Exergy analysis of gas turbine trigeneration system for

combined production of power heat and refrigeration

Abdul Khaliq*
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi 110025, India
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 31 August 2007
Received in revised form
30 May 2008
Accepted 21 June 2008
Published online 28 June 2008
Keywords:
Trigeneration
Gas turbine
Absorption system
Heat recovery
Calculation
Thermodynamic cycle
Exergy
a b s t r a c t
A conceptual trigeneration system is proposed based on the conventional gas turbine cycle
for the high temperature heat addition while adopting the heat recovery steam generator
for process heat and vapor absorption refrigeration for the cold production. Combined rst
and second law approach is applied and computational analysis is performed to investigate
the effects of overall pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, pressure drop in combustor
and heat recovery steam generator, and evaporator temperature on the exergy destruction
in each component, rst law efciency, electrical to thermal energy ratio, and second law
efciency of the system. Thermodynamic analysis indicates that exergy destruction in
combustion chamber and HRSG is signicantly affected by the pressure ratio and turbine
inlet temperature, and not at all affected by pressure drop and evaporator temperature.
The process heat pressure and evaporator temperature causes signicant exergy destruc-
tion in various components of vapor absorption refrigeration cycle and HRSG. It also indi-
cates that maximum exergy is destroyed during the combustion and steam generation
process; which represents over 80% of the total exergy destruction in the overall system.
The rst law efciency, electrical to thermal energy ratio and second law efciency of
the trigeneration, cogeneration, and gas turbine cycle signicantly varies with the change
in overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature, but the change in pressure drop,
process heat pressure, and evaporator temperature shows small variations in these param-
eters. Decision makers should nd the methodology contained in this paper useful in the
comparison and selection of advanced heat recovery systems.
2008 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
Syste` me de trige ne ration a` turbine a` gaz utilise pour produire
de I e nergie, du chauffage et du froid : analyse de I exergie
Mots cles : Trige ne ration ; Turbine a` gaz ; Syste` me a` absorption ; Re cupe ration de chaleur ; Calcul ; Cycle thermodynamique ; Exergie
* Tel./fax: 91 11 26328717.
E-mail address: abd_khaliq2001@yahoo.co.in
www. i i i r . or g
avai l abl e at www. sci encedi r ect . com
j our nal homepage: www. el sevi er . com/ l ocat e/ i j r ef r i g
0140-7007/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier Ltd and IIR. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2008.06.007
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5
1. Introduction
Cogeneration is an engineering concept involving the produc-
tion of both electricity and useful thermal energy in one
operation, thereby utilizing fuel more efciently than if the
desired products were produced separately. The requirements
of cogeneration may be met in many ways ranging from steam
andgasturbinestofuel cellsandStirlingengines. Thedisadvan-
tage of theabove mentionedconventional cogenerationsystem
isthat toget highenergeticandeconomicefciencyissubject to
such an application where the need for both heat and electric
power is balanced throughout the year. There is no balanced
need for electricity and heat in most practical applications of
conventional cogeneration units. What more, there is a great
demand of cooling for technological purposes or air-condition-
ing in different objects. Fromthe energetic and economic point
of view, the most efcient utilizationof the primary energy is in
such case possible by such cogeneration systems that are able
to produce simultaneously power, heat, and also cold with the
possibility of output ratios of individual energy ows. These
combined energy systems may be named as trigeneration
which is a combined production of electricity, heat, and cold.
For domestic and industrial applications where various kinds
of energy are demanded, this turns out tobe a very effective en-
ergy saving system. Maidment and Tozer (2002) have reviewed
a number of trigeneration plants operating in supermarkets.
Bassolset al. (2002) havepresenteddifferent examplesof trigen-
eration plants in the food industry. All analyzed examples are
using an absorption chilling machine for cold production.
Thermodynamic analysis can be a perfect tool for
identifying the ways for improving the efciency of fuel
use, and determining the best conguration and equipment
size for a trigeneration plant. Athanasovici et al. (2000) have
presented a unied comparison method for the calculation
of thermodynamic efciency applied to CHP plants. A
comparison between the separate and combined production
of energy has been performed using the proposed method.
Havelsky (1999) has analyzed the problem of energetic ef-
ciency evaluation of cogeneration system for combined
heat, cold and power production. Equations for energetic
efciency and primary energy savings have been presented.
Minciuc et al. (2003) presented a method for analyzing
trigeneration systems, and established the limits for the
best energetic performance of gas turbine trigeneration
with absorption chilling machine from thermodynamic
point of view.
Nomenclature
A fuel to air ratio _ m
f
= _ m
a

_
E exergy rate [kJ s
1
]
_
H
f
heat supplied by fuel [kJ s
1
]
DH
r
heat of reaction of fuel [kJ kg
1
of fuel]
_
Q energy rate [kJ s
1
]
R gas constant [kJ kg
1
K
1
]
R
ET
electrical to thermal energy ratio
T temperature [K,

