Energy 25 (2000) 233246 www.elsevier.

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A combined power/cooling cycle

Feng Xu a, D. Yogi Goswami
a b

a,*

, Sunil S. Bhagwat

Solar Energy and Energy Conversion Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, P0 Box 116300, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 326116300, USA Chemical Engineering Division, Department of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai, Mumbai 400019, India

Abstract A combined thermal power and cooling cycle is proposed. The proposed cycle combines a Rankine cycle and an absorption refrigeration cycle. It can provide power output as well as refrigeration with power generation as a primary goal. The new cycle uses very high concentration ammonia vapor in the turbine which can be expanded to a very low temperature in the turbine without condensation. This cycle uses an absorption condensation process instead of the conventional condensation process. A parametric analysis of the proposed cycle is presented in this paper. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Background Combined cycles have been proposed in recent years as alternative power cycles for improving overall energy conversion efciency. Another recent improvement in thermal power cycles is based on using mixed working uids. Using a multicomponent working uid and/or multipressure boiling, one can reduce the heat transfer-related irreversibilities and therefore improve resource effectiveness. Kalina [1] proposed the use of ammonia-water mixtures as the working uids in the bottoming cycle of a combined cycle power plant. Although Kalina [14] is recognized for introducing the multi-component working uid power cycle and for bringing it to its current state [14], Maloney and Robertson [5] studied an absorption-type power cycle using a mixture of ammonia and water as a working uid in the early fties. A comparison of the multi-component cycle to the Rankine cycle by EI-Sayed and Tribus [6] shows a 1020% improvement in thermal efciency [5]. Since that time, a number of investigators have studied the use of ammonia-water mixtures in power cycle applications. Marston [7] conducted a detailed discussion of multi-component cycle behavior. Marston [7] found that the tempera* Corresponding author. Fax: +1-352-392-1071. E-mail address: solar@cimar.me.u.edu (D. Yogi Goswami)

0360-5442/00/$ - see front matter 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 3 6 0 - 5 4 4 2 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 7 1 - 7

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ture at the separator and composition at the turbine inlet are the key parameters for optimizing the Kalina cycle. Ibrahim and Klein [8] and Park and Sonntag [9] also analyzed the Kalina cycle. Their studies show the advantages of the Kalina cycle over the conventional Rankine cycle under certain conditions. Ibrahim and Klein [8] concluded that the Kalina cycle has an advantage over the conventional Rankine cycle only when heat exchanger NTU is greater than 5. Since the Kalina cycle uses the conventional condensation process by exchanging heat with the environment, it puts a constraint on the lowest temperature of the working uid exiting the turbine. This constraint can be relaxed if an absorption condensation process is employed. Rogdakis and Antonopoulos [10] proposed a triple stage power cycle which is similar to the Kalina cycle. However, they replaced the distillation condensation of the Kalina cycle with an absorption condensation process. Kouremenos et al. [11] analyzed this absorption type of power cycle as a bottoming cycle with a gas turbine topping cycle. Since this cycle still uses ammoniawater vapor mixtures going through the turbine, the exit temperature must be relatively high in order to avoid condensation in the turbine. This study analyzes a new cycle as proposed by Goswami [12,13] that retains the advantages of the Kalina cycle but removes the constraints of both the Kalina cycle and the Rogdakis and Antonopoulos cycle as identied above. 2. The proposed cycle The proposed novel cycle combines two thermodynamic cycles, the Rankine cycle and the ammonia-absorption refrigeration cycle. This cycle uses ammonia-water mixtures as a working uid, which reduces the heat transfer irreversibilities, especially for low temperature nite heat sources such as heat from solar collectors and geothermal heat. The cycle uses a very high concentration ammonia in the turbine, which can be expanded to a very low temperature without condensation. The very low temperature ammonia provides refrigeration. The low temperature ammonia is condensed by an absorption condensation process. The net effects are the production of both power and refrigeration, and a reduction of the effective sink temperature. As shown in Fig. 1, an ammonia-water mixture (state 1) is pumped to a high pressure (state 2). The mixture is heated to boil off ammonia (state 5), and the vapor is enriched in ammonia by condensing a part of the vapor in a condenser/rectier (state 6). The condensate is richer in water and returned to the boiler. Ammonia is superheated after the condenser/rectier to raise its temperature (state 7). The superheated vapor, which is almost pure ammonia, can be expanded in a turbine to exit at a very low temperature (state 8). After expansion through the turbine to generate power, the ammonia is brought to the absorption part of the cycle. Low temperature ammonia rst provides cooling in the cooler (state 9). It is then absorbed by the weak solution from the boiler in an absorber, to form the basic ammonia-water liquid solution to complete the cycle (state 1). 3. Thermodynamic analysis of the proposed cycle This section gives a thermodynamic analysis of this novel cycle under idealized conditions, neglecting the irreversibilities associated with the heat transfer and expansion processes. Although

