. The conventional combined cycle and the proposed combined cycle are modelled, considering mass, energy and exergy balances for every component and both energy and exergy analyses are conducted. Parametric analyses are performed for the proposed combined cycle to evaluate the effects of several factors, such as the gas turbine inlet temperature (TIT), the condenser pressure, the pinch point temperature difference of the condensing heat exchanger and the fuel gas heating temperature on the performance of the proposed combined cycle through simulation calculations. The results show that the net electrical efficiency and the exergy efficiency of the proposed combined cycle can be increased by 1.6 and 2.84% than those of the conventional combined cycle, respectively. The heat recovery per kg of flue gas is equal to 86.27 kJ s^?1. One MW of electric power for operating sea water pumps can be saved. The net electrical efficiency and the heat recovery ratio increase as the condenser pressure decreases. The higher heat recovery from the HRSG exit flue gas is achieved at higher gas TIT and at lower pinch point temperature of the condensing heat exchanger. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance evaluation of a solarized gas turbine system integrated to a high temperature electrolyzer for hydrogen production

In this paper, the performance of a solar gas turbine (SGT) system integrated to a high temperature electrolyzer (HTE) to generate hybrid electrical power and hydrogen fuel is analyzed. The idea behind this design is to mitigate the losses in the electrical power transmission and use the enthalpy of exhaust gases released from the gas turbine (GT) to make steam for the HTE. In this context, a GT system is coupled with a solar tower including heliostat solar field and central receiver to generate electrical power. To make steam for the HTE, a flameless boiler is integrated to the SGT system applying the SGT extremely high temperature exhaust gases as the oxidizer. The results indicate that by increasing the solar receiver outlet temperature from 800 K to 1300 K, the solar share increases from 22.1% to 42.38% and the overall fuel consumption of the plant reduces from 7 kg/s to 2.7 kg/s. Furthermore, flameless mode is achievable in the boiler while the turbine inlet temperature (TIT) is maintained at the temperatures higher than 1314 K. Using constant amounts of the SGT electrical power, the HTE voltage decreases by enhancing the HTE steam temperature which result in the augmentation of the overall hydrogen production. To increase the HTE steam temperature from 950 K to 1350 K, the rate of fuel consumption in the flameless boiler increases from 0.1 m/s to 0.8 m/s; however, since the HTE hydrogen production increases from 4.24 mol/s to 16 mol/s it can be interpreted that the higher steam temperatures would be affordable. The presented hybrid system in this paper can be employed to perform more thermochemical analyses to achieve insightful understanding of the hybrid electrical power-hydrogen production systems.     

A hybrid fuel cell system integrated with methanol steam reformer and methanation reactor

In this paper, a hybrid fuel cell system integrated with methanol steam reformer and methanation reactor is demonstrated. Methanol steam reformer employed in this system is to produce hydrogen-rich reformate in connection with a methanation reactor to reduce the carbon monoxide content effectively, and the reformate gas is sent into a low-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell for direct electric power generation. The optimum conditions (temperature, water to methanol ratio, and space velocity) for methanol steam reforming (MSR) reaction and methanation (MET) reaction are verified by experiments. A comparison between pure hydrogen, reformate surrogate, and actual reformate is performed. The results show that the power density of this hybrid system achieves 245.2 mW/cm² while it achieves 268.8 mW/cm² when employing pure hydrogen as the fuel. An alternative novel method to solve the problem of hydrogen storage and transportation is provided and the in-situ hydrogen production and utilizing through low-temperature fuel cell system is realized, which is helpful to accelerate the commercialization process of the fuel cell.     

Energy recovery by pinch technology

This paper shows how the application of pinch technology can lead towards great energy savings. The heat exchanger network of a nitric acid plant has been studied and it was found that it is possible to reduce requirements for cooling water and medium pressure steam. In order to enable these savings, three heat exchangers should be replaced with new ones. Energy consumption in steam power system increases slightly. However, the final result is a reduction of energy costs and a payback time of 14.5 months.     