C]
TIT turbine inlet temperature [K]
_
W work rate [kJ s
1
]
C
p
specic heat at constant pressure [kJ kg
1
K
1
]
C
V
specic heat at constant volume [kJ kg
1
K
1
]
e specic exergy [kJ kg
1
]
f solution circulation ratio
Dg
r
Gibbs function of fuel [kJ kg
1
of fuel]
h enthalpy [kJ kg
1
]
_ m mass ow rate [kg s
1
]
p pressure [bar]
pp pinch point [

C]
p
p
process heat pressure [bar]
q
P
specic process heat production [-]
s specic entropy [kJ kg
1
K
1
]
w specic cycle power output [-]
Greek symbols
b pressure drop factor
h efciency [%]
h
I
rst law efciency [%]
h
II
second law efciency [%]
g specic heat ratio [-]
j specic exergy [kJ kg
1
(refrigerant)]
q maximum to minimum temperature ratio
p
T
pressure ratio [-]
p
C
pressure ratio [-]
Subscripts
A absorber
C compressor
CC combustion chamber
Con condenser
D destruction
E evaporator
G generator
GT gas turbine cycle
HE solutionsolution heat exchanger of absorption
system
P product, process
Q heat
R reactant
T turbine
a air
w water
av average
cog cogeneration cycle
c
0
condensate
el electrical
f fuel, saturated liquid
g superheated vapor
max maximum
r refrigerant
s solution
tri trigeneration cycle
sp solution pump
1, 2, 3,., a, b,. state points in the Fig. 1
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 535
As is seen, most of the studies in the above cited
literature have been conducted using the rst law of
thermodynamics or energy balance approach. The rst
law analysis gives a good answer to the expected
performance of a cycle and it can certainly lead to the as-
sessment of the overall efciency of the plant; however,
this is concerned only with the conversion of energy, and
therefore it cannot show how or where irreversibilities in
a system or process occur. This is because rst law analysis
has inherent limitations: it gives no distinction between
work and heat, and no provision for quantifying the quality
of heat, no accounting for the work lost in a process, and
no information about the optimal conversion of energy.
Thus, while producing the nal design result, energy bal-
ance analysis is incapable on its own of locating sources
of losses. Second law analysis gives much more meaningful
evaluation by indicating the association of irreversibilities
or exergy destruction with combustion and heat transfer
processes and allows thermodynamic evaluation of energy
conservation options in power and refrigeration cycles,
and thereby provides an indicator that points the direction
in which engineers should concentrate their efforts to
improve the performance of thermal power and cooling
systems (Wall, 2003; Khaliq and Kaushik, 2004a,b; Aphorn-
ratana and Eames, 1995). Huang (1990) applied the second
law method for the thermodynamic analysis of combustion
gas turbine cogeneration system, and observed the effects
of pinch point temperature and process steam pressure
on the energetic and exergetic performance of the system.
Si-Doek et al. (1996) carried out the exergy analysis of co-
generation system, and tested the effect of the inlet air
temperature and the relative humidity of the inlet air on
the performance of the system. Khaliq and Kaushik
(2004a,b) conducted a second law based thermodynamic
study for the performance evaluation of gas turbine
cogeneration system with reheat and dened the energetic
and exergetic efciencies. Khaliq and Rajesh (2008) carried
out a combined rst and second law analysis of gas turbine
trigeneration system and observed the effect of limited
operating parameters viz. pressure ratio and process heat
pressure only. This paper aims at adding another dimen-
sion to the work of Khaliq and Rajesh (2008) by observing
the effect of some additional parameters that affect cycle
performance greatly like turbine inlet temperature, pres-
sure drops, and refrigeration temperature along with the
effect of pressure ratio and process steam pressure on the
thermodynamic performance parameters of the cycle like
rst-law efciency, electrical to thermal energy ratio,
second-law efciency, and exergy destruction in each
component of the cycle.
Therefore in this paper, a more general and detailed
analysis of trigeneration system is presented by means of
combined rst and second-law analysis. The exergy balance
for the cycle and its components are presented and are
compared to energy balances. The loss mechanisms in
combustion and heat transfer processes in various heat
exchangers are identied, quantied, and broken down into
their sources by component and by thermodynamic
processes. Emphasis is placed on realistic component model-
ing based on current technological constraints.
2. Description of system
Fig. 1 shows the schematic diagram of trigeneration system.
Ambient air is compressed from state 1 to state 2 and is
then supplied to the combustion chamber (CC) where fuel is
burned, producing hot gas at 3. The hot gas is then expanded
to 4 in turbine (T) to a lower pressure and temperature. This
expanded gas is utilized in the HRSG to generate process
heat (Q
P
). The stack gas coming out of HRSG (at 5) is sent to
the generator of vapor absorption system. The refrigerant
(H
2
O) is separated from LiBr/H
2
O in the generator by means
of the heat given by the stack gas. The solution circulation
ratio f _ m
s
= _ m
r
depends on the temperature to which the
solution is heated. After refrigerant has reached the desired
temperature it goes through the condenser at 6 and the evap-
orator at 8 through the expansion valve at 7. The water vapor
mixture that enters the evaporator at 8 is boiled and exits the
evaporator in a saturated state at 9. The saturated steam at 9
enters the absorber where it mixes with a weak solution at 15,
generating heat that has to be dissipated to increase the
efciency of mixing process. The heat released in the con-
denser and in absorber is rejected to the cooling water. The
mixing process results in a strong solution that exits the
absorber at 10 and is pumped to the upper pressure of the
cycle at 11. The high pressure strong solution at 11 is heated
to a higher temperature at 12 in the heat exchanger (HE) using
the counterpass, high pressure, weak solution at 13. The
cooler weak solution exits the heat exchanger (HE) at 14 and
is expanded in the throttling valve (TV), resulting in a low-
pressure, weak solution at 15.
3. Thermodynamic analysis
3.1. Power output
The net power output of a cycle is given as
_
W
net

