Thermo-Economic Analysis of a Hybrid Ejector Refrigerating System Based on a Low Grade Heat Source

Gianluca Lillo, Rita Mastrullo, Alfonso William Mauro, Raniero Trinchieri and Luca Viscito
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Gianluca Lillo: Department of Industrial Engineering, Federico II University of Naples—P. le Tecchio, 80-80125 Naples, Italy
Rita Mastrullo: Department of Industrial Engineering, Federico II University of Naples—P. le Tecchio, 80-80125 Naples, Italy
Alfonso William Mauro: Department of Industrial Engineering, Federico II University of Naples—P. le Tecchio, 80-80125 Naples, Italy
Raniero Trinchieri: Ente per le Nuove tecnologie, Energia ed Ambiente (ENEA), Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development, C.R. Casaccia—Via Anguillarese 301, 00123 Rome, Italy
Luca Viscito: Department of Industrial Engineering, Federico II University of Naples—P. le Tecchio, 80-80125 Naples, Italy

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-24

Abstract: The rising of the global energy demand requires the use of alternative energy conversion systems employing renewable sources. In the refrigeration and air conditioning fields, heat driven ejector systems represent a promising way to produce the cooling effect by using available low-grade temperature sources. In this paper, a thermo-economic analysis of a waste heat recovery hybrid ejector cycle (WHRHEC) was carried out. A thermodynamic model was firstly developed to simulate a WHRHEC able to obtain chilled water with a cooling load of 20 kW, by varying the working fluids and the pinch point values in the heat exchangers. Specific single- and two-phase heat transfer correlations were used to estimate the heat transfer surface and therefore the investment costs. The operative ranges that provide a reasonable compromise between the set-up costs and the cycle performances were then defined and compared to the current waste heat-driven technologies, such as absorption chillers and organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) coupled with vapor compression cycles (VCCs). The last part of the paper presents an economic analysis providing the map of the design (plant size) and contingent (specific cost of energy, waste heat availability) variables that lead to the economic convenience of a WHRHEC system when integrated to a conventional VCC plant.

Keywords: thermo-economic analysis; ejector; waste heat recovery (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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