IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v216y2021ics0360544220324178.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Life cycle assessment and comparative exergoenvironmental evaluation of a micro-trigeneration system

Author

Listed:
  • Marques, Adriano S.
  • Carvalho, Monica
  • Ochoa, Alvaro A.V.
  • Abrahão, Raphael
  • Santos, Carlos A.C.

Abstract

The cascading use of energy distinguishes trigeneration systems from simple heat recovery strategies and conventional separate electric and thermal energy systems. Small-scale trigeneration is referred to as micro-trigeneration, and is a potentially sustainable energy solution. Despite the demonstrated benefits from economic, energy, and environmental perspectives, the adoption of micro-trigeneration systems has been undoubtedly underexplored in the tertiary sector. This study presents a detailed Life Cycle Assessment for a natural gas-fueled micro-trigeneration system, encompassing the equipment and energy flows. Two endpoint environmental assessment methods were employed, the Eco-indicator 99 and ReCiPe. The environmental data was utilized to develop exergoenvironmental assessments. The specific environmental impact for both methods, despite presenting different absolute values, show the same behavior. The highest environmental impacts are found at the internal combustion engine and steam generator. Regarding the evaluation of exergoenvironmental parameters, the absorber heat exchanger and steam generator should be the focus of improvement efforts. This study contributes to improving the understanding of which processes within a micro-trigeneration system contribute the most to exergy destruction and generation of environmental impacts.

