Chapter 14

Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration

and Multigeneration Systems
Chapter Outline
14.1 Introduction 303 14.6.1 System Description 308
14.2 Trigeneration 304 14.6.1.1 QFPP 309
14.3 Multigeneration 304 14.6.1.2 Electrolyzer 310
14.4 Integrated Multigeneration Systems 304 14.6.1.3 QEAS 310
14.5 Case Study: Energy and Exergy Analyses 14.6.1.4 Air-Drying Process 312
of a Trigeneration System 304 14.6.2 Analysis 312
14.5.1 System Description 304 14.6.3 Results and Discussion 314
14.5.2 Analysis 306 14.7 Closing Remarks 316
14.5.3 Results and Discussion 307 Problems 317
14.6 Case Study: Energy and Exergy Analyses of
a Multigeneration System 308

ABSTRACT combined cooling, heat, and power producing systems,

In this chapter, the application of energy and exergy analyses to
trigeneration (combined cooling, heat, and power) and multi-
generation systems is described. We describe how different
systems can be integrated to produce several outputs using a single
energy resource. Producing multiple outputs in a single system
can help alleviate concerns over fossil fuel prices and scarcity,
environmental problems, and efficiency. Trigeneration systems
typically utilize combustion heat of fossil fuels or from other
thermal resources (e.g., renewable energy thermal sources such as
geothermal and solar energy). Two case studies illustrate how the
overall efficiency of a system can be improved if more than one
output is attained from the single system or several systems
combined.
KEYWORDS
Exergy; Multigeneration; Integrated multigeneration; Trigenera-
tion; Combined cooling, heat, and power; Efficiency.
14.1 INTRODUCTION
Growing concerns over fossil-fuel prices, depletion, and
environmental problems have increased efforts to develop
more efficient systems, and one way to do this is by pro-
ducing multiple outputs in a single system. Cogeneration is
one such example, but more than two products have been
considered recently. Trigeneration systems, also known as
simultaneously generate electric power, heating, and cool-
ing either from combustion of fossil fuels or from other
thermal energy resources (e.g., renewable energy thermal
sources such as geothermal and solar energy). One relatively
common trigeneration system first uses high-temperature
heat to drive a gas or steam turbine, and the residual low-
temperature heat (which may be waste heat) is recovered for
heating and/or to produce cooling. Trigeneration systems
differ from cogeneration systems in that both heating and
cooling are simultaneously produced.
In trigeneration systems, an absorption cooling system
is often used to provide cooling from some of the thermal
energy. However, electric chillers can also be used in
trigeneration.
The improvement in overall-system efficiency from using
trigeneration has prompted the extension of trigeneration to
multigeneration systems, which are typically systems that
simultaneously produce more than three products. Multi-
generation systems often are an extension of trigeneration
systems in which part of the electricity, cooling, or heating
is utilized to produce an additional product such as
hydrogen, drying, or hot water.
Kanoglu et al. (2010) stated that cogeneration with
absorption chiller systems provides significant savings in
the energy demand. Rosen et al. (2005) point out that the

