Evaluation and Optimization of the Annual Performance of a Novel Tri-Generation System Driven by Geothermal Brine in Off-Design Conditions

• Published in: Applied sciences 2020-09, Vol.10 (18), p.6532
• Main Authors: Akbari Kordlar, Mehri, Heberle, Florian, Brüggemann, Dieter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ambient temperature; Ammonia; ammonia-water solution; Configuration management; Cooling; Cooling systems; Design; Destruction; Efficiency; Exergy; flexible demand production; geothermal; Geothermal power; Geothermal resources; Heat exchangers; Heating; Kalina cycle; off-design analysis; Optimization; Power plants; Refrigeration; Simulation; Summer; Thermodynamics; tri-generation; Weather; Working fluids
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app10186532

The difference in heating or cooling to power ratio between required demands for district networks and the proposed tri-generation system is the most challenging issue of the system configuration and design. In this work, an adjustable, novel tri-generation system driven by geothermal resources is proposed to supply the thermal energies of a specific district network depending on ambient temperature in Germany. The tri-generation system is a combination of a modified absorption refrigeration cycle and a Kalina cycle using NH3-H2O mixture as a working fluid for the whole tri-generation system. A sensitive analysis of off-design conditions is carried out to study the effect of operational parameters on the system performances prior to optimizing its performance. The simulation show that the system is able to cover required heating and cooling demands. The optimization is applied considering the maximum exergy efficiency (scenario 1) and minimum total exergy destruction rate (scenario 2). The optimization results show that the maximum mean exergy efficiency in scenario 1 is achieved as 44.67% at the expense of 14.52% increase in the total exergy destruction rate in scenario 2. The minimum mean total exergy destruction rate in scenario 2 is calculated as 2980 kW at the expense of 8.32% decrease in the exergy efficiency in scenario 1.