Thermodynamic Analysis of New Cogeneration Cycle Based on Gaynarje Hotspring

Gaynarje spring is one of the hottest springs in the world and is located around Meshginshahr in northwestern Iran. Because of the water with a temperature of 82 ºC, it is not appropriate to use this mineral water for swimming and bathing. In this study, in addition to lowering the water temperature to the appropriate swimming temperature (29 ºC), the hot water is used for power and natural gas production in a combined cycle based on Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) and LNG cold. The proposed configuration has been studied thermodynamically and optimized for important performance parameters. For this purpose, mass, energy and exergy equations are developed for components and the whole system, and performance parameters are calculated. For achieving the best results, several working fluids are examined for the ORC. According to the obtained results R245fa as an ORC working fluid has the best performance from the thermodynamic viewpoint. Also, for optimum condition of the cogeneration cycle, net output power, natural gas production, thermal and exergy efficiencies are calculated to be 524.9 kW, 1.352 kg/s, 24.11% and 48.99%, respectively. The parametric study is also indicated that the performance parameters have optimum values with respect to the evaporator temperature.