NOx emissions and thermal efficiencies of small scale biomass-fuelled combustion plant with reference to process industries in a developing country

Solid biomass materials are an important industrial fuel in many developing countries and also show good potential for usage in Europe within a future mix of renewable energy resources. The sustainable use of wood fuels for combustion relies on operation of plant with acceptable thermal efficiency. There is a clear link between plant efficiency and environmental impacts due to air pollution and deforestation. To supplement a somewhat sparse literature on thermal efficiencies and nitrogen oxide emissions from biomass-fuelled plants in developing countries, this paper presents results for tests carried out on 14 combustion units obtained during field trials in Sri Lanka. The plants tested comprised steam boilers and process air heaters. Biomass fuels included: rubber-wood, fuelwood from natural forests; coconut shells; rice husks; and sugar cane bagasse. Average NO_x (NO and NO₂) emissions for the plants were found to be 47 gNO₂ GJ⁻¹ with 18% conversion of fuel nitrogen. The former value is the range of NO_x emission values quoted for combustion of coal in grate-fired systems; some oil-fired systems and systems operating on natural gas, but is less than the emission levels for the combustion of pulverized fuel and heavy fuel oil. This value is significantly within current European standards for NO_x emission from large combustion plants. Average thermal efficiency of the plants was found to be 50%. Observations made on operational practices demonstrated that there is considerable scope for the improvement of this thermal efficiency value by plant supervisor training, drying of fuelwood and the use of simple instruments for monitoring plant performance.     

Thermodynamic optimization of reheat regenerative thermal-power plants

A first- and second-law procedure for the optimization of the reheat pressure level in reheat regeneration thermal-power plants is presented. The procedure is general in form and is applied for a thermal-power plant having two reheat pressure levels and two open-type feedwater heaters. The second-law efficiency of the steam generator, turbine cycle and plant are evaluated and optimized. The irreversibilities in the different components of the steam generator and turbine cycle sections are evaluated and discussed. Additional constraints such as the steam qualities at the exits of the different turbine stages are considered.     

Industrial use of geothermal energy at the Tasman pulp & paper co. ltd's mill, Kawerau, New Zealand

Tasman Pulp & Paper Co. Ltd's mill at Kawerau has an annual production capacity of 380,000 tonnes of Newsprint and 200,000 tonnes of Kraft pulp. The mill electrical requirement amounts to 128MW. Geothermal steam has a significant impact on the mill energy balance and contributes around 35% of the mills steam requirements. There are five geothermal to clean steam heat exchangers with a total capacity of 140t/hr of 345kPa saturated process steam and two boiler feedwater heaters which supply two chemical recovery boilers and three power boilers. Additional geothermal steam is used to heat combustion air and operate shatter sprays at the recovery boilers. A 10MVA geothermal turbo-alternator exhausts steam to a black liquor pre-evaporator and a heat exchanger to heat clean process water. All the available geothermal condensate is collected and treated in a condensate recovery plant to meet quality specifications for boiler feedwater. This meets all of the feedwater requirements of the geothermal heat exchangers plus the make up for the recovery and power boilers. Geothermal water separated in the borefield is used by Bay of Plenty Electricity in two Ormat binary cycle turbines which generate 2.0MW nett. The discharge from the binary cycle plant is also processed in an experimental pilot scale Precipitated Silica plant to recover silca which is used as a newsprint additive. The remainder is discharged through a serpentine canal to the Tarawera river.     

