Exergetic analysis of power and freshwater cogeneration systems

This study proposes a systematic approach of energy and exergy analysis of reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system combined with the gas turbine power plant (GT). Three systems of RO for producing freshwater and a gas turbine for generating the power for the pumps and other equipments are compared in energy and exergy aspects. The first system mechanically couples RO with the power plant; while the second and third systems couples are mechanical as well as thermal, using a refrigeration cycle and compressor intercooler. Energy and exergy efficiencies and the rates of exergy destruction for all of the streams and components are identified. The third system with compressor intercooler showed the best performance among three systems, which increases energy and exergy efficiencies by 8.42% and 12.07%, respectively, compared with the first system as the base system.