Performance Optimization of a Waste Heat-Operated Tri-generation Cycle Under Different Energy Situations

This research presents an integrated Goswami-absorption refrigeration cycle with twin absorber that can transform any leftover industrial waste heat into useful outputs like power generation, room cooling, and conditioning of eatables. The involvement of the above two sub-cycles in the current configuration offers the advantage of adjusting the cycle parameters to fulfill the energy requirements of either a residential or a cold storage building. The cycle is expected to produce a greater proportion of power and sensible/room cooling when its application is dedicated for residential sites, whereas higher latent cooling is anticipated for cold storage sites. To adjust the cycle for the above two applications, it is required to calculate: (a) the optimum value of the input parameters and (b) the performance of the cycle in the intended operating situation. This is achieved by using dragonfly optimization algorithm for the objective functions favoring either the residential or the storage-based applications. At the optimal input set for residential sites, the cycle delivers 24.33 kW of power, 5.79 kW of sensible/air cooling, and 13.52 kW of latent cooling/chilling. Similarly, the cycle produced 4.03 kW of power, 1.41 kW of sensible/air cooling, and 34.69 kW of latent cooling/chilling at the optimal input set for storage sites. The cycle is found to be 3.66 times more efficient while delivering the above output for residential application than for storage application. Also, the cycle shows 6.23 kW lesser overall exergy destruction while supplying the above output for residential building than for storage building.