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Fig. 1. A modied ammonia-based combined power/cooling cycle.

Table 1 Typical operating conditions State 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 T (K) 280.0 280.0 378.1 400.0 360.0 360.0 410.0 257.0 280.0 400.0 300.0 300.0 p (bar) 2.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 2.0 2.0 30.0 30.0 2.0 h (kj/kg) 214.1 211.4 246.3 1547.2 205.8 1373.2 1529.7 1148.9 1278.7 348.2 119.0 104.5 S (kl/kg K) 0.1060 0.1083 1.2907 4.6102 1.1185 4.1520 4.5556 4.5558 5.0461 1.5544 0.2125 0.2718 X 0.5300 0.5300 0.5300 0.9432 0.6763 0.9921 0.9921 0.9921 0.9921 0.4147 0.4147 0.4147 Flowrate m/m1 1.0000 1.0000 1.0000 0.2363 0.0366 0.1997 0.1997 0.1997 0.1997 0.8003 0.8003 0.8003

236 Table 2 Results from Table 1 state conditionsa

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Boiler heat input Superheat input Condenser heat rejection Absorber heat rejection Refrigeration output Turbine work output Turbine liquid fraction Turbine vapor fraction Pump work, input Total heat input Net power and refrigeration output Thermal efciency Carnot efciency (between 410 K and 280 K)
a

390.4 31.3 83.8 358.8 25.9 76.0 0.0692 0.9308 2.7 421.6 99.23 23.54% 31.7%

All energy units are kW/kg basic solution.

Fig. 2. Effect of turbine inlet pressure on vapor ow rate.

these assumptions limit the usefulness of the analysis, the results show the potential of the proposed cycle for using low temperature sensible (nite capacity) heat sources. The idealized cycle analysis does provide the analytical maximum limits for the real cycle. Using the thermodynamic properties data as described in Xu and Goswami [14], the important components of the system

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Fig. 3.

Effect of turbine inlet pressure on turbine work output.

were modeled, and a parametric thermodynamic analysis was conducted with the following conditions: 1. Boiler temperature: 400 K 2. Turbine inlet temperature: 410500 K 3. Turbine inlet pressure: 1832 bar 4. Ammonia concentration: 0.200.55 by mass in the basic solution The thermodynamic state conditions of the proposed combined cycle were evaluated assuming an idealized cycle (that is, irreversibilities associated with real apparatus were neglected). A computer program for ammonia-water mixture thermodynamic properties was developed for the cycle analysis. The program uses Gibbs free energy method and has shown good agreement of the calculated properties with the published literature data. The following assumptions were made for the cycle analysis: 1. At point 1, the basic solution of ammonia-water mixture is a saturated liquid at low pressure. For the present analysis, the temperature is set at 280 K to keep the uid in a liquid state at the low pressure in the cycle. 2. At point 2, the saturated liquid is pumped to the high pressure of the cycle. 3. The mixture passes through a preheat heat exchanger and the temperature is raised to about 350 K, assuming that the boiler temperature is 400 K. 4. The mixture enters the boiler where it is heated to 400 K. The NH3/H2O mixture evaporates

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with a higher concentration of NH3. Therefore, at point 4, the ammonia mass concentration is over 0.90. At point 10, weak aqua returns to the absorber via a heat exchanger. 5. Because we need vapor at a very high ammonia concentration, a part of the water vapor is condensed in the condenser/rectier. The condenser/rectier temperature is set at 360 K. 6. The mixture is superheated before it enters the turbine. Superheater temperature is set at 410 K or higher. 7. The superheated vapor expands in the turbine and transfers work to a generator. The mixture can be expanded to a very low temperature and still maintain a vapor state.

