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Advanced exergy analysis of a trigeneration system after multi-objective optimization by GAMS software

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Abstract

Due to the increment of energy demand, the current requirement for optimum design of a trigeneration system has become more imperative than ever. The present work deals with the simulation of the demand energy and optimization of a trigeneration system for a hotel building in Mashhad using GAMS software where four objective functions including energy, exergy, environment, and economy have been considered. The results indicate that the improvement of the  objective functions was 30.88%, 30.90%, 30.76%, and 17.19%, respectively, compared to the traditional system. Lastly, advanced exergy analysis was performed on the trigeneration system to determine the amount and location of endogenous, exogenous, avoidable, and unavoidable irreversibility rates. The results elucidate that the gas engine has the highest potential in the efficiency improvement, followed by heat exchangers set, electrical chiller, absorption chiller, and gas boiler.

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Abbreviations

A :

Area of a face (m2)

\(C\) :

Recommended coefficient

\({\text{Ca}}\) :

Nominal capacity of the equipment (kW)

Co:

Cost ($)

\({\text{cmm}}\) :

Cubic meter per minute(m3 min−1)

COP:

Coefficient of performance

\(E, \overline{E}\) :

Energy rate (kJ kg−1 or kJ mol−1)

\({\text{Ex}}, \overline{{{\text{Ex}}}}\) :

Exergy rate (kJ kg−1 or kJ mol−1)

\(h, \overline{h}\) :

Enthalpy rate (kJ kg−1 or kJ mol−1)

\({\text{HC}}\) :

Heat generation coefficient

\(I\) :

Modified solar radiation energy \({ }\left( {{\text{kJ m}}^{ - 2} } \right)\)

Ls:

Lifespan/years

N :

Number of equipment

OF:

Objective function

\({\text{OF}}^{*}\) :

Optimal single-objective value

Po:

Mass of pollutants (kg)

Q :

Heat transferred (kJ)

\(Q_{{\text{L}}}\) :

Latent heat (kJ)

\(Q_{{\text{s}}}\) :

Sensible heat (kJ)

R :

Molar gas constant (J K−1 mol−1)

\({\text{Re}}\) :

Thermal resistance (m2 °C kJ−1)

\(s, \overline{s}\) :

Entropy rate (kJ kg−1 K−1 or kJ mol−1 K−1)

\({\text{SF}}\) :

Shading factor

\({\text{UP}}\) :

Usage percentage (%)

\({\text{Wa}}\) :

Electrical consumption of equipment (W)

\({\text{We}}\) :

Specific humidity (kg kg−1)

G:

Gypsum free energy (kJ mol−1)

\(\Delta G_{{{\text{R}},{\text{O}}}}\) :

Gypsum function (kJ mol−1)

\(\Delta g_{{\text{f}}}^{{\text{o}}}\) :

Gypsum of formation (kJ mol−1)

\(\Delta h_{{\text{f}}}\) :

Enthalpy of formation (kJ mol−1)

ΔT :

Temperature difference (°C)

\(\eta\) :

Energy efficiency (%)

\(v\) :

Stoichiometric coefficient

\(y\) :

Molar ratio

\(\psi\) :

Exergy efficiency (%)

buy:

Buying electricity from the grid

Ch:

Chemical

D:

Destruction

Ec:

Economy

Ee:

Energy

Ev:

Environment

Ex:

Exergy

F:

Fuel

HD:

Space heating demand

HWD:

Hot water demand

i:

Counter letter

IC:

Investment cost

in:

Input

out:

Output

Pr:

Production

PD:

Power demand

RM:

Maintenance

sell:

Selling electricity to the grid

Sys:

System

T:

Temperature

\({\text{T}}_{{\text{o}}}\) :

Ambient temperature

Tm:

Thermomechanical

o:

Physical balance

oo:

Chemical balance

AV:

Avoidable

C:

Cooling

El:

Electricity

EN:

Endogenous

EX:

Exogenous

F:

Fuel

He:

Heating

P:

Products

R:

Reactants

UN:

Unavoidable

Abch:

Absorption chiller

APH:

Air pre-heater

CCHP:

Combined cooling, heat and power

CO:

Comprehensive objective

CHP:

Combined heating and power

CPP:

Central power plant

CSR:

Annual cost saving ratio

Ech:

Electrical chiller

FEL:

Following electrical load

FTL:

Following thermal load

FTL-S:

Following thermal load and selling power to grid

GAMS:

General algebraic modeling system

GB:

Gas boiler

GE:

Gas engine

HES:

Heat exchangers set

LHTS:

Latent heat thermal storage

LNG:

Liquefied natural gas

LPG:

Low-pressure generator

MILP:

Mixed-integer linear programming

MMINP:

Multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming

NSGA-II:

Non-dominated sort genetic algorithm-II

PESR:

Primary energy-saving ratio

PM:

Particles of matter

SNG:

Synthetic natural gas

TOC:

Total organic compound

VCR:

Vapor compression refrigeration

VOC:

Volatile organic compound

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of Iran National Science Foundation (INSF/Grant no. 99022029).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Sina Ahmadi, Mohammad Mustafa Ghafurian & Hamid Niazmand

  2. Center for Nanotechnologies in Renewable Energies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

    Mohammad Mustafa Ghafurian

  3. School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, Shaanxi, China

    Omid Mahian

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  1. Sina Ahmadi
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Correspondence to Mohammad Mustafa Ghafurian.

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Ahmadi, S., Ghafurian, M.M., Niazmand, H. et al. Advanced exergy analysis of a trigeneration system after multi-objective optimization by GAMS software. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 3555–3574 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11915-2

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