Exergy. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097089-9.00014-0
2013 Ibrahim Dincer and Marc A. Rosen. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved 303
304
efficiency of energy production is increased in some cases
from current levels that vary from 35% to 55% in conven-
tional power plants, to over 80% in the cogeneration
systems. Many researchers (Ghafghazi et al., 2010; Kil-
kis, 2011; Ratlamwala et al., 2012a
c) showed that tri-
generation systems and multigeneration systems greatly
enhance the overall efficiency of the system. Ratlamwala
(2012a) noted that generating multiple outputs from one
source not only increases system efficiency, but also can
enhance a systems cost-effectiveness.
This chapter describes how different systems can be
integrated to produce several outputs using single energy
resource. Two case studies illustrate how the overall effi-
ciency of a system can be improved if more than one output
is attained from the single system or several systems
combined.
14.2 TRIGENERATION
The concept of trigeneration became of interest as concerns
grew over fossil-fuel prices and environmental concerns
such as global warming. Trigeneration systems are often
enhanced forms of cogeneration systems in which the tri-
generation systems produce both heating and cooling
using thermal energy, whereas a cogeneration system
produces either heating or cooling.
At present, many countries around the world are modi-
fying their power plants running on fossil fuels so that waste
heat from these power plants is utilized to produce heating
and cooling.
The benefit of a trigeneration system is a reduction in
not only fuel use, but also operating cost of a power plant.
In countries where carbon taxes have been introduced, tri-
generation systems can help reduce the level of the carbon
tax by recovering waste heat and converting it to additional
products. Apart from cost savings, trigeneration systems can
significantly reduce environmental impact because, as with
trigeneration systems, waste heat is used to produce cooling
and heating which otherwise would be produced by either
burning fossil fuel or consuming electricity. The ability
of trigeneration systems to produce three products from
a single input generally enhances the efficiency of the system
greatly, indicating better utilization of fuel or other energy
resources.
14.3 MULTIGENERATION
The idea of multigeneration is relatively new, and is mainly
the subject of research. Few full-scale power plants have
been commissioned that utilize multigeneration. Multi-
generation systems are expanded and enhanced versions of
trigeneration systems. In multigeneration systems, more than
three outputs are obtained using a single energy source.
Exergy
The trend in most published research on such systems
is that part of the power or heating or cooling produced via
trigeneration systems are used further to produce an extra
product such as hydrogen gas, liquefied hydrogen, or dried
products. Investigations by several researchers on multi-
generation systems demonstrate further improvements in
system efficiency when compared to trigeneration systems.
14.4 INTEGRATED MULTIGENERATION
SYSTEMS
Multigeneration is usually achieved by combining several
individual processes, but using a single energy input. In-
tegrated multigeneration often refers to systems that
produce multiple inputs with multiple systems or multiple
inputs. When producing cooling and heating using multi-
generation systems, absorption cooling and heating
systems are preferred as such systems can utilize waste heat
from thermal power plants to produce cooling and heating
simultaneously. Furthermore, multigeneration systems
integrated with an electrolyzer can produce hydrogen or can
be integrated with drying processes.
14.5 CASE STUDY: ENERGY AND EXERGY
ANALYSES OF A TRIGENERATION SYSTEM
In this case study, an integrated system for trigeneration
of cooling, electric power, and liquefied hydrogen is exam-
ined. The system utilizes a combination of a quadruple effect
absorption system (QEAS), a Linde-Hampson (LH) gas
liquefaction cycle, and a binary power plant to yield three
outputs. The case study draws on prior energy and exergy
analyses (Ratlamwala et al., 2012b).
14.5.1 System Description
The trigeneration system considered is shown in Figure 14.1.
Geothermal heat passes through the very high temperature
generator (VHTG) before reaching the binary isobutane
power plant, as shown in Figure 14.2.
In the VHTG, a strong solution entering at state 36 is
heated and exits as a concentrated ammonia-water vapor at
state 37 and as a weak solution at state 38. The stream
exiting the VHTG at state 38 enters the very high temper-
ature heat exchanger (VHHX) and transfers heat to the
stream from the absorber at state 35. After transferring heat
in the VHHX, the stream at state 40 mixes with the stream
from the high-temperature generator (HTG) at state 30, and
exits at state 41. The process of releasing heat to the strong
solution from the weak solution occurs in the heat ex-
changers before the weak solution enters the expansion
valve at state 15. The pressure of the weak solution at state
15 is then reduced by throttling in the expansion valve. The
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems 305

FIGURE 14.1 Schematic of an integrated system presented in Section 14.5.1.

low pressure weak solution exits the expansion valve at
state 16 and enters the absorber. The concentrated ammonia-
water vapor at state 37 then enters the HTG, where heat is
transferred from the stream at state 37 to that at state 28. The
transferred heat from the concentrated ammonia-water vapor
at state 37 heats the strong solution entering the HTG at state
34, resulting in a concentrated ammonia-water vapor exiting
at state 31 and a weak solution exiting at state 30. Then the
concentrated ammonia-water vapors at states 28 and 31 mix
and enter the medium-temperature heat generator (MTG)
at state 39. The process continues until the concentrated
ammonia-water vapor exiting the low-temperature gener-
ator (LTG) at state 7 enters the condenser and the other
ammonia-water vapor stream exiting the LTG at state 6 is

FIGURE 14.2 Schematic of a QEAS.

