Feasibility and exergoeconomic analysis of a cogeneration system for a hospital based on the solar organic Rankine cycle in Iran

In this paper, an exergoeconomic analysis of a cogeneration system of heating, cooling and power has been done for the needs of a 100-bed hospital. The electricity required for the hospital is produced by an organic Rankine cycle. Using the heat exchanger in the cycle, the heating load of the hospital is provided. The steam output of the turbine has also been used to launch a cascade refrigeration cycle and to provide a cooling load for the hospital. The combination of absorption and compression refrigeration cycles provides for the preservation of some of the drug items that should be stored at very low temperatures. To supply heat in the boiler of this plant, three types of collectors including linear parabolic, Fresnel Linear Collector and Dish Collector have been used and compared. The results showed that collectors are more critical than the other parts of the economy due to the high initial investment cost. Also, the LFR collector from the economic point of view showed better system performance than others. The system was tested for performance in 9 different provinces of Iran with different radiation intensity levels. The results showed that Bushehr and Golestan provinces had the highest and lowest potential, respectively. Also, the effect of radiation intensity and operating fluid on the system was investigated.