_
_ m
a
_ m
f
_
h
3
h
4
_ m
a
h
2
h
1
(1)
Assuming air to be an ideal gas with constant specic heats,
Eq. (1) may be written as
_
W
net

_
_ m
a
_ m
f
_
C
P
T
3
T
4
_ m
a
C
P
T
2
T
1
(2)
Turbine and compressor isentropic efciencies may be de-
ned as
h
T

T
3
T
4
T
3
T
4s
and h
C

T
2s
T
1
T
2
T
1
(3)
Using the isentropic relations for the conversion of temper-
ature ratio into the pressure ratio across the turbine and com-
pressor as
T
2s
T
1

_
p
2
p
1
_

g1
g

and
T
3
T
4s

_
p
3
p
4
_

g1
g

(4)
After substituting the Eqs. (3) and (4) into Eq. (2) and dividing
across by _ m
a
C
p
T
1
, the specic net power output of the cycle
may be reported as;
w
net

_
W
net
_ m
a
C
P
T
1
1 Aqh
T
j
T

_
j
C
h
C
_
(5)
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 536
Where, q T
max
=T
1
, j
C
p
a
C
1, j
T
1 1=p
a
T
, A _ m
f
= _ m
a
p
C
are the compressor compression ratio, p
T
is the turbine ex-
pansion ratio, and a g 1=g
The electrical power output of the system is given by
_
W
el
h
g
_
W
net
(6)
where h
g
is the mechanical to electrical conversion efciency.
3.2. Energy input
The total heat input to the cycle is given by
_
Q
in
_ m
a
1 Ah
3
h
2
_ m
a
C
p
1 AT
3
T
2
(7)
where A is the fuel to air ratio.
After dividing across Eq. (7) by _ m
a
C
p
T
1
, Eq. (7) may be
written as
_
Q
in
_ m
a
C
P
T
1

_
1 A
T
3
T
1

T
2
T
1
_
(8)
After using Eq. (3) into Eq. (8), the specic heat input to the
cycle is given by
q
in

_
Q
in
_ m
a
C
P
T
1

_
1 Aq
j
C
h
C
_
(9)
The specic exergy corresponding to the specic heat input
q
in
dened in Eq. (9) may be explained as the amount of exergy
associated with the heat input to the system and may be de-
ned as
e
in
q
in
_
1
T
0
T
in
_
(10)
Energy of fuel input,
_
Q
f
, may be obtained from
_
Q
f

_
Q
in
h
CC
(11)
Where h
CC
is the combustion chamber efciency.
3.3. Process heat production
The amount of process heat rate
_
Q
P
produced is given by
_
Q
P

_
_ m
a
_ m
f
_
h
4
h
5
(12)
Assuming ideal gas with constant specic heat, Eq. (12) may
be written as
3
Generator
T
G
= 80C
Condenser
T
C
= 35C
Absorber
T
A
= 35C
Evaporator
T
E
HE
Expansion
Valve
Throttling
Valve
Pump
5, 125C
m
G
.
6
7
8
9
10
11
14
15
13, (m
s
m
r
)
. .
m
r
.
12, m
s
.
f, 30C
e, 25C
m
A
.
m
E
.
m
C
.
c, 25C
d, 10C
b, 30C
a, 25C
CC
Fuel
C
2
5
T
4
1
Process
Steam
Condensate
Return
.
Q
P
.
W
net
.
W
el
17
16
.
Q
in
Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of the gas turbine trigeneration system for combined heat cold and power production.
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 537
_
Q
P
_ m
a
1 AT
3
T
3
1 T
4
=T
3
T
5
(13)
Using Eqs. (3) and (4) into Eq. (13), and dividing across by
_ m
a
C
P
T
1
, the specic process heat may be obtained as
q
P

_
Q
P
_ m
a
C
P
T
1
q qh
T
j
T
s (14)
where s T
5
=T
1
, and T
5
T
P
pp T
4
T
P
pp
_
h
f
h
c
=h
g
h
f
_
.
3.4. Refrigeration or cold production
The amount of cold produced
_
Q
E
may be obtained after
applying the energy balance on evaporator as
_
Q
E
_ m
r
h
9
h
8
_ m
E
h
c
h
d
(15)
The enthalpy and entropy values of LiBrH
2
O mixture at in-
let and outlet of the evaporator of vapor absorption refrigera-
tion can be obtained from Chua et al. (2000).
The exergy associated with the cold
_
E
E
or exergy of refrig-
eration may be dened as the refrigeration capacity divided by
the coefcient of performance of a Carnot refrigeration cycle
operating between the ambient and cycle temperatures and
is given by Tamm et al. (2004)
_
E
E

