Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of a multi-stage Rankine cycle power system combining with hydrate energy storage for liquefied natural gas cold energy utilization

Natural gas (NG) as a primary energy source plays an important in industrial systems. Natural gas generally needs to be converted into liquified natural gas (LNG) during transportation and stored at a low temperature (around-162 degrees C), which contains a large amount of cold energy that can be used. The discharge of cold energy into the ocean or atmosphere will cause not only energy waste but also environmental pollution. In order to recover LNG cold energy more efficiently, a novel LNG cold energy utilization system integrating Organic Rankine cycle (ORC), transcritical CO2 cycle (TRCC), CO2 energy storage and seawater ice-making cycle and combustion power system is proposed and investigated in this study. Energy analysis and exergy analysis were studied in details. The exergy efficiency and net electric generation (NEG) were analyzed and optimized using the optimizer in Aspen HYSYS. The results reveal that, exergy loss ratio of combustion power system and CO2 energy storage system are relatively larger than that of other subsystems. In addition, The ORC performance of six working fluids was analyzed. The NEG of R290 and R1270 as working fluid of ORC is significantly higher than that of the other four working fluids. Under the condition of basic process simulation, the NEG of ORC and TRCC is 223.7 kW and 216.4 kW, respectively. The total exergy efficiency reaches 39.01 %. After parameter optimi-zation in the optimizer, the total NEG of ORC and TRCC increases by 6.9 % from 440.1 kW to 470.6 kW and the exergy efficiency can reach 39.8 %.

Automated summary

This study proposes and investigates a novel LNG cold energy utilization system that integrates ORC, TRCC, CO2 energy storage, seawater ice-making cycle, and combustion power system. Energy analysis and exergy analysis were conducted to analyze the system's performance, revealing significant exergy losses in the combustion power system and CO2 energy storage system.