Andrzej Ziębik

Depletion of the non-renewable natural exergy resources as a measure of the ecological cost

Abstract The cumulative consumption of non-renewable exergy connected with the fabrication of particular products has been termed as their ecological cost. System of linear input–output equations determining the ecological costs has been formulated. The cogeneration processes have been considered using the principle of the avoided costs of fabrication of the products substituted by the by-products of the considered process. The ecological cost determined in a regional scope takes into account the ecological cost of the imported raw materials and semi-finished products. This quantities have been substituted by the economically equivalent export of own products. The deleterious effect of the rejection of waste products to the environment has been approximately determined by means of the monetary indices of harmfulness of waste products. It has been proved, that the ecological cost of human work cannot be introduced into the set of input–output equations. Exemplary calculations have been made for the products connected with the blast-furnace process. The influence of the injection of auxiliary fuels into the blast furnace on the ecological cost of pig iron has been analyzed too.

Parametric study of HRSG in case of repowered industrial CHP plant

Abstract The case study here presented deals with modernization of an industrial combined heat and power (CHP) plant located in a medium capacity steelworks industrial site. It is proposed to couple the existing power plant with a new gas turbine unit fired with Corex export gas. This fuel is a cold, low Btu by-product of the Corex process for pig iron production. The idea is to select the right distribution of heating surfaces in the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) connected to a previously selected gas turbine and to the existing bottoming cycle in order to maximize the efficiency and economical profits of the whole plant. The study was performed using several simulation tools: a complete simulation of the system by means of engineering equation solver and a dedicated Fortran language code capable of performing all energy balances. For the correct design of the HRSG, a pinch analysis was applied. The whole set of simulation tools allowed comparing different solutions, of which the most promising ones are presented and discussed.

Process and system analysis in thermal engineering

Usually the process method of evaluating the energy effects of rationalization of an industrial energy plant is applied. But in this method the energy effects of the network relations between energy processes are neglected. The application of the mathematical model of energy management of an industrial plant in the system approach of the evaluation of rationalization effects provides possibilities to take into account all the interdependences between energy processes to obtain accurate results. The energy effects of the rationalization of industrial energy management are determined at the system boundary of an industrial plant. The final result of this calculation is a decrease of external supplies of energy carriers.

Energy Analysis of CO2 Removal in a CHP Plant Fired With Corex Export Gas

The Corex process is a more environmental-friendly method of pig iron production than the blast-furnace process. Additionally, this technology is accompanied by production of a fuel gas with a LHV twice as high as blast-furnace gas. Corex gas may be a useful fuel in a metallurgical CHP plant including a combined gas-and-steam cycle. The utilization of Corex gas contributes also to a decrease of CO2 emissions, which is an advantage from the viewpoint of the greenhouse effect. Moreover removing CO2 from the gas before its consumption can allow a further reduction of greenhouse issues. The paper considers the application of two methods of CO2 removal, namely “physical absorption (Selexol solvent)” and “cryogenic gas separation”. The effect of CO2 removal on the operation of CHP plants has been investigated. The removal of CO2 affects first of all the quality of fuel gas in comparison with the raw Corex gas. However, the CO2 -removal installation is characterized by a considerable power consumption. Thus the net power and the efficiency of the CHP plant are reduced. Comparing the two considered methods of CO2 removal the cryogenic separation method requires more input energy, but in some cases liquefied CO2 may be an attractive agent. The paper contains the results of a quantitative analysis of the application of these two CO2 -removal methods in the Corex technology and their effect on the exploitation characteristics of CHP plants fired with Corex gas.Copyright

Thermo-ecological Evaluation of Advanced Coal-Fired Power Technologies

Within this chapter the introduction to the advances power technologies have been provided, concerning coal-fired power plants with CO2 capture, transport and storage. Further, the universal structure of an input-output model for the evaluation of an integrated oxy-fuel combustion power plant have been given and described in details, followed by its application within the mathematical models of the cumulative calculus and life cycle evaluation from the thermo-ecological point of view. As it is crucial to obtain the accurate input data for the thermo-ecological evaluation, the example of data acquisition process have been presented. Based on the presented input-output model, as well as mathematical models and data gathered the case studies for the thermo-ecological evaluation of advance power plants have been presented, followed by the summary and conclusions.