_
Q
E
_
T
0
T
E
T
E
_
(16)
3.5. Fuel utilization efciency (rst law or energetic
efciency)
Theratioof all theuseful energyextractedfromthesystem(elec-
tricity, process heat, and cold) to the energy of fuel input is
known as the fuel utilization efciency h
I
which is also known
astherst lawefciencyor energeticefciency. Accordingtothis
denition, h
I
is then given by the following expression
h
I


_
W
el

_
Q
P

_
Q
E

_
Q
SP

_
Q
f
(17)
Where
_
Q
SP
rate of energy consumedby the solutionpumpand
is given by
_
Q
SP
_ m
s
h
11
h
10
(18)
Using Eqs. (6), (7) and (11), Eq. (17) may be written as
h
I
h
CC
_
h
g
h
th


_
Q
P

_
Q
E

_
Q
SP

_
Q
in
_
(19)
where h
CC
combustion chamber efciency, h
g
electrical con-
version efciency,
h
th
Gas turbine cycle thermal efficiency
_
W
net
=
_
Q
in
(20)
3.6. Electrical to thermal energy ratio (rst law or
energetic efciency)
The cost effectiveness of any trigeneration system is directly
related to the amount of power it can produce for a given
amount of process heat and cold needed. Thus the electrical
to thermal energy ratio (R
ET
) is an important parameter used
to assess the performance of such a system. Making use of
Eqs. (5), (7), (14) and (15), (R
ET
) for a given system may be
reported as
R
ET

_
W
el
=
_
_
Q
P

_
Q
E
_

_ m
a
C
P
1 AT
max
h
T
j
T

T
1
j
C
h
C
_
h
g
m
a
C
P
1 AT
max
h
T
j
T
T
max
T
5
_ m
r
h
9
h
8

21
3.7. Second law efciency (exergetic efciency)
An efciency is a ratio of output to input. If we consider both
output and input in terms of energy, we have the so-called
rst law efciency. Since exergy is more valuable than energy
according to the second law of thermodynamics (Khaliq and
Kaushik, 2004a,b), it is useful to consider both output and in-
put in terms of exergy as shown in Khaliq and Kaushik,
2004a,b. By denition, the second law efciency is then given
by the following expression
h
II

_
W
el

_
E
P

_
E
E
_
E
f
(22)
_
W
el
is exergy content of electrical power,
_
E
P
is the exergy con-
tent of process heat,
_
E
f
is the exergy content of fuel input, and
_
E
E
is the exergy content of cold.
The exergy content of fuel and process heat may be
obtained after using the exergy factor 3
f
and 3
P
as
3
f

_
E
f
_
Q
f
; 3
P

_
E
P
_
Q
P
(23)
For most of the fuels, the exergy factor 3
f
is close to unity. For
process heat, the exergy factor 3
P
is always less than unity, but
it increases with the pressure of process heat produced. From
Khaliq and Kaushik (2004a,b), 3
P
for our system is given by
3
P
1
T
0
_
s
g
s
c
_
_
h
g
h
c
_ (24)
The exergy content of cold may be obtained after using Eq.
(16) for given cold and refrigeration temperature.
3.8. Turbine expansion ratio
The turbine expansion ratio may be expressed in terms of the
compressor compression ratio and pressure drop to be used in
each of the heat transfer device involved in gas turbines. If p
in
and p
out
are inlet pressure and outlet pressure for each heat
transfer device, then
p
out
bp
in
(25)
and
b 1
_
p
in
p
out
_
p
in
1
_
Dp
p
_
The quantity Dp=p is known as the relative pressure drop.
bmaybecalledthepressuredropfactor. FromFig. 1, wethushave
p
3
b
23
p
2
(26)
p
5
b
45
p
4
(27)
where b
23
is the pressure drop factor for the combustion cham-
ber, b
45
is the pressure drop factor for the HRSG.
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 538
Combining the Eqs. (25) and (26), we have
p
3
p
4
b
23
b
45
p
C
p
T
(28)
4. Exergy destruction model
An exergy analysis is the combination of the rst and second
laws of thermodynamics. In an exergy analysis, the time rate
of heat does not have the same value as the power, and the
losses represent the real losses of work. When analyzing novel
and complex thermal systems, however, such experience
needs to be supplemented by more rigorous quantitative ana-
lytical tools; exergy analysis provides those tools.
If the system operates in a steady state, steady ow condi-
tion and all the non-reacting gases are arbitrarily assigned as
zero thermomechanical enthalpy, entropy and exergy at the
condition of ambient pressure and temperature regardless of
their chemical composition, then the entropy of mixing differ-
ent gaseous components can be neglected, and the general
exergy-balance equation is given by (Bejan, 2002).
_
E
W

n
i1
_
_
E
Q
_
i

in
_ me

out
_ me
_
E
D
(29)
For single stream ow
_
E
W

_
E
Q
_ me
in
_ me
out
_ me
D
(30)
where
e h h
a
T
a
s s
a
(31)
and
s C
P
ln
T
T
a
R ln
p
p
a
(32)
The thermodynamic losses in each component of trigener-
ation may be obtained with the application of exergy destruc-
tion model and may appear in the form of following
equations:
_
E
D;C

