Enhanced thermodynamic analysis and assessment of a cogeneration system for a ceramic factory

In the ceramic industry, which has energy-intensive processes such as drying, firing, heating, the energy cost can exceed 35% of the total production cost. Especially with rising energy costs due to the import of almost all fuels such as natural gas and petroleum, the power of companies in the country to compete in global markets is decreasing. In addition, the effects of inorganic raw materials used in these processes and natural gas consumed on the environment are increasing every day. In general, it is observed that the components that lead to inefficiency cannot be detected because energy studies are not carried out effectively in this industry. Faced with such a cost and environmental impact, company executives ignore component irreversibilities, as they evaluate industry as a whole. Today, various energy recovery systems are applied, especially for the ceramic industry, which has drying processes. However, there is still no conclusive decision regarding the implementation of the gas turbine cogeneration system thermodynamically and economically. In this thesis, besides the exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoeconomic analysis of the cogeneration system modeled for a ceramic factory located in Uşak Organized Industrial Zone, the application of advanced exergy, advanced exergoeconomic and advanced environmental analysis is carried out for five different dead state temperatures. In addition, using the "Net Present Value" method for the cogeneration system to be invested, profitability analysis is made and the breakeven point of the investment is determined. According to conventional exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoeconomic analysis, the improvement potential of the combustion chamber, which has the highest exergy destruction, exergy cost rate and exergetic environmental impact rate among components, respectively, is considered to be higher than other components. However, according to advanced exergy, exergoeconomic and exergoeconomic analysis, the avoidable exergy destruction value, avoidable exergy destruction cost rate and avoidable environmental impact rate of wall tile and ground tile dryers are found to be higher than other components. Therefore, the improvement potential of wall and floor tile dryers can be said to be higher than that of the combustion chamber in all three analyses. It is also understood that more focus should be placed on wall and floor tile dryers. In addition, more than 90% of the total exergy destruction value of the cogeneration system, more than 96% of the total exergy destruction cost rate and more than 96% of the total environmental impact rate are due to irreversibilities occurring in the components themselves. Therefore, it can be said that the interaction between the components is exergetic, economical and environmentally weak. According to the Net Current Value method, the gas turbine cogeneration system reaches breakeven point in 13 years, while the total gain it provides over its life time is $562148.