Exergy analysis of a syngas fuelled cogeneration cycle for combined production of power and refrigeration

Abstract

This communication presents a biomass fuelled cogeneration cycle for the combined production of power and refrigeration. The system is an integration of combined gas-steam cycle and absorption refrigeration cycle. A thermodynamic analysis through energy and exergy is employed, to investigate the effects of cycle pressure ratio, gas turbine inlet temperature and evaporator temperature on first-law efficiency and second-law efficiency of the proposed cogeneration cycle. The first and second-law efficiencies increases with the increase in gas turbine inlet temperature whilst decreases with the increase in pressure ratio. Exergy analysis indicates that maximum exergy is destroyed in the combustion chamber which is around 25% of the total exergy input to the cogeneration, followed by the Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) and gasifier, with the values of 21% and 9%, respectively. Solid waste fuelled cogeneration cycle provides better thermodynamic performance than its rice husk counterpart.