Combined heat and power design based on environmental and cost criteria

This paper proposes a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) consisting of photovoltaic (PV), wind and forest wood biomass power for cogeneration, and applies a multi-objective optimization methodology to study the trade-offs between life-cycle cost and environmental impact (EI) of such a system. The...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: González, Arnau, Riba Ruiz, Jordi-Roger|||0000-0001-8774-2389, Rius Carrasco, Antoni|||0000-0002-8776-0947
Format: article
Publication Date:2016
Country:España
Institution:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repository:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/98444
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/98444
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2016.10.025
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Renewable energy sources
Biomass energy
Photovoltaic power systems
Wind power
Genetic algorithms
Energies renovables
Energia solar fotovoltaica
Energia de la biomassa
Energia eòlica
Algorismes genètics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Recursos energètics renovables::Biomassa forestal i agrícola
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Recursos energètics renovables::Recursos solars fotovoltaics
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Energies::Energia eòlica
Description
Summary:This paper proposes a hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) consisting of photovoltaic (PV), wind and forest wood biomass power for cogeneration, and applies a multi-objective optimization methodology to study the trade-offs between life-cycle cost and environmental impact (EI) of such a system. The optimization is achieved by applying an operation strategy that maximizes the efficiency of the biomass power subsystem coupled with an optimization model based on the use of genetic algorithm (GA) to obtain the optimal system sizing. The system is designed to supply the electricity demand of a rural township and the thermal demand – both heating and sanitary hot water (SHW) – of a neighborhood in a district heating (DH) scheme. Indigenously available renewable energy sources (RES) are used, taking special care in the case of biomass to not exceed the self-growth rate of local tree species. Results show that by taking advantage of the thermal energy produced, the payback time of the investment required to install the system is significantly reduced, being profitable after 9 years. Furthermore, it is also observed that layouts with low costs have greater EI and vice versa. However, it is shown that moderate cost increases have great returns on EI reduction.