Energy, exergy and thermoeconomic analyses of biomass and solar powered organic Rankine cycles

In this paper, energy, exergy and thermoeconomic analyses of three different integrated systems consisting of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) are presented. Each system has different energy technology providing the heat transfer. For this purpose, biomass burner, parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC), and combination of those are used. Numerous control volumes surrounding the system components are formed. Then, energy, exergy and thermoeconomic balance equations around these control volumes are applied. The effects of biomass type and solar irradiation on the performance and cost are assessed by comparing them with each other for the baseline conditions and different number of PTSCs. The results show that biomass-based ORC system has the highest electrical and exergetic efficiencies (10.61% and 9.18%) and the lowest cost (30.37 $/GJ). The system having PTSC and biomass burner is thermoeconomically advantageous when this system has four or less collectors compared to the solar based ORC system having 12 collectors.