_
W
C
_ m
a
e
2
e
1
(33)
_
E
D;CC
_ m
f
e
f
CC
_ m
a
1 Ae
2
e
3
(34)
e
f
CC
Dg
r
R
f
T
a
ln
p
f
p
a
(35)
Dg
r
DH
r
T
av
s
P
s
R
(36)
where s
P
s
R
is the entropy change during combustion
process and is given as
s
P
s
R

_
C
P
ln
T
3
T
2
R
a
ln
p
3
p
2
_
(37)
_
E
D;T
_ m
4
e
3
e
4

_
W
T
(38)
_
E
D;HRSG
_ m
4
e
4
e
5
_ m
w
e
16
e
17
(39)
_
E
D;G
_ m
r
f j
12
f 1j
13
j
6
_ m
a
1 Ae
5
e
5
0 (40)
_
E
D;Con
_ m
C
j
a
j
b
_ m
r
j
6
j
7
(41)
_
E
D;EV
_ m
r
j
7
j
8
(42)
_
E
D;E
_ m
r
j
8
j
9
_ m
E
j
c
j
d
(43)
_
E
D;A
_ m
A
_
j
e
j
f
_
_ m
r
j
9
f 1j
15
f j
10
(44)
_
E
D;HE
_ m
r
f 1j
13
j
14
_ m
r
j
11
j
12
(45)
Fig. 2 Effect of variation of pressure ratio on rst law efciency, second law efciency and electrical to thermal energy ratio.
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 539
_
E
D;TV
_ m
r
f 1j
14
j
15
(46)
The terms used in Eqs. (1)(46) have been dened in
nomenclature.
5. Results and discussion
The effects of pressure ratio across the compressor (p
C
), tur-
bine inlet temperature (TIT), percentage pressure drop
Fig. 3 Effect of variation of Turbine inlet temperature on rst law efciency, second law efciency and electrical to thermal
energy ratio.
Fig. 4 Effect of variation of % pressure drop on rst law efciency, second law efciency and electrical to thermal energy
ratio.
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 540
(Dp/p), process heat pressure ( p
p
), and evaporator tempera-
ture (T
E
) on the rst lawefciency and electrical to thermal en-
ergy ratio (R
ET
) is obtained by energy balance approach or the
rst lawanalysis of the cycle. However, the exergy destruction
or thermodynamic losses in each component, and the second
law efciency of the trigeneration cycle have also been inves-
tigated under the exergy-balance approach or the second law
analysis of the cycle. To examine the effect of these operating
Fig. 5 Effect of variation of process heat pressure on rst law efciency, second law efciency and electrical to thermal
energy ratio.
Fig. 6 Effect of variation of evaporator temperature on rst law efciency, second law efciency and electrical to thermal
energy ratio.
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 541
variables on the performance parameters of the system,
operating under different conditions, the following common
characteristics were chosen.
The compressor isentropic efciency (h
C
) is 85%, the
turbine isentropic efciency (h
T
) is 90%, the efciency of com-
bustion chamber (h
CC
) is 95%, electrical conversion efciency
(h
g
) is 95%, pressure drop in combustion chamber is 4%, the
pinch point is 25

C, the pressure drop in HRSG is 2%, the con-
densate return is saturated water at process steam pressure,
the temperature of inlet water at condenser, evaporator and
absorber is 25

C. The fuel is methane gas which has a lower
heating value of 50,016 kJ kg
1
, the ambient pressure and
temperature are, respectively, 1 bar and 298 K (Minciuc et al.,
2003; Khaliq and Kaushik, 2004a,b; El-Masri, 1988).
Fig. 2 shows the variation of rst law efciency (h
I
), second
law efciency (h
II
) and electrical to thermal energy ratio (R
ET
)
for cogeneration and trigeneration cycles with a change in
compressor pressure ratio (p
C
) for xed values of
[TIT1500 K, p
P
5 bar, Dp/p 4%, T
E
5

