Assessment of a sustainable multigeneration system integrating supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle and LNG regasification: Thermodynamic and exergoeconomic evaluation

Abstract

This study proposes a cost-effective multigeneration system that integrates a supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycle with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification process. The system aims to deliver electricity, cooling, heating, and hydrogen simultaneously. Utilizing the temperature difference between the sCO2 cycle and the LNG thermal sink, an ammonia-water-based absorption refrigeration cycle (ARC) recovers waste heat from the sCO2 power cycle, producing cooling. The elevated ammonia concentration at the ARC's condenser outlet is leveraged by a heat pump system for heating production. Concurrently, cold energy from LNG is used to recover latent heat from the condenser and heat rejected from the sCO2 power cycle, providing inputs for additional electrical power through an NG turbine. The system incorporates a PEM electrolyzer (PEME) for hydrogen production. A comprehensive examination, including energy, exergy, and exergoeconomic analyses, evaluates system performance. A sensitivity analysis illustrates the impacts of key parameters. In the baseline scenario, the system achieves energy and exergy efficiencies of 62.79% and 54.89%, with a low product unit cost of 11.35 ($/GJ). The system demonstrates substantial net power output (259.184 MW), cooling capacity (88.938 MW), heating capacity (2.839 MW), and hydrogen production (391.68 kg/h). This robust performance, coupled with cost-effectiveness, positions the proposed system as a versatile and impactful solution for sustainable and environmentally friendly energy applications.

Keywords

• sCO2 cycle
• ARC
• LNG
• Cooling
• Heating
• Hydrogen