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Techno-economic assessment of a biomass-based combined power and cooling plant for rural application

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Abstract

This paper presents techno-economic assessment of a biomass-based combined power and cooling plant suitable for off-grid rural areas. The proposed plant employs an indirectly heated air turbine cycle drawing heat from combustion of biomass-derived producer gas. The installation capacity of 50 kW is determined based on the present electricity demand and taking into account the possible demand growth over next 10 years. The gas turbine operating condition is optimized at pressure ratio 10 and turbine inlet temperature 1100 °C, where it shows maximum efficiency. Waste heat of the power generation unit is utilized by a 120 metric ton (MT) cold storage facility that runs on NH3–water vapour absorption refrigeration cycle. Both electrical and thermal storage units are included in the plant to cater to the hourly variations in power and heat demands. Lithium-ion battery is chosen for electrical storage, and Hitec salt-based phase change material is chosen for thermal storage, their storage capacities being estimated at 250 kWh and 220 kWh, respectively. The paper proposes a new method of determining effective cost of electricity, taking into account the avoided electricity for conventional cooling. The effective price of electricity is found to be 0.08 USD/kWh. Estimated payback period of the plant, without subsidy, is 14.4 years, and with 50% capital subsidy this is reduced to 6.6 years. Cost of storage as well as the discount rate is seen to influence the plant economy and payback period considerably. Based on the analysis, a policy recommendation has also been outlined in the paper.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Average demand, kW

AL:

Average load, kW

COP:

Coefficient of performance

DCL:

Daily cooling load, kWh

ESBC:

Electrical specific biomass consumption, kg/kWh

H :

Capacity of thermal energy storage, kWh

IC:

Installed capacity, kW

LH:

Latent heat of fusion, kJ/kg

LHV:

Lower heating value, kJ/kg

LF:

Load factor

m :

Mass flow rate, kg/s

P :

Annualized electricity, kWh

PCF:

Plant capacity factor

PD:

Peak demand, kW

PR:

Pressure ratio of gas turbine cycle

Q :

Rate of heat transfer, kW

T :

Temperature, °C

TIT:

Turbine inlet temperature, °C

W :

Power, kW

Z :

Cost, USD

η :

Efficiency

ρ :

Density, kg/m3

∆:

Change of quantity

bm:

Biomass

con:

VAR condenser

e:

Electrical

EES:

Electrical energy storage

EPCC:

Engineering, procurement and construction cost

evp:

VAR Evaporator

G:

Generator

gen:

VAR generator

i:

Isentropic

LiB:

Lithium-ion battery

ss:

Strong solution

sp:

VAR solution pump

TOC:

Total overnight capital

TPC:

Total plant cost

std:

Standard

w:

Heat carrier water

ws:

Weak solution

ABS:

Absorber

AC:

Air compressor

AHX:

Air heat exchanger

CHX:

Combustor–heat exchanger

CC:

Combustor

EFGT:

Externally fired gas turbine

G:

Electricity generator

GT:

Gas turbine

NPV:

Net present value

PCF:

Plant capacity factor

PCM:

Phase change materials

REV:

Refrigerant expansion valve

RHX:

Refrigerant heat exchanger

SEV:

Solution expansion valve

SP:

Solution pump

VAR:

Vapour absorption refrigeration

WHRS:

Waste heat recovery and storage

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Acknowledgements

The first author acknowledges the support provided by the Thermal Simulation and Computation (TSC) Laboratory at Mechanical Engineering Department of IIEST, Shibpur, for carrying out the research work and also acknowledges the support provided by the MHRD, Government of India, for the research fellowship.

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Correspondence to Sudip Ghosh.

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Chattopadhyay, S., Ghosh, S. Techno-economic assessment of a biomass-based combined power and cooling plant for rural application. Clean Techn Environ Policy 22, 907–922 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-020-01832-z

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