C]. As the pressure
ratio (p
C
) increases the compressor work increases, raising
the temperature at compressor outlet. Increase in pressure
ratio also increases the turbine work. The net work output rst
increases and then decreases as at high pressure ratio com-
pressor work increases rapidly. As the pressure ratio increases
the air temperature at the inlet of combustion chamber
increases which results in decreasing the heat added to the
cycle. The ratio of net work output to the heat added repre-
sents the rst law efciency of the gas turbine cycle (h
I, GT
).
Hence, as p
C
increases, the rst law efciency of the gas
turbine cycle increases. Fig. 2 also shows the variation of
second law efciency which is a more accurate measure of
thermodynamic performance. Since the quality of fuel, i.e.,
exergy associated with the heat addition is higher than heat-
ing value or energy of fuel, the exergy of fuel would increase
while bringing it from ambient pressure to combustion
pressure at ambient temperature. Hence exergy associated
with the heat addition will be equal to exergy associated
with the heating value of fuel plus exergy increase, i.e.,
mechanical exergy due to increase of pressure of fuel from
ambient to combustion state. Therefore, the second law ef-
ciency is slightly lower than the rst law efciency of the
gas turbine cycle. The rst lawefciency of cogeneration cycle
(h
I,cog
) is higher than rst law efciency of gas turbine cycle
(h
I,GT
) because the gas turbine exhaust is utilized to produce
the process heat. The second law efciency for cogeneration
cycle (h
II,cog
) is higher than the second law efciency for gas
turbine cycle (h
II,GT
) but the difference between the second
law efciency for cogeneration cycle and gas turbine cycle is
less as compared to the difference between the rst law ef-
ciency of both cycles because the exergy associated with the
process heat will be less than the energy of the process heat.
The rst law efciency of trigeneration cycle (h
I,tri
) is higher
than the rst law efciency of cogeneration cycle and the rst
lawefciency of cogeneration cycle is higher than the rst law
efciency of gas turbine cycle (h
I, GT
). This is because the ue
gases are utilized to produce the cold in the same plant. The
second law efciency for trigeneration cycle (h
II,tri
) is slightly
higher than the second law efciency for cogeneration cycle
(h
II,cog
) because exergy associated with cooling load is very
small. The electrical to thermal energy ratio (R
ET
) for cogenera-
tion and trigeneration cycle increases as the net work output
increases, process heat decreases and cooling load remains
same with increase in pressure ratio.
Fig. 3 shows the variation of rst law efciency (h
I
), second
law efciency (h
II
) and electrical to thermal energy ratio (R
ET
)
with respect to the change in TIT for [p
C
16, p
P
5 bar,
Dp/p 4%, T
E
5

C]. It is found that the rst law efciency in-
creases with the increase in TIT. This is because increasing
TIT leads to signicant increase in net work output and insig-
nicant increase in heat addition of cycle. Therefore rst law
Table 1 Effect of variation of pressure ratio on exergy destruction in different components of the cycle for TIT[1500 K,
Dp/p [4%, p
P
[5 bar, T
E
[5 8C, p
atm
[1 bar, T
atm
[298 K
p
C
E
D,C
(kW) E
D,CC
(kW) E
D,T
(kW) E
D,HRSG
(kW) E
D,G
(kW) E
D,Con
(kW) E
D, EV
(kW) E
D,E
(kW) E
D,A
(kW) E
D,HE
(kW)
4 505.83 11679.23 403.92 5624.81 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
8 686.14 9540.50 676.58 3549.75 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
12 774.92 8299.00 858.00 2623.90 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
16 831.60 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
20 872.18 6737.90 1111.16 1711.60 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
24 903.60 6175.30 1208.30 1446.45 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
Table 2 Effect of variation of TIT on exergy destruction in different components of the cycle for p
C
[16, Dp/p [4%,
p
P
[5 bar, T
E
[5 8C, p
atm
[1 bar, T
atm
[298 K
TIT (K) E
D,C
(kW) E
D,CC
(kW) E
D,T
(kW) E
D,HRSG
(kW) E
D,G
(kW) E
D,Con
(kW) E
D,EV
(kW) E
D,E
(kW) E
D,A
(kW) E
D,HE
(kW)
1200 831.6 4481.10 989.68 771.21 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
1300 831.6 5844.47 991.68 1154.2 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
1400 831.6 6645.70 1046.83 1540.1 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
1500 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.6 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
1600 831.6 8162.90 998.50 2607.1 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
1700 831.6 8901.20 999.80 3174.3 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
1800 831.6 9597.70 1001.56 3775.8 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 542
efciency increases with increase in TIT. It also shows the
variation of second law efciency for all three cycles which
increases with TIT and it is observed that the second law
efciency of the cycle is slightly lower than the rst law ef-
ciency. The difference between the second law efciency for
trigeneration, cogeneration and gas turbine cycles is less as
compared to the difference in rst law efciency of all these
cycles because the exergy associated with cold is much less
than the energy of cold, and the exergy associated with
process heat is lower than the energy of process heat. It is
also seen from Fig. 3 that the turbine inlet temperature does
not have signicant effect on electrical to thermal energy ratio
for cogeneration and trigeneration cycles because increase in
TIT causes signicant increase in power output, process heat
and cold, and the improvement in power output is greater
than the improvement in process heat and cold.
The performance of our system operating with relative
pressure drops (410%) in combustion chamber and 2% pres-
sure drop in HRSGis shownin Fig. 4. It is observed that the rst
and second law efciencies for all three cycles is more or less
independent of pressure drop, only second law efciency of
the gas turbine slightly decreases when the pressure drop
increases.
The effect of process heat pressure ( p
P
) for xed values of
[p
C
16, Dp/p 4%, TIT1500 K, T
E
5

