Exergetic, economic, and environmental analyses of combined cooling and power plants with parabolic solar collector

Due to the necessity of achieving the energy systems with improved efficiency, combined power plants are developing in recent decades. Moreover, employing renewable energy sources in the power generation and heating/cooling purposes is an attractive idea to obtain more environmentally benign energy systems. In the current study, a combined cooling and power (CCP) plant is analyzed based on exergy and economic concepts. Afterward, by adding lithium-bromide refrigeration cycle and parabolic solar collectors, the plant is investigated. The exergy efficiency, carbon dioxide emission, and cost of generated electricity are evaluated on the basis of SPECO model. The results of the study show that thermal and exergy efficiencies of the CCP plant with the solar collector depend on various parameters and can be affected significantly. The efficiency of the plant after applying lithium-bromide refrigeration cycle and the solar collector increased from 50.33 to 51.73%, while the exergy efficiency enhanced from 47.48 to 48.22%. In addition, it was concluded that adding the collector and absorption chiller leads to 1.5% reduction in environmental pollutants.