306 Exergy

input to the condenser heat exchanger, where the concen-
trated ammonia-water vapor at state 6 rejects heat and
passes to the condenser at state 8. In the condenser, con-
centrated ammonia-water vapor at states 7 and 8 reject heat
to the environment and are conveyed to the expansion valve,
where the pressure decreases and exiting concentrated
ammonia-water vapor at state 10 enters the evaporator. There,
the concentrated ammonia-water vapor gains heat from
the hydrogen and the return air from the building envelop,
before exiting at a higher temperature at state 11. That
ammonia-water mixture and the weak solution at state 16
enter the absorber and reject heat and enter the pump as
a strong solution in liquid form at state 1.
The geothermal water leaving the VHTG is supplied
to the binary isobutane cycle to produce power as seen in
Figure 14.3. The isobutane is heated and vaporized using
the geothermal water from the HTG. This vaporized isobu-
tane flows through the turbine generating power, and then
is condensed, pumped, and returned to the heat exchanger.
The part of power produced by the binary cycle is utilized
to compress hydrogen gas from state 1 to state 2 in an LH
cycle, as shown in Figure 14.4. The exiting geothermal water
is injected back into the underground water well.
14.5.2 Analysis
Mass and energy balances are written for the components
of the integrated system: the QEAS, the isobutane binary
multistage cycle, and the LH cycle. Several assumptions
are made in the analysis:
l About 90% of cooling produced by the QEAS is used
to precool the hydrogen from 25 C to
16.4 C in the
evaporator, at a constant pressure of 101.3 kPa.
l The remaining 10% of the cooling is supplied to the
building.
l In the LH cycle, hydrogen is compressed from 101 kPa
to 10 MPa.
l The heat needed to operate the isobutane cycle is provided
by geothermal water at a temperature 20 C below that of
the geothermal source.
l The pressures at the inlet and exit of the stage 1 turbine
are 3600 and 1000 kPa, respectively.
l The temperature at the inlet of the stage 1 turbine is
15 C lower than the geothermal temperature at the inlet
of the binary power plant heat exchanger.
l The condenser pressure of the binary multistage power
plant is 400 kPa.
l Ninety percent of the electricity produced by the binary
multistage plant is supplied to the LH cycle for com-
pressing hydrogen gas and the remaining 10% is supplied
to the building.
l The concentrations of the ammonia-water strong solu-
tion, x [36], and of the ammonia-water weak solu-
tion, x [38], are 0.6 and 0.4, respectively.
l The turbine, compressor, and pump isentropic efficien-
cies are 80%, 70%, and 65%, respectively.
The heat input rate to the VHTG of the absorption
system is provided using the geothermal water source as
follows:
Q_ VHTG Q_ geo (14.1)
where
Q_ geo m_ geo hgeosource
hgeoHTG exit
The cooling produced by the QEAS is calculated as:
m_ 10 h10 Q_ eva m_ 11 h11 (14.2)
The energetic and exergetic coefficients of performance
(COPs) are defined as:
Q_ eva
COPen (14.3a)
_
Qgeo W_ p
_ eva
Ex
COPex (14.3b)
_
Exgeo W_ p

FIGURE 14.3 Schematic of a multistage binary power

plant.
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems 307

FIGURE 14.4 Schematic of an LH

cycle.

The actual net power obtained from the binary iso- 14.5.3 Results and Discussion
butane plant driven by the geothermal energy source is
Varying the mass flow rate of the geothermal water m_ geo
expressed as:
significantly affects the performance of the integrated
W_ netgeo W_ turb
W_ Piso
W_ Parasitic (14.4) system. An increase in the mass flow rate of geothermal
water increases the energy input to the QEAS. The power
The ideal specific work required to compress hydrogen
and cooling load provided to the building are observed
from P1 101 kPa to P2 10 MPa is given as:
to vary as the mass flow rate of geothermal water and
P2 condenser load change. As seen in Figure 14.5, the power
Wcompideal RT0 In (14.5)
P1 varies from 16 to 32 kW and cooling load varies from
However, the actual specific work input to liquefaction 31.6 to 20.6 kW. The increase in QEAS energy input and
cycle per unit mass of hydrogen is expressible as: decrease in cooling load with increasing m_ geo lower the
energetic and exergetic COPs of the QEAS (see Figure 14.6).
Wcompideal These COPs vary, respectively, from 5.0 to 1.7 and from
Wcompactual (14.6)
hcomp 1.2 to 0.4 as m_ geo increases. The decreases in the COPs

35 35 FIGURE 14.5 Effect of mass flow rate of the

Qcon = 150 kW geothermal source fluid on electric power and cooling
Qcon = 175 kW
supplied to building.
31 Qcon = 200 kW 32
Qcooling,House [kW]

Tgeo = 573 K
PowerHouse [kW]