C] on the rst law
efciency, electrical to thermal energy ratio, and second law
efciency of cogeneration and trigeneration systems is shown
in Fig. 5. It is found that the rst law efciency of cogeneration
decreases withanincrease inthe pressure of process heat. This
is because the amount of process heat decreases signicantly
with process heat pressure. The rst law efciency of trigener-
ation cycle also decreases with increase in process heat
pressure. This is because the increase in cold is relatively
smaller than decrease in amount of process heat with the in-
creaseinprocess heat pressure. It is foundthat incogeneration,
the second law efciency increases with the increase in pres-
sure of process heat if turbine exhaust temperature is relatively
high. For trigeneration, the second lawefciency also increases
with the increase in process heat pressure same as
cogeneration but the second law efciency for trigeneration is
slightly higher than cogeneration because the exergy associ-
ated with cold at evaporator temperature is very small as com-
pared to the exergy associated with power output and process
heat. Fig. 5 further shows that the electrical to thermal energy
ratio for cogeneration increases with increase in process heat
pressure. This is expected because a higher pressure ratio for
process heat will increase the temperature of gas mixture at
the pinch point. The result is that the ue gas temperature
will be higher. Consequently less process heat will be produced
at a higher pressure of process heat. The electrical to thermal
energy ratio for trigeneration is more or less constant with
the increase in process heat pressure. This is because at higher
process heat pressure, more cold will be produced due to
increase in the gas temperature at the generator inlet.
Fig. 6 shows the variation of rst law efciency, second law
efciency, and electrical to thermal energy ratio with the
increase in evaporator temperature. The rst law efciency,
second law efciency of gas turbine cycle and rst law ef-
ciency, second law efciency, and electrical to thermal energy
ratio of cogeneration system is independent of evaporator
temperature. First law efciency of trigeneration cycle slightly
increases with the increase in evaporator temperature. This is
because at higher evaporator temperature, the cooling load
will be higher. The second law efciency for trigeneration
cycle also increases with the increase in evaporator tempera-
ture but the magnitude of increase is small as the exergy
associated with the cold is very small. The electrical to ther-
mal energy ratio for trigeneration decreases with the increase
in evaporator temperature due to increase in cold.
Table 1 shows the variation of magnitude of exergy de-
struction in each component of the system with the change
in pressure ratio (p
C
) for xed values of Dp/p 4%,
TIT1500 K, p
P
5 bar, T
E
5

C. It is found that the exergy
destruction in the combustion process dominates. It repre-
sents over 60% of the total exergy destruction in the overall
system. As the pressure ratio increases the exergy destruction
in the combustion chamber decreases signicantly. This is be-
cause the increase in pressure ratio implies lower difference
Table 3 Effect of variation of percentage pressure drop in combustion chamber on exergy destruction in different
components of the cycle for p
C
[16, TIT[1500 K, p
P
[5 bar, T
E
[5 8C, p
atm
[1 bar, T
atm
[298 K
%Dp/p E
D,C
(kW) E
D,CC
(kW) E
D,T
(kW) E
D,HRSG
(kW) E
D,G
(kW) E
D,Con
(kW) E
D,EV
(kW) E
D,E
(kW) E
D,A
(kW) E
D,HE
(kW)
4 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.8 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
6 831.6 7473.30 986.08 2115.0 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
8 831.6 7533.02 975.10 2153.0 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
10 831.6 7593.30 964.75 2192.4 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
Table 4 Effect of variation of process heat pressure on exergy destruction in different components of the cycle for p
C
[16,
TIT[1500 K, Dp/p [4%, T
E
[5 8C, p
atm
[1 bar, T
atm
[298 K
p
P
(bar) E
D,C
(kW) E
D,CC
(kW) E
D,T
(kW) E
D,HRSG
(kW) E
D,G
(kW) E
D,Con
(kW) E
D,EV
(kW) E
D,E
(kW) E
D,A
(kW) E
D,HE
(kW)
5 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
10 831.6 7415.26 997.83 1629.55 430.43 60.06 5.1 84.0 96.1 24.3
15 831.6 7415.26 997.83 1383.26 469.63 73.58 6.2 103.3 118.2 29.8
20 831.6 7415.26 997.83 1229.08 685.50 84.18 7.1 118.2 135.2 34.1
25 831.6 7415.26 997.83 1093.10 782.74 92.68 7.8 130.1 148.8 37.6
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f r e f r i g e r a t i o n 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 543
of exergy between the combustion products and compressed
air but its difference with exergy carried by fuel drops. It is
further shown that as the pressure ratio increases the exergy
destruction in HRSG decreases. This is because the higher
pressure ratio results in higher exergy of combustion products
and lower turbine exhaust exergy which leads to the higher
turbine output.
Table 2 shows the variation of magnitude of exergy de-
struction in each component of the system with the change
in turbine inlet temperature (TIT) for xed values of p
C
16,
Dp/p 4%, p
P
5 bar, T
E
5

C. As the TIT increases the exergy
destruction in combustion chamber increases because the
mean temperature of heat addition increases. The exergy
destruction in HRSG increases because the temperature
difference between the two heat exchanging uids (ue gas
and water/steam) increases, and for the given pressure ratio
of the cycle, more process heat is produced due to more steam
generated by HRSG at higher TIT. The exergy destruction in
compressor and turbine is constant. The exergy destruction
in generator, condenser, throttling valve, evaporator,
absorber, and heat exchanger is also constant.
Table 3 shows the variation of magnitude of exergy de-
struction in each component of the system, with respect to
pressure drop in combustion chamber and HRSG [p
c
16,
TIT1500 K, p
P
5 bar, T
E
5

