Thermodynamic and environmental analysis on a CCHP system based on MCFC-GT integrated with MED-TVC desalination system

The present study proposes an integrated system incorporating a gas turbine (GT), molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), a system of single-effect absorption refrigeration, and multi-effect desalination equipped with thermal vapor compression (MED-TVC). The presented system was examined comprehensively with regard to environmental and energy aspects. For a better understanding of system performance, a parametric study was conducted in order to evaluate the impacts of the operating pressure and temperature of the MCFC, the steam-to-carbon ratio, the fuel utilization factor, current density, the desalination compression ratio, and the motive steam effect on the system. The MCFC and the GT had power outputs of 96.2 MW and 50.32 MW, respectively. Moreover, the MED-TVC included six effects with a total freshwater production of 126.9 kg/s. In addition, the heating and cooling capacities and the system's power output were obtained to be 9.664 MW, 15.33 MW, and 114.1 MW, respectively. According to the thermodynamic analysis results, the efficiency of the MCFC and the energy and electrical efficiencies of the concerned system were 49.96%, 50.72%, and 61.83%, respectively. Moreover, the environmental analysis results indicated the CO2 emission factor (EMI) and CO2 emission penalty cost to be, respectively, 389.3 kgCO2/MW and 926.8 $/h.