Techno-economic, environmental and emergy analysis and optimization of integrated solar parabolic trough collector and multi effect distillation systems with a combined cycle power plant

In this investigation, the improvement of the combined power plant that is located in Qom province was studied based on using solar energy and multi-effect desalination system. In this regard, energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, emergoeconomic, emergoenvironmental as (6 E) analysis has been performed. Also, multi -objective genetic algorithm (MOGA) was applied to optimization of the propose cycle in view of 6 E analysis. Due to the high complexity of the optimization problem and reduce the computation time, the combination of genetic programing and artificial neural network has been employed to generate exact correlation for objective functions. The initial results demonstrated that adding the solar-based-thermal system caused an improvement of about 1.91% in the exergetic efficiency of the base plant. Moreover, by simultaneous integration of solar unit and desalination system in the base plant, the new-designed plant could generate 33 kg/s freshwater. It was determined from optimization results that the exergetic efficiency of the proposed plant increased by 3.22%. Furthermore, after optimization and at the optimum operating condition, power generation costs, power generation's environmental impacts, freshwater generation's costs, freshwater production's environmental impacts, and the emergy of the proposed system decreased about 6.27%, 24.51%, 36.51%, 26.13%, and 1.87%, respectively. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study aims to improve the combined power plant in Qom province by utilizing solar energy and a multi-effect desalination system. Various analyses, including energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, emergoeconomic, and emergoenvironmental analyses, were conducted. The proposed cycle was optimized using a multi-objective genetic algorithm. The results showed that the addition of a solar-based thermal system increased the exergetic efficiency of the base plant by 1.91% and the new-designed plant could generate 33 kg/s of freshwater by integrating solar and desalination systems. The optimization results also indicated an increase of 3.22% in the exergetic efficiency of the proposed plant and reduced power generation costs, environmental impacts, freshwater generation costs, environmental impacts, and the emergy of the system.