Thermodynamic analysis and performance improvement of Irem geothermal power plant in Turkey: A case study of organic Rankine cycle

Renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources are becoming increasingly important nowadays. This growth in importance also has an effect on the energy conversion systems using more eco-friendly and renewable energy sources (geothermal, wind, solar) than fossil fuels, the use of which has been reduced these days (oil, coal, natural gas, etc.). From this perspective, renewable energy sources and the conversion efficiency of the facilities which use these sources have also gained importance. The purpose of this study is to calculate the energy and exergy efficiency of the Irem binary cycle geothermal power plant located in Germencik-Aydn, Turkey geothermal area. Data measured in the power plant were used in the calculations, and correlations were developed depending on the ambient temperature. In addition, exergoeconomic analysis was performed by taking into account the total cost of the power plant (investment and maintenance costs). The greatest energy (97,805.34 kW) and exergy (6463.8 kW) losses were observed in the air-cooled condenser. The first law efficiency and the second law efficiency of the power plant were found to be 5.89% and 33.8%, respectively. Furthermore, a model was proposed for 6 different refrigerants with the purpose of investigating the availability of the waste heat and consists of a numerical thermodynamic optimization of the model in this study. (c) 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 37: 1523-1539, 201