Energy Analysis and Multi-Objective Optimization of an Internal Combustion Engine-Based CHP System for Heat Recovery

A comprehensive thermodynamic study is conducted of a diesel based Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system, based on a diesel engine and an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). Present research covers both energy and exergy analyses along with a multiobjective optimization. In order to determine the irreversibilities in each component of the CHP system and assess the system performance, a complete parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of major design parameters and operating conditions on the system’s performance. The main contribution of the current research study is to conduct both exergy and multi-objective optimization of a system using different working fluid for lowgrade heat recovery. In order to conduct the evolutionary based optimization, two objective functions are considered in the optimization; namely the system exergy efficiency, and the total cost rate of the system, which is a combination of the cost associated with environmental impact and the purchase cost of each component. Therefore, in the optimization approach, the overall cycle exergy efficiency is maximized satisfying several constraints while the total cost rate of the system is minimized. To provide a better understanding of the system under study, the Pareto frontier is shown for multi-objective optimization and also an equation is derived to fit the optimized point. In addition, a closed form relationship between exergy efficiency and total cost rate is derived.