27 29

23 26

19 23

15 20
1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3
mgeo [kg/s]
308
FIGURE 14.6 Effect of mass flow rate of the
geothermal source fluid on energetic and exergetic
COPs.
COPen
directly result from the higher energy input to the QEAS
and the lower output from the QEAS in the form of a
cooling load. The QEAS performance decrease with in-
creasing m_ geo also affects the rate of hydrogen precooling
by the QEAS and liquefaction by the LH system. Figure 14.7
shows that, with increasing m_ geo , the amounts of hydrogen
gas precooled and liquefied decrease from 0.53 to 0.34 kg/s
and from 0.09 to 0.06 kg/s, respectively. It is thus observed
that an increase in m_ geo reduces the performance of the system
in terms of cooling production and hydrogen liquefaction. In
case of power production, however, an increase in m_ geo
enhances the system power production.
The geothermal water source temperature Tgeo plays
an important role in designing and assessing the system.
That parameter also determines if the system is capable of
producing power or limited to low-grade energy applica-
tions. Figure 14.8 shows that increasing Tgeo decreases the
energetic and exergetic COPs of the QEAS. For a fixed
m_ geo of 2.0 kg/s, the energetic and exergetic COPs vary
from 3.7 to 2.9 and from 1.1 to 0.7, respectively, as Tgeo
increases from 473 to 573 K for condenser loads of 150,
175, and 200 kW. An increase in the temperature of the
geothermal source water results in a higher energy transfer
to the VHTG due to the higher potential of losing heat to
the low-temperature stream entering the VHTG from the
VHHX. This increase in energy input to the QEAS results
in a lower QEAS output, in terms of cooling load, for a
fixed condenser load. The decrease in cooling load reduces
the COPs of the QEAS. As the performance of the QEAS
degrades, its capability of precooling hydrogen also de-
creases. In addition, an increase in Tgeo also affects the
mass of precooled hydrogen gas and the mass of hydrogen
gas liquefied, as can be seen in Figure 14.9. The quantities
of hydrogen gas precooled and liquefied vary from 0.5 to
0.41 kg/s and from 0.005 to 0.09 kg/s, respectively.
Exergy
5.5 1.3
COPen at Qcon = 150 kW
5 COPen at Qcon = 175 kW 1.2
COPen at Qcon = 200 kW
4.5 1.1
COPex at Qcon = 150 kW
4 1
COPex at Qcon = 175 kW
COPex at Qcon = 200 kW
3.5 0.9
COPex
Tgeo = 573 K
3 0.8
2.5 0.7
2 0.6
1.5 0.5
1 0.4
1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3
mgeo [kg/s]
The ambient temperature also affects the performance
of the system, and the effect of ambient temperature on the
amount of hydrogen gas precooled and liquefied is shown
in Figure 14.10. The amounts of hydrogen gas precooled
and liquefied are found to be decreasing with an increase in
ambient temperature, varying from 0.95 to 0.31 kg/s and
from 0.2 to 0.05 kg/s, respectively, for condenser loads of
150, 175, and 200 kW. This behavior occurs because an
increase in ambient temperature decreases the natural cooling
of the system from ambient air. As the ambient temperature
increases, the performances of the QEAS evaporator and
the LH system both decline, due mainly to the lower temp-
erature difference between the surroundings and the system.
14.6 CASE STUDY: ENERGY AND EXERGY
ANALYSES OF A MULTIGENERATION
SYSTEM
An integrated geothermal-based multigeneration system
for electric power, hydrogen, hot water, cooling, heating,
and dry-air production is examined in this case study. The
system considered (see Figure 14.11) consists of a quadruple
flash power plant (QFPP), an electrolyzer, a QEAS, and an
air-drying process (cooling with dehumidification). This case
study follows earlier energy and exergy analyses (Ratlamwala
et al., 2012d).
14.6.1 System Description
In the integrated multigeneration system, geothermal water
is employed as an energy source. The geothermal water
passes through the QFPP, where it produces power and hot
water. Part of the produced power is supplied to the building
and the remainder is used by the electrolyzer and the solution
pump of the QEAS. The geothermal water exiting the QFPP
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems 309

0.58 0.108 FIGURE 14.7 Effect of mass flow rate of the

mH2,pre-cooled at Qcon = 150 kW geothermal source fluid on the rate hydrogen gas
0.56 mH2,pre-cooled at Qcon = 175 kW 0.104
is precooled and liquefied.
0.54 mH2,pre-cooled at Qcon = 200 kW 0.1
mH 2 precooled [kg/s]

0.52 mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 150 kW 0.096

mH2,liquefied [kg/s]
mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 175 kW
0.5 0.092
mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 200 kW
0.48 0.088
Tgeo = 573 K
0.46 0.084
0.44 0.08
0.42 0.076
0.4 0.072
0.38 0.068
0.36 0.064
0.34 0.06
1.5 1.75 2 2.25 2.5 2.75 3
mgeo [kg/s]

