Thermoeconomic Analysis of a Solar-Gas Turbine System for Power, Cooling, Hydrogen and Freshwater Production

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Mechanical Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran

10.22104/hfe.2025.7576.1355

Abstract

The research evaluates the thermoeconomic performance of an innovative solar-gas turbine energy system which simultaneously produces electricity and cooling and hydrogen and freshwater. This power system utilizes a 10,302-kW thermal power solar tower receiver which presents concentrated solar energy to substitute standard gas turbine combustion chambers. The system combines the features of a Rankine steam cycle with a lithium bromide-water absorption chiller and reverse osmosis desalination and PEM electrolyzers. Total energy and exergetic efficiency numbers yielded a result of 20.52% and 17.87% respectively. The solar tower stands as the primary exergetic source point responsible for 51.11% of the total exergy destruction since the steam turbine generates 18.33%. The combinations of gas turbine and Rankine cycles produce 5,704 kW and 4,406 kW respectively that generate 1,523 kW of cooling output at a COP of 0.959 as well as 8.49 kg/s of freshwater and 0.0281 kg/s of hydrogen. When increasing the compressor pressure ratio to 10 the system achieves 20.63% thermal efficiency and 18.1% exergy efficiency however total system expenses increase to 98.15 $/s. The system power output reduces to 6,983 kW while the absorption chiller COP reaches 1.11. The system shows great promise in efficient multiple-energy creation tasks yet requires optimal pressure ratio optimization to achieve enhanced efficiency while maintaining acceptable costs. The system exhibits 10,098 kW exergy destruction at this point which necessitates further improvement.

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References

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Hydrogen, Fuel Cell & Energy Storage
Volume 12, Issue 4
December 2025
Pages 285-296

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