Thermo-ecological System Analysis as a Tool Supporting the Analysis of the National Energy and Environmental Policy

This chapter presents the application of the concept of thermo-ecological cost in the analysis of EU and Poland’s energy policy in the aspect of their thermodynamic motivation. The thermo-ecological cost comprising the cumulative exergy consumption connected both manufacturing the useful product and compensation of its harmful impact on the environment. The level of converting the primary energy to final energy has been analyzed by means of their ratio as well as the ratio of final exergy to primary exergy. Indices of thermo-ecological costs and sustainable development served to analyze the improvement of the structure of the demand for primary energy. The same way was applied in the case of the production of electricity. The effects of implementing the cogeneration Directive has been analyzed by means of the thermo-ecological cost of centralized heat production in Poland. The specific indices have been used in the analysis of thermodynamic effects of waste heat recovery on the example of physical recuperation as an important way of improving the energy effectiveness.

Computable Examples of the Application of “Input-Output” Models of Energy Production Systems

Four computable examples concerning the application of “input-output” models of energy production systems (Chap. 4) have been presented. In the case of industrial energy systems the elaborated “input-output” model of energy economy of ironworks has been applied for the analysis of the influence of changes concerning replacement of heating furnace water cooling by the evaporative cooling. The computable example connected with integrated oxy-fuel combustion power plant has been used for the analysis of influence of the purity of oxygen on external supplies of energy and raw materials. The last computable example is devoted to system analysis of energy economy of office building. All these computable examples are strictly connected with algorithms of “input-output” models presented in Chap. 4.

“Input-Output” Approach to Energy Production Systems

Contemporary energy production systems are characterized by complex interconnections due to increasing the integration level of thermal processes. Additionally part of these connections are of feedback character. Therefore in energy analysis system approach is needed. “Input-output” analysis is an adequate method for mathematical modelling of large energy production systems. The economist who had developed “input-output” analysis said that such an approach may be applied not only in the economy of the country, but also in the case of a single enterprise (e.g. a single energy production system). As an energy production system should be understood among others energy economy of industrial plant or complex buildings as well as clean energy technologies integrated with air separation units and CO2 processing units. The complexity of “input-output” model depends on the type of energy production system. In the case of energy economy of industrial plant the basic and peak production of energy carriers, as well as by-production of heat, electricity and technological combustible gases should be distinguished. In the “input-output” model of integrated oxy-fuel combustion power plant both by-production and external supplies are divided into two groups supplementing the main production and not supplementing one. The energy economy of complex buildings characterizes situation that the consumption of energy carriers by the subsystem of consumers may be treated as a constant quantity given a’priori.

Choice of the Structure of the Energy System of Complex Buildings in the Course of Preliminary Design

Traditional methods for choosing the structure of the energy management of complex buildings are based on the heuristic knowledge of designers, and as such they are restricted only to analyses of a few variants. Nowadays, this is insufficient due to the permanently growing amount of technical and economic information about new techniques in the production of electricity, heat, and cooling agents. This is in so far important that errors in the choice of the structure may cause not only unjustifiably high expenditures of investment but also higher expenditures of exploitation.

Systems Approach to Energy-Ecological Analysis of Complex Buildings

The mathematical model of the balance of direct energy consumption of energy carriers in complex buildings is based on Leontief’s input–output analysis [7]. Energy carriers are divided into those produced inside complex buildings, and possibly supplemented from outside, and energy carriers entirely supplied from outside. Direct consumption of energy carriers does not, however, comprise all the energy required for the needs of complex buildings, because the fuels, materials, and energy carriers, supplied to them, are changed by energy consumption due to: the extraction of primary energy and raw materials; the processing of primary energy to final energy carriers; and the transport and consumption of devices for gaining and processing energy carriers.The balance of cumulative exergy consumption is also expressed by the “input–output analysis”, assuming that the connections between complex buildings and the entire economy of a country are weak. This means that in the balance of cumulative energy consumption in complex buildings the indices of cumulative energy consumption concerning the input data (e.g., fuels and water) are assumed to be quantities known a priori, equal to the average values for the whole country. The mathematical model of the balance of cumulative emissions of complex buildings may be formulated based on analogical assumptions. A complete thermo-ecological analysis should also include the depletion of non-renewable energy resources. This may be expressed by the so-called thermo-ecological cost, based on the balance of cumulative exergy consumption. The thermo-ecological cost expresses the cumulative exergy consumption of non-renewable natural resources, including their additional consumption due to the necessity of compensating the environmental losses caused by the release of harmful emissions connected with the existence of complex buildings. Balances of the thermo-ecological costs of complex buildings are also based on input–output analysis, taking into account the principle of weak connections. Systems approach, similarly based on input–output analysis may be applied for the assessment of the system effects of the rationalization of energy management in complex buildings. The input values in this analysis are the results of thermodynamic process analysis concerning the individual consumers of energy carriers or the process of producing energy carriers.