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Performance comparison of a natural gas and renewable‐based power and desalination system for polygeneration
Author(s) -
AlObaidli Houd,
Bicer Yusuf,
AlAnsari Tareq
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
greenhouse gases: science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.45
H-Index - 32
ISSN - 2152-3878
DOI - 10.1002/ghg.1966
Subject(s) - exergy , renewable energy , cogeneration , fossil fuel , greenhouse gas , environmental science , natural gas , desalination , waste management , primary energy , process engineering , exergy efficiency , environmental engineering , biomass (ecology) , energy supply , electricity generation , engineering , energy (signal processing) , power (physics) , chemistry , ecology , biochemistry , physics , electrical engineering , quantum mechanics , membrane , biology , statistics , mathematics
Conventional district energy supply (DES) systems have relatively lower efficiencies when compared to polygeneration systems. The use of fossil fuels as a primary energy source in DES generates high levels of CO 2 emissions, degrading their environmental performance. On the other hand, renewable energy systems are generally integrated into the energy portfolio mix to improve the overall efficiency and sustainability, whilst curbing the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, an alternative renewable energy polygeneration system design based on biomass and solar energy is proposed. A thermodynamic analysis of the system was carried out, and the energetic and exergetic efficiencies were subsequently compared against the reference case. The results indicate that the alternative system only demonstrates slightly improved efficiencies over the reference system on the basis of cogeneration. However, when implemented for polygeneration, the alternative system offers a clear advantage with estimated energy and exergy efficiencies of 62.9% and 41.9%, respectively. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.