Thermodynamic and thermo-economic assessment of a hybrid solar/biomass polygeneration system under the semi-arid climate conditions

Ammar Mouaky and Adil Rachek

Renewable Energy, 2020, vol. 156, issue C, 14-30

Abstract: This paper investigates the thermodynamic and thermo-economic performances of a solar/biomass plant producing the electricity, freshwater, and domestic hot water (DHW) requirements for a 40 households’ community. The considered community is located in a semi-arid region (Benguerir, Morocco) characterized by a good solar potential (DNI of 2239 kWh/m2/y) and by the presence of brackish groundwater. Compound parabolic collectors and boilers using olive waste residues as feedstock are sequentially combined to drive a 46 kW Organic Rankine Cycle and a reverse osmosis (RO) unit. According to the results, the proposed system is able to meet the community’s requirements with an annual biomass consumption of 235 T and a solar share of 11.42%. Results also showed that the monthly plant’s overall energy efficiency is in a range between 11.35 and 16.32%, while its corresponding exergy efficiency is between 5.33 and 5.96%. Besides, the achieved electricity, freshwater and, DHW specific costs (respectively 0.231 €/kWh, 0.86 €/m3 and 0.047 €/kWh) can be considered as competitive in the off-grid context. Finally, the impact of solar field aperture, biomass price, and plant’s components investment costs on the plant’s economic viability are investigated through parametric and sensitivity analysis.

Keywords: Cogeneration; Desalination; Organic Rankine cycle; Compound parabolic collector; Reverse osmosis; Exergoeconomic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:156:y:2020:i:c:p:14-30

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2020.04.019

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