Achieving a more efficient and greener combined heat and power system driven by a micro gas turbine engine: Issues, opportunities, and benefits in the presence of thermodynamic perspective
Özgür Ballı, Selçuk Ekici, T. Hikmet Karakoç
Abstract
The objective of the research is to discuss the issues, opportunities, and benefits of a combined heat and power system, including a micro gas turbine engine (M-CHP) operated by natural gas, with an estimated sale price of $245 000 that produces 225 kW-net of electrical power and a 209.8 kW-net thermal power output in the industrial zone via thermodynamic indicators that help to measure the cost rate, the environmental/ecological effects, and sustainable growth. The ratio of useful energy output (electrical and heating) to the fuel energy for the M-CHP is computed to be 70.2%. In addition, other indicators constituting the practical implications of the study, with a capacity to cause a positive change in fuel consumption and the amount of pollutants (electrical to heating ratio, efficiencies of exergy and improved exergy, fuel exergy depletion and productivity lacking ratios, improvement potential, cost rates and sustainability indexes) are detailed. The novelty of this work is the capability to serve as guide for similar systems with a detailed approach in performance and environmental assessment by prioritizing efficiency and fuel consumption. This investigation intends to establish a design for the opportunities and benefits that a thermodynamic approach provides to M-CHP systems.