A comprehensive 6E analysis of a novel multigeneration system powered by solar-biomass energies

Abstract

This study presents a novel multigeneration system comprising five different cycles driven by a combination of solar and biomass energy resources. This system includes a modified gas turbine cycle, a trans-critical CO2 cycle (TCO2), a steam Rankine cycle, a biomass-fueled boiler, and a solar collector. The gas turbines exhibit limited thermal efficiency, primarily due to substantial heat losses. Consequently, the TCO2 cycle and the steam Rankine cycle are integrated into the system to improve performance. An innovative aspect of this study is the utilization of a unique configuration of transcritical CO2 and steam Rankine cycles, combined with biomass and solar energies, aimed at maximizing energy recovery and minimizing waste. Furthermore, a proton membrane electrolyzer (PEME) is integrated into the system for hydrogen production, along with a proton membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) to increase electricity generation. In this comprehensive analysis, in addition to energy and exergy analyses, exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, emergoeconomic, and emergoenvironmental analyses are conducted. The results indicate that the proposed system achieves notable energy and exergy efficiencies of 20.2 % and 15.2 %, respectively. The total investment cost rate for the system equipment is 0.007554 $/s and the system's environmental impact is 0.0008611 pt/s. The results of the emergy analysis reveal that the emergoeconomic values of the streams are lower than the corresponding environmental values, primarily due to the higher environmental impact throughout the components' life cycle compared to their economic value.