Assessment of a sustainable power generation system utilizing supercritical carbon dioxide working fluid: Thermodynamic, economic, and environmental analysis

Abstract

Solar energy stands out as one of the most abundant and cost-effective resources for energy conversion systems, playing a pivotal role in addressing the world's growing energy demands and environmental concerns. This study focuses on a power generation system that integrates multiple technologies for efficient energy conversion, including a parabolic solar trough collector unit, a supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle, and two dual-pressure organic Rankine cycles. The goal is to assess this system from various angles, including energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental aspects. The base mode study results reveal an overall energy efficiency of 16.66 %, exergy efficiency of 17.88 %, a total net power generation of 17.32 MW, a payback period of 4.38 years, and a total exergoenvironmental impact rate of 126.75 Pt/h. Additionally, the study conducts a parametric investigation to analyze how the system performs under different conditions and how changes in design parameters affect its main outputs. Furthermore, the study utilizes a multi-objective particle swarm optimization algorithm and a decision-maker method to identify the most desirable condition for the system's performance. Three optimization scenarios are considered, and various specific costs for electricity are evaluated to determine the payback period and net present value.