Conventional and advanced exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analysis of a biomass integrated gasification combined cycle plant

Abstract

ABSTRACTBiomass gasification for the production of clean energy and clean technology is a practical alternative to fossil fuels. In this paper, for the first time, a biomass Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) based on olive pits as fuel is investigated by conventional and advanced exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental analyses (4E). Environmental impacts, availability, and interest in using olive pits as newly utilized renewable biomass sources have been considered in the present study. With conventional exergy analysis, the primary causes of entropy generation, exergy cost of destruction, and exergoenvironmental impacts in the plant can be indicated. Also, with advanced analysis, the real potential can be determined for improving the system as well as equipment interactions. The exerg environmental analysis has been performed based on Life Cycle Assessment and Eco indicator 99. In this regard, the LCA analysis based on Eco indicator 99 has been done by SIMA Pro software. Furthermore, computer code has been developed for thermodynamic simulation and conventional and advanced 4E analyses of the proposed system. It can predict the plant behavior for different operating conditions with relative errors of less than 2.5% with Thermoflex software. Results show the conventional and advanced 4E analyses and evaluation for considered biomass IGCC systems simultaneously. By the exergetic analysis, the location, values, and sources of entropy generation in the system are identified. By exergoeconomic analysis, the information about the cost in the components has been indicated in terms not only of capital investment but also of the cost of exergy. Through the exergoenvironmental analyses, it can be concluded that improving the efficiency and decreasing fossil fuel consumption are the key factors of promoting environmental characteristics. Splitting the exergy destruction, the capital investment cost, and the component-related environmental impact related to each component into endogenous/exogenous and avoidable/unavoidable parts promotes these analyses and enhances the quality of the conclusions achieved from them.