Energy management and reducing the environmental impacts of industrial flare gases using a new trigeneration energy system

Abstract

Recovering the heat of flare gases through energy systems exploits a waste source of energy and contributes to the industrial development of societies. Reducing environmental pollution and energy management of flare gases are considered among the main necessities of industrial complexes, especially refineries. One of the methods to reuse these gases is to employ them in downstream energy systems to produce useful products. A novel trigeneration energy system is presented for power, heating, and freshwater production by recovering the waste heat of industrial flare gases. The system is scrutinized from thermodynamic and thermoeconomic criteria. Furthermore, a multi-objective optimization of the set-up is performed. Optimization results show an acceptable increase in energy and exergy efficiencies while a decrease in the unit cost of product is obtained.