On the Thermo Economical Optimization of Feed Water Heaters in Thermal Power Plants

A thermoeconomic optimization analysis is presented yielding simple algebraic formulae for estimating the optimum number of feed water heater and optimal area distribution among the feed water heaters for thermal power plants. The P1-P2 method is used in the present study, together with the thermoeconomic analyses of feed water heaters.

Thermo-Economic Optimization of Solar Thermal Devices by Coherent Integration of Technologies

Radiation is a form of energy where the angular variable of the direction of its photons has a primary importance, particularly for radiation concentration processes, which are essential tools to reach high temperatures from radiation beams (as the solar ones) with moderate intensities. Solar radiation cannot be used directly to feed thermodynamic cycles, and optical concentration must be applied to that goal. In general, reflection from mirrors is preferred to refraction by lenses in this case, because they have less optical aberrations. Concentration conveys very high temperatures in the receiver. However, the higher the temperature, the lower the efficiency of the solar thermal apparatus. Besides that, economy also suffers quite a lot when going to very high concentration factors, which is one of the main burdens in the development of Solar Thermal Energy. A new configuration of solar radiation concentrator is presented. It includes a salient innovation in the way the mirrors are given the right curvature by mechanical forces. Those mirrors are originally flat and do not need any special thermal treatment for this purpose. The whole device concept has been guided by the principle of thermoeconomic coherence, which requires similar efforts in all degrees of freedom that have strong influence in the performance and cost of the system. The paper shows the decision tree that has oriented the project, following the principle of equilibrium in efforts, which leads to a design window of moderate values in the main variables. The prototype of this new configuration has already been built, and the first stage of research is considered to be finished, because the prototype has shown excellent conditions to include selected (fitting) technologies at a very low cost.

Prediction of the Behavior of a Power System Using Root Cause Failure Analysis

The thermo-economic performance of a gas turbine is simulated using a fish bone technique to characterize the major equipment failure causes.Moreover a fault tree analysis and a Pareto technique are implemented to identify the related failure modes,and the percentage and frequency of failures,respectively.A pump 101 and drier 301 belonging to the Tabriz Petrochemical Company are considered for such analysis,which is complemented with a regression method to determine a behavioral model of this equipment over a twenty-year period.Research findings indicate that 81%of major failure factors in production equipment are related to the executive procedures(24%),human error(22%),poor quality of materials and parts(20%),and lack of personnel training(15%).

Experimental test of a building thermal system for preventive maintenance based on thermoeconomic analysis

An analysis of the sectorial structure of energy consumption shows that residential and tertiary sector buildings are the third-highest consumers,responsible for 29.5%of a city’s final energy consumption.The Building Quality Control Laboratory of the Basque Government aims to promote quality,innovation,and sustainability in buildings.To accomplish this goal,it has constructed an experimental facility with different energy generation technologies and a very versatile control system for testing different energy systems and operation modes.In this study,we tested a facility for supplying domestic hot water and heating for a multi-family house by means of a condensing boiler and an aerothermal heat pump(together with the corresponding control).This installation could reproduce the thermal demands required to be satisfied by the generation equipment through a programmed operation of the installation based on real demands.Additionally,this installation was analyzed using thermoeconomics(TE)to solve problems unable to be solved using traditional energy analyses based on the First Law of Thermodynamics.These problems include:(1)Determining the costs of the products of the installation based on physical criteria,(2)detecting the places where losses actually occur,evaluating their costs,and proposing cost-effective improvements,and(3)diagnosing issues in the installation.As a result,this paper suggests a solution to the preventive maintenance problems confronting the technical maintenance personnel for thermal installations in buildings by applying TE knowledge and using real data collected from sensors.