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Energy, Exergy and Economic Analyses of Different Configurations for a Combined HGAX/ORC Cooling System

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Iranian Journal of Science and Technology, Transactions of Mechanical Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A comparative study is performed to investigate the improved heat-driven refrigeration systems. The systems use a low-temperature heat source to produce low-temperature cooling (− 55 °C). The base system consisted of a hybrid GAX (HGAX) cycle and a Rankine cycle. Three major features for the HGAX cycle are proposed in four configurations to reduce the high temperature of the compressed fluid exiting the compressor. The operating parameters of the systems having the maximum exergy efficiency are computed, and the corresponding performance parameters are applied in all configurations. The results show that the best configuration that has higher exergy efficiency is the one utilizing two compressors in the HGAX cycle. For the heat source temperature of 133.5 °C, this configuration has 34.7% higher energy utilization factor, 33% higher exergy efficiency, 11% lower total product cost, and 28% lower circulating cooling water of the cooling tower than the base system.

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Notes

  1. Same as cooling temperature in references [3, 20].

  2. Same as hot water input in reference [12].

Abbreviations

AHE:

Auxiliary heat exchanger

AGAX:

Absorber GAX

\(\dot{C}\) :

Cost rate ($/s)

COP:

Coefficient of performance

CRF:

Capital recovery factor

DGAX:

Desorber GAX

e:

Efficiency

\(\dot{E}\) :

Exergy rate (kW)

EI:

Energy index

EUF:

Energy utilization factor

GAX:

Generator–absorber heat exchange (already defined)

h :

Enthalpy

HGAX:

Hybrid GAX

i :

Interest rate

\(\dot{m}\) :

Mass flow rate (kg/s)

n :

System life (year)

P :

Pressure (kPa)

\(\dot{Q}\) :

Heat transfer rate (kW)

RC:

Rankine cycle

RHX:

Reheated heat exchanger

T :

Temperature (°C)

\(\dot{W}\) :

Power rate (kW)

\(\dot{Z}\) :

Investment cost ($/s)

\(\varphi\) :

Maintenance factor

\(\tau\) :

Annual operation hours

a:

Absorber

ava:

Available

B:

Boiler

Com:

Compressor

CT:

Cooling tower

CW:

Circulating water in the cooling tower

eva:

Evaporator

ex:

Exergy

G:

Generator

geo:

Geothermal

HS:

Heat source

hw:

Hot water

in:

Input

out:

Output

P:

Product

tur:

Turbine

req:

Requirement

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran

    Zeynab Seyfouri, Mehran Ameri & Mozaffar Ali Mehrabian

Authors
  1. Zeynab Seyfouri
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  2. Mehran Ameri
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  3. Mozaffar Ali Mehrabian
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Correspondence to Zeynab Seyfouri.

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Seyfouri, Z., Ameri, M. & Mehrabian, M.A. Energy, Exergy and Economic Analyses of Different Configurations for a Combined HGAX/ORC Cooling System. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 46, 733–744 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-022-00497-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-022-00497-x

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