at state 20 enters the QEAS, where it releases heat to
an ammonia-water mixture. Part of the cooling and all of
the heating produced by the QEAS is supplied directly to
the building. The remainder of the cooling produced by the
QEAS is supplied to the air-drying process. The electric
power supplied to the electrolyzer is utilized to produce
hydrogen. Descriptions follow in the next sections for each
of the systems.
14.6.1.1 QFPP
In the QFPP, a high-temperature geothermal source is used
to produce power as depicted in Figure. 14.12. The high-
temperature geothermal at a pressure of 3000 kPa at state 1 is
throttled to 667 kPa at state 2. The resulting saturated
mixture is then separated into saturated water vapor (which
collects at state 3) and saturated liquid (which collects at
state 9). The saturated steam at state 3 then enters the very
high pressure turbine, where it expands from 667 to 400 kPa.
The saturated mixture at state 4 combines with the saturated
steam at state 10 from the second steam separator. The
streams at states 4 and 10 combine at state 5, and expand in
the high-pressure turbine from 400 to 300 kPa. The satu-
rated mixture exiting the high-pressure turbine at state 6
combines with the saturated steam from the third steam
separator at state 12. The streams at states 12 and 6 combine at
state 13, and expand in the medium-pressure turbine from 300
to 200 kPa. The stream exiting the medium pressure turbine
at state 14 combines with the saturated steam from the
fourth steam separator at state 17 and at state 18, and
expands in the low-pressure turbine from 200 to 100 kPa. The
stream leaving the low-pressure turbine at state 19 enters
the condenser, where it rejects heat to the cooling water
flowing through the condenser. The cold geothermal stream

4 1.3 FIGURE 14.8 Effect of geothermal source

COPen at Qcon = 150 kW COPex at Qcon = 150 kW temperature on energetic and exergetic COPs.
3.9 1.25
COPen at Qcon = 175 kW COPex at Qcon = 175 kW
3.8 COPen at Qcon = 200 kW COPex at Qcon = 200 kW 1.2
3.7 mgeo = 2 kg/s 1.15
3.6 1.1
3.5 1.05
COPex
COPen

3.4 1
3.3 0.95
3.2 0.9
3.1 0.85
3 0.8
2.9 0.75
2.8 0.7
470 492 514 536 558 580
Tgeo [K]
310 Exergy

FIGURE 14.9 Effect of geothermal source 0.504 0.11

temperature on the rate hydrogen gas is pre-
cooled and liquefied. 0.495 0.1
0.486 mH2,precooled at Qcon = 150 kW 0.09
mH2,precooled at Qcon = 175 kW

mH2 precooled [kg/s]

0.477 0.08

mH2,liquefied [kg/s]
mH2,precooled at Qcon = 200 kW
0.468 0.07
0.459 0.06
0.45 0.05
0.441 Tgeo = 573 K 0.04
0.432 mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 150 kW 0.03
0.423 mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 175 kW 0.02
mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 200 kW
0.414 0.01
0.405 0
470 492 514 536 558 580
Tgeo [K]

exiting the condenser at state 21 is reinjected into the
geothermal well in order to maintain the required water level.
The water used as the cooling medium in the condenser is
supplied to the building as a hot water stream. The saturated
water exiting the first steam separator at state 8 expands
through the expansion valve from 667 to 400 kPa, exiting
as a saturated water mixture at state 9. The saturated mixture
at state 9 enters the second steam separator, where saturated
steam is collected at state 10 and saturated water is collected
at state 7. The latter expands through the expansion valve
from 400 to 300 kPa. The saturated mixture at state 11 then
enters the third steam separator, where saturated steam is
extracted at state 12 and saturated water at state 15. The latter
stream is throttled from 300 to 200 kPa, yielding a saturated
liquid-vapor mixture at state 16, which enters the fourth steam
separator. There, saturated steam is extracted at state 17 and
saturated liquid is extracted at state 20 and supplied to the
QEAS as a driving energy source. Part of the electricity
produced by the QFPP is supplied to the electrolyzer, and
a small amount is supplied to the solution pump of the QEAS.
14.6.1.2 Electrolyzer
Part of the electric power produced by the QFPP is supplied
to the electrolyzer (see Figure 14.13), where water is split
into hydrogen and oxygen.
14.6.1.3 QEAS
As shown in Figure 14.14, the geothermal stream of the
QFPP at state 20 provides heat to the VHTG of the QEAS.
In the VHTG, the strong solution from the absorber at state
14 is heated and exits the VHTG as a weak solution at state
16 and as a high-concentration ammonia-water vapor at

FIGURE 14.10 Effect of ambient temperature on 1.1 0.22

the rate hydrogen gas is precooled and liquefied. mH2,precooled at Qcon = 150 kW
1 mH2,precooled at Qcon = 175 kW 0.2

0.9 mH2,precooled at Qcon = 200 kW 0.18

mH 2 precooled [kg/s]

mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 150 kW

mH2,liquefied [kg/s]

0.8 mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 175 kW 0.16

mH2,liquefied at Qcon = 200 kW
0.7 0.14
Tgeo = 573 K
0.6 0.12
mgeo = 2 kg/s
0.5 0.1

0.4 0.08

0.3 0.06

0.2 0.04
270 275 280 285 290 295 300 305
Ambient temperature [K]
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems 311

FIGURE 14.11 Schematic of an overall system presented in Section 14.6.

