In this paper the design of annular fin heat exchanger based on economic optimization has been carried out. The optimization process targeted minimizing the lifecycle cost of annular fin heat exchanger that has the same frontal area, effectiveness and heat load of available practical standard geometry exchangers. The lifecycle cost includes both capital and operating costs. Beside the pumping c...

Nearly all energy conversion systems, and especially electricity generation plants do not operate at nominal conditions throughout their useful life: periodic or semi-periodic changes in the availability of the resource affect solar (thermal and PV), wind, hydraulic and geothermal plants, which in reality operate at off-design conditions for most of their life. To a smaller scale, fossil-fuelle...

This paper presents a methodology to integrate life cycle assessment (LCA)in thermoeconomic models used for the optimal conceptual design of energy conversion systems. It is illustrated by an application to a thermo-economic model developed for the multi-objective optimization of combined synthetic natural gas (SNG) and electricity production from lignocellulosic biomass. The life cycle invento...

This work analyses the two most diffused technologies for biogas upgrading, namely water scrubbing and membrane separation. In order to carry out such analysis, these are coupled with photovoltaic panels an electric energy storage system. The optimal renewable plant achieves a primary saving of 5.22 GWh/year operating cost 488 k€/year, resulting in best plant. It was compared reference system b...

This study evaluates the viability of an industrial salinity gradient solar pond during two operating seasons (2014 and 2015). The Granada was built to supply low-temperature heat (up 60 °C) satisfy temperature requirements flotation unit in a mineral processing plant (Solvay Minerales (Spain)). Energy analysis indicates that non-convective zone (NCZ) upper convective (UCZ) have low efficiencie...