Thermodynamic Approach for Optimal Design of Heat and Power Plants. Relationships between Thermodynamic and Economic Solutions

−− In this paper, a new procedure for the design and analysis of Heat and Power Plants is presented. In this formulation, thermodynamic solutions obtained by maximizing the plant efficiency are used to find the economic design of the plant. In fact, by applying the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker conditions it is possible to relate thermodynamic and economic solutions. A formal context for the use of thermodynamic models in solving complex optimization problems that arise in the area of synthesis and design of chemical processes is introduced. The proposed methodology has been successfully applied for two plant arrangements. Rigorous models have been used to model the plant equipments. The obtained results are presented in order to illustrate the proposed procedure. Keywords−− Thermodynamic solutions, optimal design of combined power and heat plants, optimization.