state 15. The weak solution at state 16 releases heat in the
VHHX and is combined with the weak solution from the
HTG at state 20, to form the weak solution at state 35,
which in turn releases heat in the high-temperature heat
exchanger (HHX) and is combined with the weak solution
from the MTG at state 24 to form the weak solution at
state 37. After releasing heat to the medium-temperature
heat exchanger (MHX), this weak solution is combined
with the weak solution from the LTG at state 29 to form the
weak solution at state 39, which enters the low-temperature
heat exchanger and heats the strong solution from the solu-
tion pump at state 4. After heat transfer, the weak solution at
state 40 passes through the expansion valve and enters the
absorber at state 41. The refrigerant vapor exiting the VHTG
at state 15 then enters the HTG, where it heats the strong
solution from the HHX at state 12 and then exits as
ammonia-water vapor at states 17 and 18. These streams are
combined and exit the HTG at state 19. The combined
stream heats the strong solution from the MHX at state 9 in
the MTG, and exits as ammonia-water vapor at states 21
and 22. These streams are combined, exit the MTG at state
23, heat the strong solution from state 28 in the LTG, and
exit as ammonia-water vapor at states 25 and 26. The vapor
stream at state 26 passes to the condenser while that at state
25 enters the condenser heat exchanger (CHX) and trans-
fers heat to part of the liquid that is fed in the opposite
direction by the solution pump at state 3. This liquid gains
heat and leaves the CHX at state 30. The ammonia-water
vapor exiting the CHX at state 27 is condensed to state 31
in the condenser, warming the air flowing through the
condenser for use in heating the building. The vapor stream
leaving the condenser at state 31 is throttled in the expan-
sion valve to state 32 and enters the evaporator, where the
refrigeration load carried by the air flowing through
the evaporator is absorbed by the QEAS refrigerant, and the
heated strong ammonia-water mixture exits the condenser
at state 33 and enters the absorber. The part of the air stream
cooled in the evaporator is supplied to the drying process,

FIGURE 14.12 Schematic of a QFPP.

312 Exergy

The energy and exergy flow rates of the hot water

supplied to the building can be written as:

E_ hw m_ hw hhw;o
hhw;i (14.8a)

_ hw m_ hw hhw;o
hhw;i
T0 shw;o
shw;i (14.8b)
Ex
The energy and exergy efficiencies of the QFPP can be
expressed as:
FIGURE 14.13 Schematic of a water electrolyzer.
W_ net;geo Ex
_ hw
hqf h (14.9a)
_ 1 h1
m
m _ 20 h20
m_ 21 h21
and the remaining part is supplied to the building for
cooling purposes. In the absorber, the streams at states 33 W_ net;geo Ex
_ hw
jqf j (14.9b)
and 41 combine and cool, leaving the absorber as a liquid at _ 1
Ex
Ex _ 20
Ex
_ 21
state 1 and entering the solution pump. The power required
to drive the pump is provided by the QFPP. The hydrogen production rate of the electrolyzer can be
found using:
14.6.1.4 Air-Drying Process m_ H2 HHV
helectrolyzer (14.10)
W_ electrolyzer
The air-drying process in the integrated multigeneration
system follows psychrometric processes of cooling and _ electrolyzer
Where helectrolyzer is assumed to be 56% and W
dehumidifying, as shown in Figure 14.15. The cooling for 0:5  W_ netgeo
this system is provided by the QEAS. The moist air at state The exergy flow rate of the produced hydrogen is ex-
1 passes through the air-drying process. Part of the pressed as:
incoming air contacts the cooling coil, where some of the
water in the moist air condenses as its temperature reaches _ H2 m_ H2 exH2 ,ch exH2 ;ph 
Ex (14.11)
the apparatus dew point temperature of the cooling coil. where
The condensed water is removed from the bottom of the air
conditioner, and the cooled and dehumidified air leaves the 236100
exH2 ;ch
air conditioner at state 2 and is supplied to the conditioned MWH2
space. Here, exH2 ;ch represents chemical exergy of hydrogen,
236100 represents the specific chemical exergy in kJ/kmol,
14.6.2 Analysis and MWH2 represents molecular weight of hydrogen in
kg/kmol:
Mass, energy, and exergy balances for the QFPP, the
QEAS, and the air-drying process; express energy and exH2 ;ph hH2
h0
T0 sH2
s0
exergy efficiencies for the QFPP and the drying process;
energetic and exergetic COPs for the QEAS; and overall The heat supply rate of the geothermal source is written as:
energetic and exergetic utilization factors are written.
Parasitic losses are taken into account in determining the Q_ VHTG Q_ geo m_ 20 h20;QFPP
hQEAS;o (14.12)
net power output from the plant. It is assumed in the
analysis that all systems and subsystems are at steady-state The exergy rate of the heat supply to the VHTG is:
conditions, and that heat losses and pressure drops in heat  
exchangers and connecting piping are negligible. _ VHTG 1
T0
Ex Q_ VHTG (14.13)
The net power obtained from the QFPP using the geo- TVHTG
thermal energy source can be expressed as: where
W_ netgeo W_ turb
W_ p
W_ parasitic (14.7) T14 T15 T16
TVHTG
3
where
Mass and energy balances for the condenser are ex-
W_ turb m_ 3 h3
h4 m
_ 5 h5
h6 m_ 13 h13
h14 pressible respectively as follows:

m_ 18 h18
h19 m_ 31 m_ 27 m_ 26 (14.14a)

