Discover NAUTILUS research at the upcoming 37th International Conference on Efficiency, Cost, Optimization, Simulation, and Environmental Impact of Energy Systems (ECOS 2024), taking place from June 30 to July 5, 2024, on the Greek island of Rhodes.
Eduardo Antonio Pina will give an oral presentation titled "Heat Exchanger Network Design and Optimization for Waterborne Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Cogeneration Systems," focusing on an integrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) cogeneration system fuelled by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and tailored for cruise ships. The study concentrates on an integrated SOFC system, comprising a stack and balance of plant components designed to generate electricity for ship propulsion and onboard amenities while also utilizing waste heat for the production of saturated steam and hot water. For optimization of energy utilization, redistributing waste heat produced by the SOFC system and enhancing overall system performance and resource utilization, the Heat Exchanger Network (HEN) is an indispensable system component.
Technical feasibility assessments were conducted under various conditions, with an emphasis on optimizing the Heat Exchanger Network design for a 125 kW SOFC cogeneration system, which produces steam and hot water to efficiently recover additional waste heat throughout the system's entire cycle of operation, encompassing both Beginning-of-Life (BoL) and End-of-Life (EoL) conditions. The primary contribution of the presented study lies in its focus on practical considerations for the HEN.
The process involved several steps, starting with the development of a process model for the SOFC cogeneration system to determine the mass and energy flow rates during nominal operation under both beginning-of-life and end-of-life conditions. Subsequently, a multi-objective optimization procedure was applied to identify the optimal process operating conditions for maximum net electrical efficiency, minimum external water intake, and minimum external airflow. Then, the HEN was synthesized for the proposed trade-off solution, identifying the optimal connections between hot and cold streams to serve as the basis for sizing the heat exchangers. Finally, the availability of flue gas for producing saturated steam and hot water to meet the ship’s thermal requirements was assessed.
By demonstrating the suitability of the proposed HEN design under both beginning-of-life and end-of-life conditions, this study represents a significant step towards optimizing HENs across various objectives. The HEN can also be improved in other aspects such as simultaneous optimization of the SOFC system and HEN and non-linear or minimization of investment costs.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 861647.
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NAUTILUS is a short for Nautical Integrated Hybrid Energy System for Long-haul Cruise Ships.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 861647.