Multi Objective Exergy Based Optimization of a Solar Micro CHP System Based on Organic Rankine Cycle

Abstract

A novel micro solar combined heating and power (CHP) cycle integrated with organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is proposed in this study. The thermal storage tank is installed to correct the mismatch between the supply of the solar energy and the demand of thermal source consumed by the CHP subsystem, thus the desired system could continuously and stably operate. The cycle is investigated and optimized from the viewpoint of thermodynamics and thermoeconomics. In base case design, the thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency and product cost rate are found to be 48.45%, 13.76% and 5688.1$/year. The thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency and product cost rate are selected as three objective functions and multi-objective optimization is carried out through Genetic Algorithm.