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Exergy, economic and environmental assessment of a hybrid solar-biomass cogeneration plant applied to the corn ethanol industry

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Abstract

The present work comprises the thermodynamic, economic and environmental performance analysis of a hybrid (solar thermal and biomass) cogeneration cycle applied to a 292.000 m\(_{3}\)/year corn ethanol distillery. These analyses aim to assess the technical and economic feasibility of the proposed distillery for its operation in Phoenix (USA) and Barreiras (BRA). A biomass boiler is used parallel with a direct steam generation parabolic trough solar field to produce together the distillery’s fixed steam requirement. In this scheme, the solar field is responsible for up to 60% of the produced steam. The study evaluates energy and exergy indices, for the solar field’s design conditions and typical meteorological year data, and calculates the net present value for economic evaluation. Annually, the proposed hybrid cycle design achieved biomass savings of 14% in Phoenix and 12% in Barreiras compared to a standard boiler cycle. For both locations, the steam generation processes account for more than 90% of the exergy destruction in the plant. Environmentally, the hybridization results in the reduction of CO\(_{2}\) emissions of 76,885 t/year in Phoenix and 66,447 t/year in Barreiras. These results show the technical feasibility of the hybrid solution for both locations, with Phoenix performing better due to greater solar resource availability. Furthermore, by finding negative net present values, the economic analysis indicates that the proposed integration is currently not economically feasible.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Brazilian companies Piracicaba Engenharia, SL Process, Lucas E3, and the German company STEAG for their technical support. Furthermore, the authors thank the Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the Araucaria Foundation (CP 20/2018 PPP - contract number 047/2020) for their financial support

Funding

The research leading to these results received funding from Brazilian Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) and the Araucaria Foundation (CP 20/2018 PPP - contract number 047/2020).

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

    Lauro A. J. Oliveira & Edson Bazzo

  2. Department of Engineering and Exact Sciences, Federal University of Paraná, Palotina, Brazil

    Eduardo K. Burin

Authors
  1. Lauro A. J. Oliveira
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  2. Eduardo K. Burin
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  3. Edson Bazzo
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by L.O. The first draft of the manuscript was written by L.O. and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Lauro A. J. Oliveira.

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Technical Editor: Monica Carvalho.

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Appendix A exergy index equations

Appendix A exergy index equations

See Table 10.

Table 10 Exergy performance indexes
Full size table

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Oliveira, L.A.J., Burin, E.K. & Bazzo, E. Exergy, economic and environmental assessment of a hybrid solar-biomass cogeneration plant applied to the corn ethanol industry. J Braz. Soc. Mech. Sci. Eng. 45, 433 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04337-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40430-023-04337-0

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