_ p
W_ parasitic 0:2W_ turb
W m_ 31 h31 Q_ con m_ 26 h26 m_ 27 h27 (14.14b)
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems 313

FIGURE 14.14 Schematic of a QEAS.

314 Exergy

Cooling An overall-system energy balance can be written as:

coils
m_ a1 h1 Q_ out m_ a2 h2 m_ w hw (14.19)
1
T1
2
T2 _
where Qout is the heat rate supplied by the QEAS. An overall
AIR P
exergy balance can be written as:
 
T0
Condensate m_ a1 ex1
Q_ out 1
_ dest 0

m_ a2 ex2
m_ w exw
Ex
T
FIGURE 14.15 Schematic of an air-drying process.
(14.20a)
and solved for the exergy destruction rate of the system as
The exergy rate of the heat release from the condenser is follows:
calculated as:  
  _ Q_ out
Exdest T0 m_ a2 s2 m_ w sw
m_ a1 s1 (14.20b)
_ T0 _ T
Excon 1
Q (14.15)
Tcon con
The energy and exergy efficiencies for the drying
where system can be expressed as:
T26 T27 T31 m_ 2 h2
Tcon hd (14.21a)
3 Q_ out
m_ 2 ex2
Mass and energy balances for evaporator are written, jd   (14.21b)
respectively, as: _ T0
Qout 1

T
m_ 32 m_ 33 (14.16a)
Overall-system energetic and exergetic utilization
m_ 32 h32 Q_ eva m_ 33 h33 (14.16b) factors are defined as:

W_ bld Q_ con Q_ cooling E_ hw m_ H2 hH2 m_ 2;d h2;d

en : (14.22a)
m_ 1;qf h1;qf
m_ 21;qf h21;qf m_ s;eva ha;in;eva ma;con ha;in;con m_ w hw;in

The exergy rate of the heat supply to the evaporator is W_ bld Ex

_ H2 Ex_ eva Ex
_ con Ex _ hw m_ 2;d ex2;d
ex
determined as: Ex _ 21;qf Ex
_ 1;qf
Ex _ a;in;eva E_ a;in;eva Ex
_ hw
  (14.22b)
_ eva T0 _
Ex 1
Qeva (14.17)
Teva

14.6.3 Results and Discussion

where
The variation in exergy efficiencies of the QFPP and air-
T32 T33
Teva drying process with ambient air temperature are shown in
2 Figure 14.16. The exergy efficiency of the quadruple flash
system decreases linearly with ambient temperature (varying
The energetic and exergetic COPs of the system can be
from 36% to 51%), whereas the exergy efficiency of the
expressed respectively as:
drying process decreases nonlinearly and more rapidly
(varying from 37% to 14%). The exergy efficiency of the
Q_ eva Q_ com
COPen (14.18a) quadruple flash increases in this manner because an increase
Q_ geo Wp_ p
in the ambient temperature causes more thermal energy to
be lost to the environment, which necessitates more power
_ eva Ex
_ con production from the geothermal plant. This variation causes
Ex
COPex (14.18b) the overall exergy efficiency of the integrated system to
_ VHTG Wp
Ex _ p
decrease as ambient temperature increases. This effect is
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems
detrimental for countries with relatively high mean ambient
temperatures and advantageous for countries with lower
mean ambient temperatures like Canada. But the air-drying
process uses cooling with dehumidification, so an increase
in ambient temperature necessitates greater cooling since it
leads to increased heat gain by the system. Hence, an
increase in ambient temperature degrades the performance
of the cooling system.
Variations with ambient temperature of the exergetic
COP of the QEAS and the exergetic utilization factor of
the overall system are shown in Figure 14.17. The exer-
getic COP varies from 9.2 to 5.0 and the overall exergetic
utilization factor from 0.005 to 0.33, as ambient air
temperature increases, for condenser loads ranging from
400 to 450 kW. An increase in ambient temperature and
condenser load therefore increases the exergetic COP of
the system. This beneficial effect is attributable to the fact
that the condenser load is used as a heat supply and
315
FIGURE 14.16 Effect of ambient air temper-
ature on exergy efficiencies of the QFPP and the
drying process.
therefore an increase in ambient temperature tends to
increase the exergetic COP. However, the overall exergetic
utilization factor depicts a bell-shaped behavior, peaking
at 0.33.
The variations with geothermal source temperature of
the energy and exergy efficiencies of the QFPP are presented
in Figure 14.18. As the geothermal source temperature in-
creases, the exergy efficiency increases but the energy effi-
ciency decreases slightly. The energy efficiency ranges from
98.2% to 97.7% and exergetic efficiency from 27% to 37%, as
the geothermal source temperature rises from 425 C to
500 C. Thus, the geothermal source temperature has
a significant impact on efficiency from an exergy perspec-
tive, but not from an energy perspective.
The manner in which the energetic and exergetic COPs of
the absorption system vary with geothermal source temper-
ature is depicted in Figure 14.19. Both COPs increase with
geothermal source temperature and condenser load. The
FIGURE 14.17 Effect of ambient air temper-
ature on exergetic COP and overall exergetic
utilization factor.
316 Exergy