4. Basic equations Boiler heat transfer: qboilerm4h4m10h10m3h3m5h5 Condenser heat transfer: qcondm5h5m6h6m3h3m4h4m3h2 (2) (1)

Fig. 4.

Effect of turbine inlet pressure on cooling capacity.

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239

Fig. 5. Effect of turbine inlet pressure on thermal efciency.

Superheat input: qsuperheaterm6(h7h6) Absorber heat rejection: qabsorberm1h1m12h12m9h9 Cooling capacity: qcoolm8(h9h8) Net work output: wnetm7(h7h8)m1(h2h1) Thermal efciency: h wnet+qcool qsuperheater+qboiler (7) (6) (5) (4) (3)

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5. Results and discussion In a simulation of the cycle shown in Tables 1 and 2, with the working uid entering the turbine at 410 K and 30 bar pressure and exiting at a 2 bar pressure, a rst law efciency of 23.54% is achieved. By contrast, the Carnot cycle efciency for the same source temperature (410 K) and a sink temperature of 280 K is 31.7%. The cycle efciency of a conventional Steam Rankine cycle between the same source and sink temperatures will be much lower than both the Carnot cycle and the new proposed cycle. In addition, a system designed to produce 2 MW of electrical power using the proposed cycle will produce more than 200 tons of refrigeration. A parametric analysis of the cycle, described below, shows that the cycle conditions can be optimized within the range of low and medium temperature solar collectors for maximum overall efciency. The cycle can also be optimized to provide maximum power, maximum refrigeration, or a combination of both. 5.1. Effect of turbine inlet pressure Fig. 2 shows that vapor production goes linearly down as the high pressure in the cycle increases. The turbine power output also goes almost linearly down as the pressure increases, as seen in Fig. 3. It is known that the enthalpy drop across the turbine is increased as the pressure ratio increases. But the enthalpy gains from an increased pressure ratio do not make up for the drop in the vapor ow rate, hence the turbine work output decreases. Cooling capacity increases

Fig. 6.

Effect of boiler temperature on thermal efciency.

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241

Fig. 7. Effect of condenser temperature on cooling capacity.

rst as the pressure goes up. Then, due to the decreased vapor ow rate, the cooling capacity goes down at a pressure of about 28 bar. Fig. 4 shows this trend. The maximum point of cooling capacity changes with the ammonia mass fraction in the basic solution. It occurs at a higher turbine inlet pressure for a higher ammonia mass fraction. Although turbine work output decreases as the pressure increases, the thermal efciency goes up rst to a maximum and then decreases (Fig. 5). This gure is similar to Fig. 4, which shows the cycle cooling capacity; however, the conditions for the maximum thermal efciency do not coincide with those for the maximum cycle cooling capacity. The maximum cycle thermal efciency increases as the ammonia mass fraction increases. However, there is a limit to the increase in ammonia composition at a given absorber pressure and temperature. The limitation of the absorber condition on the cycle performance will be discussed in a later section. 5.2. Effect of boiler temperature The effect of boiler temperature is shown in Fig. 6 at a turbine pressure ratio of 12.5, a condenser temperature of 360 K, and a superheater temperature of 410 K. Since the turbine pressure ratio and inlet temperature are xed, the enthalpy drop will remain the same regardless of boiler temperature. Since the vapor ow rate goes up almost linearly as the boiler temperature goes up, the turbine work output and the cooling capacity increase similarly. The heat input increases rapidly as the boiler temperature increases. Therefore, the thermal efciency will reach a limit even though the turbine power output and cooling capacity increase. To change this limit, the

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Fig. 8. Effect of condenser temperature on thermal efciency.