Experimental investigation on heat recovery from condensation of thermal power plant exhaust steam by a CO2 vapor compression cycle

In this paper, a method that utilizes CO₂ vapor compression thermodynamic cycle to recover low‐temperature heat from exhausted water steam of fossil fuel thermal power plants is reported. Experimental investigation was carried out to study the characteristics of low‐temperature heat recovery by liquid CO₂ evaporation process from vacuum exhausted steam condensation occurring at the turbine exit. Furthermore, measured heat recovery performances over one whole year are presented and discussed. Experimental results show that the present heat recovery process by CO₂ vapor compression cycle is able to operate stably. The yearly averaged water temperature at the CO₂ condenser outlet was measured at 87.5 °C with a COP value above 5.0. This high energy efficiency ratio is found to be mainly due to two factors: the transcritical CO₂ vapor compression and steam condensation phase change occurring on the CO₂ evaporator. The findings from this paper provide helpful guidelines for low‐temperature heat recovery system design and improving fossil fuel utilization efficiency. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermodynamic analysis of hydrogen-rich syngas production with a mixture of aqueous urea and biodiesel

An auxiliary power unit based on a solid oxidation fuel cell for heavy-duty vehicles has been receiving attention for high efficiency, low emissions, and more comfort and safety in vehicles. This study explores hydrogen-rich syngas production via reforming of a mixture of aqueous urea and biodiesel by thermodynamics analysis. The aqueous urea is available from Adblue used in a selective catalyst reduction providing efficient control of nitrogen oxides from heavy-duty vehicles to minimize particulate mass and optimize fuel consumption. The results show that at a reaction temperature of 700 °C, urea/biodiesel ratio = 3, and oxygen/biodiesel ratio = 9, the highest reforming efficiency is 83.78%, H₂ production 30.43 mol, and CO production 12.68 mol. This study verified that aqueous urea could successfully replace the steam in autothermal reforming, which provides heat and increases syngas production, and reforming aqueous urea mixed with biodiesel has ultra-low sulfur, low carbon and little modifying the fuel system.     

MINLP optimisation model for increased power production in small-scale CHP plants

In this work we present a mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model for increasing the power production in small-scale (1–20 MW_e) CHP plants based on a steam Rankine process and using biomass fuels. Changes that could increase the power production in these plants are, for instance, a steam reheater, a feed water preheater, a two-stage district heat exchanger, and a fuel dryer. In the model we also consider the integration of a gas turbine and a gas engine into the CHP process by using the oxygen remains of the turbine or engine exhaust gases as preheated combustion air in the biomass boiler. The developed MINLP model was tested with four existing small-scale CHP plants. The results showed that there are profitable possibilities to increase the electrical efficiencies and power-to-heat ratios of these plants with the addition of a two-stage district heating exchanger, a feed water preheater, a steam reheater, and a fuel dryer. Furthermore, the integration of a gas engine increased the efficiencies significantly. Overall, the MINLP model gave good results for the example cases, but the model could be still improved by developing its mathematical formulation to a more convex model and by adding the operational changes in the district heating network to the model with multiperiod modeling. The current model gives new possibilities to the design planning and optimisation of the small-scale CHP plants, and it also provides a good basis for the future design modeling of the CHP plants and their optimal integration to the district heating network.     

Energy,exergy and thermoeconomic analysis of a combined cooling,heating and power (CCHP) system with gas turbine prime mover

In this paper energy, exergy and thermoeconomic analysis of a combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) system has been performed. Applying the first and second laws of thermodynamics and economic analysis, simultaneously, has made a powerful tool for the analysis of energy systems such as CCHP systems. The system integrates air compressor, combustion chamber, gas turbine, dual pressure heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and absorption chiller to produce cooling, heating and power. In fact, the first and second laws of thermodynamics are combined with thermoeconomic approaches. Next, computational analysis is performed to investigate the effects of below items on the fuel consumption, values of cooling, heating and net power output, the first and second laws efficiencies, exergy destruction in each of the components and total cost of the system. These items include the following: air compressor pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, pinch temperatures in dual pressure HRSG, pressure of steam that enters the generator of absorption chiller and process steam pressure. Decision makers may find the methodology explained in this paper very useful for comparison and selection of CCHP systems. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.