FIGURE 14.18 Effect of inlet temperature to

the geothermal power plant on energy and exergy
efficiencies of the geothermal plant.

energetic COP varies from 4.0 to 5.4 and the exergetic COP
from 4.2 to 8.9. The exergetic COP is greater than the
energetic COP. Increasing the geothermal source temper-
ature thus improves the performance of the absorption
system from an exergetic point of view. The exergetic COP
obtained is comparable to that for a conventional vapor-
compression system, but the system considered here has no
compressor consume electricity.
The variations with geothermal source temperature of
the overall energetic and exergetic utilization factors are
illustrated in Figure 14.20. The energetic utilization
factor ranges from 0.26 to 0.33 and the exergetic utili-
zation factor ranges from 0.24 to 0.33 as geothermal
source temperature increases from 450 C to 500 C and
condenser load increases from 400 to 450 kW. The
increase in both utilization factors with geothermal
source temperature and condenser load indicates that an
increase in geothermal source temperature improves the
performance of the overall integrated system. But the
energetic and exergetic utilization factors differ little at
the considered conditions.
14.7 CLOSING REMARKS
The importance of trigeneration and multigeneration systems
is highlighted in this chapter, as is the usefulness of exergy
analysis in assessing and improving such systems. The energy
and exergy analyses of trigeneration and multigeneration case
studies suggest that trigeneration and multigeneration systems
enhance the productivity by generating multiple products
in a single process.

FIGURE 14.19 Effect of inlet temperature to

the geothermal power plant on energetic and
exergetic COPs of the absorption chiller system.
Chapter | 14 Exergy Analysis of Integrated Trigeneration and Multigeneration Systems
PROBLEMS
14.1 Conduct a thorough investigation and determine how
many trigeneration and multigeneration systems have
been commissioned in (a) your community and
(b) your country.
14.2 How are the overall energy and exergy utilization
factors of the trigeneration and multigeneration
system examined in this chapter defined?
14.3 Identify the sources of exergy losses in the trigen-
eration system examined in this chapter and propose
methods for reducing or minimizing them.
14.4 Identify the sources of exergy losses in the multi-
generation system examined in this chapter and
propose methods for reducing or minimizing them.
14.5 Conduct a detailed exergy analysis of each
component of the trigeneration system examined in
this chapter. Determine which component has the
highest exergy destruction rate and suggest how this
exergy destruction rate can be reduced or
minimized.
14.6 Conduct a detailed exergy analysis of each com-
ponent of the multigeneration system examined in
this chapter. Determine which component has the
highest exergy destruction rate and suggest how
this exergy destruction rate can be reduced or
minimized.
317
FIGURE 14.20 Effect of inlet temperature to
the geothermal power plant on overall energetic
and exergetic utilization factors.
14.7 For the trigeneration system examined in this chapter,
propose an alternative method for achieving the same
product outputs. For this alternative method, conduct
detailed energy and exergy analyses and compare the
results with those for the trigeneration system exam-
ined in this chapter.
14.8 For the multigeneration system examined in
this chapter, propose an alternative method for
achieving the same product outputs. For this alter-
native method, conduct detailed energy and exergy
analyses and compare the results with those for the
multigeneration system examined in this chapter.
14.9 For the trigeneration system examined in this chapter,
what will be the effect on the overall system perfor-
mance if the LH liquefaction system is replaced by
a cryogenic liquefaction system?
14.10 For the multigeneration system examined in this
chapter, what will be the effect on the overall system
performance if the QFPP is replaced by a quintuple
flash power plant?
14.11 Identify and describe several methods for in-
creasing the exergy efficiency of the trigeneration
and multigeneration systems described in this
chapter.