Search results for " Thermoeconomic"
showing 10 items of 11 documents
A novel thermoeconomic analysis under dynamic operating conditions for space heating and cooling systems
2019
Abstract Thermoeconomic analysis allows for a deep understanding of the cost formation process within an energy system, providing insights into the possible routes for improvement. Several thermoeconomic approaches are well-established for application in systems with steady operating conditions, such as power plants, while a limited number of applications to air-conditioning systems in buildings have been proposed, due to the difficulties in dealing with very irregular load profiles and unsteady plant operating conditions. This study investigates the potential of Thermoeconomics as a support for decision making in building energy systems, proving its capability to identify trade-offs betwee…
Zooming on the exergetic cost formation process of a Multiple-Effects-Evaporation (MEE) desalination plant
2009
In this paper an advanced energetic and thermoeconomic analysis of a Multiple Effect Evaporation (MEE) process is proposed. Starting from the thermochemical fundamentals of desalination processes, a minimum theoretical work of separation is introduced, to be used as reference condition to assess the efficiency of desalination units. The attention is then focused on a forward feed MEE configuration; by abandoning the usual perspective oriented to analyse the system at an “overall plant” level, a zooming strategy is proposed to understand in depth the margins for systems’ improvement. Focusing on a single effect, different subprocesses and their mutual interactions are correctly recognized to…
Exergy analysis and thermoeconomic cost accounting of a CHP steam cycle integrated with MED-TVC desalination
2016
In this paper exergy analysis and thermoeconomic cost accounting of a CHP steam cycle integrated with MED-TVC plant is performed; the purpose is to show how this methodology provides a rational criterion to allocate production costs on electricity and freshwater. After a brief overview on methodology and a description of reference plant, exergy analysis is carried out in order to calculate exergy flows and plant exergetic performance. A detailed description of the adopted thermoeconomic model is given. Cost accounting is performed considering two scenarios: in the first, the concentrated brine is disposed back to sea, thus being its exergy content definitively wasted; in the second, convers…
EABOT – Energetic analysis as a basis for robust optimization of trigeneration systems by linear programming
2008
Abstract The optimization of synthesis, design and operation in trigeneration systems for building applications is a quite complex task, due to the high number of decision variables, the presence of irregular heat, cooling and electric load profiles and the variable electricity price. Consequently, computer-aided techniques are usually adopted to achieve the optimal solution, based either on iterative techniques, linear or non-linear programming or evolutionary search. Large efforts have been made in improving algorithm efficiency, which have resulted in an increasingly rapid convergence to the optimal solution and in reduced calculation time; robust algorithm have also been formulated, ass…
A novel solar-geothermal trigeneration system integrating water desalination: Design, dynamic simulation and economic assessment
2016
Abstract In this paper, an innovative solar-geothermal polygeneration system is investigated. The system supplies a small community with electricity, desalinated water and space heating and cooling through a district network. The hybrid multi-purpose plant, based on an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) supplied by medium-enthalpy geothermal energy and by solar energy; this latter is provided by Parabolic Trough Collectors (PTC). The geothermal brine is first used to drive the ORC loop, then to provide space heating at around 85÷90 °C (in the winter), or cooling (in the summer, by means of a single-effect absorption chiller). Finally, the geothermal brine drives a Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) s…
On thermoeconomics of energy systems at variable load conditions: integrated optimization of plant design and operation
2007
Abstract Thermoeconomics has been assuming a growing role among the disciplines oriented to the analysis of energy systems, its different methodologies allowing solution of problems in the fields of cost accounting, plant design optimisation and diagnostic of malfunctions. However, the thermoeconomic methodologies as such are particularly appropriate to analyse large industrial systems at steady or quasi-steady operation, but they can be hardly applied to small to medium scale units operating in unsteady conditions to cover a variable energy demand. In this paper, the fundamentals of thermoeconomics for systems operated at variable load are discussed, examining the cost formation process an…
Thermoeconomic Diagnosis of Air conditioning Systems: an Innovative Approach for Improved Reliability of the Technique
2018
Thermoeconomic diagnosis is an exergy-based fault detection and diagnosis technique which has been recently extended to air conditioning systems. One of the main features of this technique is to provide quantitative information of the impact of each fault on the increased energy consumption of a system. This information is then used for programming cost-effective maintenance strategies. Only few papers have focused on it and a lot of work is needed for further improvements. In this work, the approach was developed by means of experimental activities carried out on a 17.5 kW packaged rooftop air conditioning unit (RTU). The RTU was tested in psychrometric chambers under a wide range of opera…
Thermoeconomic Analysis Under Dynamic Operating Conditions for Space Heating and Cooling Systems in Small Residential Buildings
2018
Due to the social concern for energy savings and ecological improvement necessity in the performance of buildings, new analysis tools emerged. Thermoeconomics connects the physics and economics of energy conversion processes through the second law of thermodynamics. A limited number of thermoeconomic applications in buildings have been proposed, due to the difficulties in dealing with very irregular energy load profiles and unsteady plant operating conditions, which require the use of dynamic approaches that increase the complexity of the method. The present study highlights the potential of thermoeconomics as a support for decision making, due to the capability to identify trade-offs betwe…
Criteri e metodi per l'ottimizzazione di sistemi di poligenerazione di piccola e media taglia - Criteria and methodologies for the optimization of sm…
2011
L'Unione Europea ha individuato nella produzione combinata di energia elettrica e calore una delle tecnologie ad alta efficienza di maggior interesse, fissando per il 2010 il target del 18% della produzione elettrica totale dell'Unione da sistemi cogenerativi (COM/97/0514). Dati recenti rivelano la non attualità di tale target (al 2005 si è raggiunto il 12% di penetrazione); rimane tuttavia evidente la volontà, esistente sia a livello comunitario che in molti Stati Membri, di perseguire la via della promozione della poligenerazione. Le ragioni di questo interesse sono evidenti: l'elevata efficienza di conversione garantita dal recupero dei cascami termici di un ciclo diretto consente, a par…
Scope Oriented Thermoeconomic analysis of energy systems. Part II: Formation Structure of Optimality for robust design
2010
This paper represents the Part II of a paper in two parts. In Part I the fundamentals of Scope Oriented Thermoeconomics have been introduced, showing a scarce potential for the cost accounting of existing plants; in this Part II the same concepts are applied to the optimization of a small set of design variables for a vapour compression chiller. The method overcomes the limit of most conventional optimization techniques, which are usually based on hermetic algorithms not enabling the energy analyst to recognize all the margins for improvement. The Scope Oriented Thermoeconomic optimization allows us to disassemble the optimization process, thus recognizing the Formation Structure of Optimal…