Suggested Citation

  • Marques, Adriano S. & Carvalho, Monica & Ochoa, Alvaro A.V. & Abrahão, Raphael & Santos, Carlos A.C., 2021. "Life cycle assessment and comparative exergoenvironmental evaluation of a micro-trigeneration system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:216:y:2021:i:c:s0360544220324178
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2020.119310
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544220324178
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2020.119310?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Christos Tzivanidis & Evangelos Bellos, 2020. "A Comparative Study of Solar-Driven Trigeneration Systems for the Building Sector," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Tsatsaronis, Georgios & Winhold, Michael, 1985. "Exergoeconomic analysis and evaluation of energy-conversion plants—I. A new general methodology," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 69-80.
    3. Aghbashlo, Mortaza & Tabatabaei, Meisam & Soltanian, Salman & Ghanavati, Hossein, 2019. "Biopower and biofertilizer production from organic municipal solid waste: An exergoenvironmental analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 64-76.
    4. Meyer, Lutz & Tsatsaronis, George & Buchgeister, Jens & Schebek, Liselotte, 2009. "Exergoenvironmental analysis for evaluation of the environmental impact of energy conversion systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 75-89.
    5. da Silva, Julio Augusto Mendes & Santos, José Joaquim Conceição Soares & Carvalho, Monica & de Oliveira, Silvio, 2017. "On the thermoeconomic and LCA methods for waste and fuel allocation in multiproduct systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 775-785.
    6. Kabalina, Natalia & Costa, Mário & Yang, Weihong & Martin, Andrew, 2018. "Impact of a reduction in heating, cooling and electricity loads on the performance of a polygeneration district heating and cooling system based on waste gasification," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 594-604.
    7. Gładysz, Paweł & Saari, Jussi & Czarnowska, Lucyna, 2020. "Thermo-ecological cost analysis of cogeneration and polygeneration energy systems - Case study for thermal conversion of biomass," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 1748-1760.
    8. Segurado, R. & Pereira, S. & Correia, D. & Costa, M., 2019. "Techno-economic analysis of a trigeneration system based on biomass gasification," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 501-514.
    9. Tsatsaronis, Georgios & Winhold, Michael, 1985. "Exergoeconomic analysis and evaluation of energy-conversion plants—II. Analysis of a coal-fired steam power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 81-94.
    10. Blumberg, Timo & Lee, Young Duk & Morosuk, Tatiana & Tsatsaronis, George, 2019. "Exergoenvironmental analysis of methanol production by steam reforming and autothermal reforming of natural gas," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 1273-1284.
    11. Arabkoohsar, A. & Andresen, G.B., 2019. "Design and optimization of a novel system for trigeneration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 247-260.
    12. Chitsaz, Ata & Sadeghi, Mohsen & Sadeghi, Maesoumeh & Ghanbarloo, Elham, 2018. "Exergoenvironmental comparison of internal reforming against external reforming in a cogeneration system based on solid oxide fuel cell using an evolutionary algorithm," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 420-431.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gheorghe Dumitrașcu & Michel Feidt & Ştefan Grigorean, 2021. "Finite Physical Dimensions Thermodynamics Analysis and Design of Closed Irreversible Cycles," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-19, June.
    2. Picallo-Perez, Ana & Sala-Lizarraga, José M. & Portillo-Valdes, Luis, 2022. "Development of a tool based on thermoeconomics for control and diagnosis building thermal facilities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    3. Rocha, Danilo H.D. & Siqueira, Diana S. & Silva, Rogério J., 2021. "Exergoenvironmental analysis for evaluating coal-fired power plants technologies," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    4. Ge, Yongkai & Ma, Yue & Wang, Qingrui & Yang, Qing & Xing, Lu & Ba, Shusong, 2023. "Techno-economic-environmental assessment and performance comparison of a building distributed multi-energy system under various operation strategies," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 685-696.
    5. Aghbashlo, Mortaza & Khounani, Zahra & Hosseinzadeh-Bandbafha, Homa & Gupta, Vijai Kumar & Amiri, Hamid & Lam, Su Shiung & Morosuk, Tatiana & Tabatabaei, Meisam, 2021. "Exergoenvironmental analysis of bioenergy systems: A comprehensive review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Picallo-Perez, Ana & Catrini, Pietro & Piacentino, Antonio & Sala, José-Mª, 2019. "A novel thermoeconomic analysis under dynamic operating conditions for space heating and cooling systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 819-837.
    2. Mehrpooya, Mehdi & Ansarinasab, Hojat & Mousavi, Seyed Ali, 2021. "Life cycle assessment and exergoeconomic analysis of the multi-generation system based on fuel cell for methanol, power, and heat production," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 1314-1332.
    3. Valero, Antonio & Usón, Sergio & Torres, César & Valero, Alicia & Agudelo, Andrés & Costa, Jorge, 2013. "Thermoeconomic tools for the analysis of eco-industrial parks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 62-72.
    4. Petrakopoulou, Fontina & Tsatsaronis, George & Morosuk, Tatiana & Paitazoglou, Christopher, 2012. "Environmental evaluation of a power plant using conventional and advanced exergy-based methods," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 23-30.
    5. Balli, Ozgur & Kale, Utku & Rohács, Dániel & Hikmet Karakoc, T., 2022. "Environmental damage cost and exergoenvironmental evaluations of piston prop aviation engines for the landing and take-off flight phases," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 261(PB).
    6. César Torres & Antonio Valero, 2021. "The Exergy Cost Theory Revisited," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-42, March.
    7. Nguyen, Tuong-Van & Pierobon, Leonardo & Elmegaard, Brian & Haglind, Fredrik & Breuhaus, Peter & Voldsund, Mari, 2013. "Exergetic assessment of energy systems on North Sea oil and gas platforms," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 23-36.
    8. Soltanian, Salman & Kalogirou, Soteris A. & Ranjbari, Meisam & Amiri, Hamid & Mahian, Omid & Khoshnevisan, Benyamin & Jafary, Tahereh & Nizami, Abdul-Sattar & Gupta, Vijai Kumar & Aghaei, Siavash & Pe, 2022. "Exergetic sustainability analysis of municipal solid waste treatment systems: A systematic critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    9. Lee, Young Duk & Ahn, Kook Young & Morosuk, Tatiana & Tsatsaronis, George, 2018. "Exergetic and exergoeconomic evaluation of an SOFC-Engine hybrid power generation system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 810-822.
    10. Usón, Sergio & Kostowski, Wojciech J. & Stanek, Wojciech & Gazda, Wiesław, 2015. "Thermoecological cost of electricity, heat and cold generated in a trigeneration module fuelled with selected fossil and renewable fuels," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 308-319.
    11. Cafaro, S. & Napoli, L. & Traverso, A. & Massardo, A.F., 2010. "Monitoring of the thermoeconomic performance in an actual combined cycle power plant bottoming cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 902-910.
    12. Tonon, S. & Brown, M.T. & Luchi, F. & Mirandola, A. & Stoppato, A. & Ulgiati, S., 2006. "An integrated assessment of energy conversion processes by means of thermodynamic, economic and environmental parameters," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 149-163.
    13. Rivero, Ricardo & Rendón, Consuelo & Gallegos, Salvador, 2004. "Exergy and exergoeconomic analysis of a crude oil combined distillation unit," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 1909-1927.
    14. Piacentino, Antonio & Cardona, Fabio, 2010. "Scope-Oriented Thermoeconomic analysis of energy systems. Part I: Looking for a non-postulated cost accounting for the dissipative devices of a vapour compression chiller. Is it feasible?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(3), pages 943-956, March.
    15. Wu, Wei & Taipabu, Muhammad Ikhsan & Chang, Wei-Chen & Viswanathan, Karthickeyan & Xie, Yi-Lin & Kuo, Po-Chih, 2022. "Economic dispatch of torrefied biomass polygeneration systems considering power/SNG grid demands," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 707-719.
    16. Abusoglu, Aysegul & Kanoglu, Mehmet, 2009. "Exergoeconomic analysis and optimization of combined heat and power production: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(9), pages 2295-2308, December.
    17. Manassaldi, Juan I. & Mussati, Sergio F. & Scenna, Nicolás J., 2011. "Optimal synthesis and design of Heat Recovery Steam Generation (HRSG) via mathematical programming," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 475-485.
    18. Chaudhary Awais Salman & Ch Bilal Omer, 2020. "Process Modelling and Simulation of Waste Gasification-Based Flexible Polygeneration Facilities for Power, Heat and Biofuels Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-22, August.
    19. Hofmann, Mathias & Tsatsaronis, George, 2018. "Comparative exergoeconomic assessment of coal-fired power plants – Binary Rankine cycle versus conventional steam cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 168-179.
    20. Guelpa, Elisa & Verda, Vittorio, 2020. "Exergoeconomic analysis for the design improvement of supercritical CO2 cycle in concentrated solar plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:216:y:2021:i:c:s0360544220324178. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.