Economic and exergetic evaluation of solar-powered combined LNG-burned micro gas turbine and Stirling engine

Abstract

In this paper, a new system for power generating based on micro gas turbine and Stirling engine using solar heliostat field is introduced. The proposed system uses the solar energy and combustion of liquified natural gas (LNG) as heat sources. The Stirling engine used the exhaust of gas turbine and cold exergy of LNG as the hot and cold source. Cost and exergy analysis has been used to achieve the evaluation of the proposed design. In the first step, the energy and exergy analysis for the considered cycle has been performed, and then the cost equations are evaluated using the exergoeconomic balance equations. To calculate the purchase cost of different equipment, the detail design of the solar heliostat system, PCM storage tank, micro gas turbine, Stirling engine, and LNG evaporator has been made. Then the sensitivity analysis of the design parameters has been evaluated on the efficiency and cost.