Comprehensive Thermoeconomic Study of a New Solar Thermosyphon-Assisted Multigeneration System

Abstract

Nowadays, due to the global energy crisis, limited reservoirs of fossil fuels, and their negative environmental effects, the use of renewable energy sources and multigeneration systems have become good alternatives for conventional thermodynamic systems. One of these resources, whose technology has developed rapidly in recent years, is the use of solar energy for the simultaneous generation of various products. Therefore, in this research, a multigeneration system with several subsystems is introduced. The proposed system includes a solar energy collector to receive thermal energy, two thermal energy storage tanks, an organic Rankine cycle, and a Kalina cycle to generate electricity, a multi-effect distillation unit to produce fresh water, an electrolyzer to produce hydrogen, as well as heat recovery for hot water and hot air generation. In this multigeneration system, the cooling unit is designed with the help of a thermosyphon. The performance of the proposed system is studied from energy, exergy, environmental, and exergoeconomic viewpoints using Aspen HYSYS and EES software. The obtained results show that due to the addition of the thermosyphon unit to the refrigeration system, the exergy efficiency increases from 55.62% to 70.26%. As a result of this combination, the performance of the whole system is improved and the amount of costs are reduced. In addition, the parabolic collector system has the highest exergy destruction ratio, 39%, among the subsystems. Furthermore, the results of the exergoeconomic analysis indicate that the PEM water heater with 33.3% and the ejector with 22.7% own the highest cost destruction rates.