Towards sustainable development through the design, multi-aspect analyses, and multi-objective optimization of a novel solar-based multi-generation system

Heng Chen, Huda A. Alzahrani, Mohammed A. Amin and Minghui Sun

Energy, 2023, vol. 267, issue C

Abstract: This paper proposes a novel combination of ejector refrigeration and dual-pressure organic Rankine cycles driven by a parabolic trough solar collector. Six zeotropic mixtures are considered the proposed system's working fluid, and their performance is compared, leading to the Hexane/Pentane selection. The thermodynamic and economic analyses are applied to estimate the system's performance. The proposed system provides 11.6 MW net power, 3.21 MW cooling capacity, and 40.22 kg s−1 freshwater, with 10.59% energetic and 7.64% exergetic efficiencies. Also, the payback period is calculated at about 5.55 years with 36.27 M$ net profit at the base condition. A parametric study has been performed to study the effect of zeotropic mixture mass fraction variation with the ejector's primary and secondary flows pressure ratio, and vapor generators' evaporation temperatures change on the cooling capacity, net out power, and energetic and exergetic efficiencies. The parametric study results reveal that the zeotropic mixture's mass fraction consists of the highest effect on the net power production and exergetic efficiency. Also, the second vapor generator's evaporation temperature affects the cooling capacity and energy efficiency. Furthermore, multi-objective optimization is applied to the proposed system, obtaining the total exergetic efficiency and payback period of 7.8% and 5.38 years.

Keywords: Parabolic trough solar collector; Ejector refrigeration cycle; Dual-pressure organic rankine cycle; Zeotropic mixture; Net present value; Multi-objective optimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:267:y:2023:i:c:s036054422203393x

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2022.126507

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