condenser temperature has to increase as the boiler temperature goes up so that more vapor will remain available to the turbine. 5.3. Effect of condenser/rectier temperature The condenser/rectier temperature controls the vapor ammonia concentration. A lower condenser temperature will produce a drier ammonia vapor, which can be allowed to drop to a lower temperature in the turbine without condensation. The disadvantage is that the vapor ow rate will also drop. Fig. 7 shows that the cooling capacity drops as the condenser temperature increases. There is no cooling available when the condenser temperature is greater than 390 K in the present case. As the condenser/rectier temperature goes up, the cooling capacity goes down, but the turbine work output increases. Fig. 8 shows the change in thermal efciency with the condenser temperature, which is due to the combined effect of the changes in the turbine work and the cooling capacity. 5.4. Effect of superheater temperature It is expected that turbine work output would increase as the superheat temperature is increased. The cooling capacity, however, drops as the superheat temperature increases. The reason is that for a xed pressure ratio, as the turbine inlet temperature is increased, the exit temperature also

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increases. There is no cooling capacity available when the superheat temperature is greater than 470 K. In a conventional Rankine cycle, the thermal efciency increases as the superheat temperature increases, since all of the superheat (in the ideal case) is converted to work output. In the novel cycle, cooling capacity is included in the thermal efciency. With an increase in the superheat temperature, the drop in the cooling capacity is steeper than the increase in the turbine work output. Therefore, the thermal efciency drops steadily against the superheat temperature (Fig. 9). However, the thermal efciency starts increasing with the superheat temperature after it reaches a value (470 K in the present case) where the cycle stops providing any cooling capacity. 5.5. Effect of absorber temperature The absorber in the proposed cycle takes the place of a condenser in a conventional Rankine cycle. The temperature of the cooling media limits the absorber temperature. The lower the absorber temperature, the higher the thermal efciency will be. In the proposed cycle with the same ammonia concentration, the turbine exit pressure has to be increased as the absorber temperature increases in order to condense the ammonia vapor. Fig. 10 shows the effect of absorber temperature on the thermal efciency for an ammonia mass fraction of 0.5. In the present case, no cooling capacity is obtained when the absorber temperature is 320 K. At 300 K, no cooling capacity is obtained when the turbine inlet pressure is less than 25 bar.

Fig. 9.

Effect of superheat temperature on thermal efciency.

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Fig. 10. Effect of absorber temperature on thermal efciency.

5.6. Other considerations Fig. 11 shows the effect of turbine inlet pressure on the thermal efciency for ammonia concentrations of 0.20, 0.25, 0.30 and the corresponding turbine exit pressures that would allow condensation in the absorber. Basic solutions with 0.25 and 0.30 ammonia mass fraction are able to maintain a thermal efciency of 1618% in the entire pressure range investigated, while a basic solution with a 0.20 ammonia mass fraction performs well in a lower pressure range. From Fig. 11, one can determine the best mass fraction in the basic solution under the operating conditions. 6. Conclusions A combined power/cooling cycle using ammonia-water mixtures as a working uid is proposed. The cycle is a combination of Rankine and absorption refrigeration cycles. It will not only produce power but also provide a certain amount of cooling. Initial simulation results show that the cycle can achieve high thermal efciencies for heat source temperatures around 400 K, which can be obtained easily from geothermal sources, at plate and low concentration solar collector, waste heat from other cycles, to name a few. Using at plate or low concentration solar thermal collectors in this cycle can reduce the cost of a solar thermal power plant from $3500/kW at present to less than $2000/kW. If a solar thermal power plant based on this cycle is combined with a natural gas combustion turbine (especially if natural

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Fig. 11. Effect of turbine inlet pressure on thermal efciency for different turbine exit pressure.

gas is used as a backup fuel), which costs around $500 to $700/kW, the combined cost will be in the range of about $1200 to $1500/kW, which can make solar thermal power cost competitive. The cycle can be optimized to produce maximum power, maximum refrigeration, or a maximum overall thermal efciency. It is recognized that additional studies, especially experimental studies, are needed to establish the practical usefulness of this cycle. References
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