C]. It is shown that the exergy
destruction in all components of the system are more or less
independent of pressure losses in combustion chamber. It is
further shown that increase in pressure drop in combustion
chamber causes little increase in exergy destruction in
combustion chamber and HRSG. But the exergy destruction
in turbine decreases insignicantly with the increase in
pressure drop in combustion chamber.
The effect of process heat pressure on exergy destruction
in each component of the system is shown in Table 4. It has
been observed that the exergy destruction in all components
of gas turbine and cogeneration cycle is more or less indepen-
dent of the process heat pressure but increase in process heat
pressure causes signicant decrease in the exergy destruction
in HRSG. This is consistent with the fact that larger process
heat pressure will lead to more entropy generation in HRSG.
The exergy of the ue gas coming to the refrigeration cycle in-
creases due to increase in process heat pressure. So, more
exergy is added to the refrigeration cycle. As a result, more
refrigerant will evaporate from the generator. So, exergy de-
struction in each component of refrigeration cycle increases.
It is further observed that the exergy destruction in each com-
ponent of vapor absorption refrigeration increases with
increase in process heat pressure. This is expected because
higher pressure for process heat results in higher ue gas
temperature. Consequently more heat will be added to the
generator and hence mass ow rate of refrigerant increase,
and that would result in higher exergy destruction in each
component of vapor absorption system.
Table 5 shows the variation of magnitude of exergy
destruction in each component of the system with respect to
evaporator temperature [p
C
16, TIT1500 K, p
P
5 bar,
Dp/p 4%]. It has been observed that the exergy destruction
in the components of gas turbine cycle and cogeneration cycle
is constant with the increase in evaporator temperature but
there is slight variation of exergy destruction in the compo-
nents of refrigeration cycle.
6. Conclusion
The exergy-balance equation, which is applicable to any ther-
mal system has been applied to the trigeneration cycle for
combined production of power, heat and refrigeration. From
thermodynamic point of view, the combination of gas turbine
with absorption chilling machine in these trigeneration sys-
tems proves to be highly efcient, because the ue gas from
heat recovery steam generator is used as a heat source for
vapor absorption refrigeration as described in this study.
Combined rst and second law analysis of the given system
leads to the following conclusions:
1. Maximum exergy is destroyed during the combustion and
steamgeneration process; it represents over 80%of the to-
tal exergy destruction in the overall system.
2. The exergy destruction in combustion chamber and heat
recovery steam generator decreases signicantly with
the increase in pressure ratio but increases signicantly
with the increase in turbine inlet temperature.
3. At a given TIT, pressure drop, process heat pressure, and
evaporator temperature, the exergy destruction in com-
pressor and turbine increases with the increase in
pressure ratio.
4. The exergy destruction decreases in HRSG and increases
signicantly in the vapor absorption refrigeration compo-
nents with the increase in process heat pressure. The
exergy destruction seems constant in the compressor,
the combustion chamber, and the turbine.
5. The exergy destruction in the generator, the absorber, and
the condenser increases slightly with the evaporator tem-
perature, while it decreases in the throttling valve, the
evaporator and the heat exchanger solution.
6. The rst law efciency of cogeneration and trigeneration
decreases with the increase in pressure ratio but the
Table 5 Effect of variation of evaporator temperature on exergy destruction in different components of the cycle for
p
C
[16, TIT[1500 K, Dp/p [4%, p
P
[5 bar, p
atm
[1 bar, T
atm
[298 K
T
E
(

C) E
D,C
(kW) E
D,CC
(kW) E
D,T
(kW) E
D,HRSG
(kW) E
D,G
(kW) E
D,Con
(kW) E
D,EV
(kW) E
D,E
(kW) E
D,A
(kW) E
D,HE
(kW)
2 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 262.10 35.88 3.8 63.1 49.6 24.7
5 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 271.76 38.97 3.3 54.7 62.6 15.8
8 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 275.30 40.96 2.7 43.5 64.0 12.8
10 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 279.10 41.54 2.4 34.4 69.5 9.3
12 831.6 7415.26 997.83 2077.80 282.30 41.99 2.1 24.5 76.0 8.0
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l of r e f r i ge r a t i on 3 2 ( 2 0 0 9 ) 5 3 4 5 4 5 544
second law efciency and electrical to thermal energy ra-
tio for these systems increases with the same.
7. The rst law efciency, electrical to thermal energy ratio,
and second law efciency of cogeneration and trigenera-
tion increases with the increase in turbine inlet
temperature.
8. The rst law efciency, electrical to thermal energy ratio,
and second lawefciency of gas turbine, cogeneration and
trigeneration cycles are not at all affected with the pres-
sure drop in combustion chamber and HRSG.
9. The rst law efciency of cogeneration and trigeneration
decreases slightly with the increase in process heat pres-
sure but the second law efciency and electrical to
thermal energy ratio increases with the same.
10. The rst law efciency and second law efciency for co-
generation and trigeneration is found to be almost con-
stant with the variation of evaporator temperature but
the electrical to thermal energy ratio for trigeneration
decreases slightly with the increase in T
E
.
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