Exergoeconomic analysis for cost optimization of a solar distillation system

In this paper, an exergoeconomic optimization of the recently developed, evacuated solar distillation system is performed in order to evaluate the cost parameters, along with the energy and exergy analyses of the system. The present study includes the development of an exergoeconomic model for the system which is implemented in a MATLAB code and solved dynamically on an hourly basis. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to investigate the effects of key variables on the exergoeconomic cost of fresh water production. Furthermore, an optimization of the system, through a graphical approach, is carried out to minimize the exergoeconomic cost of the system product (i.e., fresh water). The results of this exergoeconomic optimization are compared with corresponding ones of the present system. It is revealed that the cost of exergy destructions is decreased by 36%, and hence, the exergoeconomic cost of fresh water is decreased by about 45% after the optimization. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.