Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308

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Energy Conversion and Management

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Thermodynamic analysis and thermoeconomic optimization of a dual pressure

combined cycle power plant with a supplementary firing unit
Pouria Ahmadi ⇑, Ibrahim Dincer
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Ontario, Institute of Technology (UOIT), 2000 Simcoe St. North, Oshawa,
Canada ON L1H 7K4

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In this paper, a combined cycle power plant (CCPP) with a supplementary firing system is first thermody-
Received 13 March 2010 namically analyzed through energy and exergy. The optimal design of operating parameters of the plant is
Received in revised form 5 December 2010 then performed by defining an objective function and applying a generic algorithm (GA) type optimization
Accepted 11 December 2010
method. In order to optimally find the design parameters, a thermo-economic method is employed. An
objective function representing the total cost of the plant in terms of dollar per second is defined as the
sum of the operating cost related to the fuel consumption and the capital investment for equipment pur-
Keywords:
chase and maintenance costs. Subsequently, different parts of the objective function are expressed in terms
Combined cycle power plant
Energy
of decision variables. Finally, the optimal values of decision variables are obtained by minimizing the objec-
Exergy tive function using a GA. Moreover, the influences of changes in the demanded power and fuel cost are
Efficiency studied by considering three different output powers (i.e., 160, 180 and 200 MW). To validate the present
Optimization model, the results of the present simulation code are compared with the actual data. The results show that
Thermoeconomics the average difference between the model results and the actual data is about 1.41%. Moreover, various
Genetic algorithm cases are investigated to determine how to decrease the objective function (cost, mass flowrate, etc.) for
the optimized design and operating parameters (fuel cost, power output, etc.).
Crown Copyright Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction librium with the surroundings through reversible processes [2].

Combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) are attractive in power
generation due to their higher thermal efficiency than individual
steam or gas turbine cycles. Therefore, the optimal design of such
cycles is of great importance due to increasing fuel prices and
decreasing fossil fuel resources [1]. The main challenge in design-
ing a combined cycle is proper utilization of a gas turbine exhaust
heat in the steam cycle in order to achieve optimum steam turbine
output. According to the benefits of CCPP, the number and output
power of such cycles have increased recently. Combined cycles
have the higher thermal efficiency as well as output power in com-
parison with gas turbine cycle and steam cycles. Higher efficiencies
of combined cycle power plants (CCPPs) compared to Brayton or
Ranking cycles have made them quite attractive for power genera-
tion. Based on these advantages and less emissions, CCPPs have
widely been used all around the world.
It is important to note that exergy analysis appears to be a po-
tential tool in analysis, design and performance improvement of
power plants. Exergy can be defined as the amount of obtainable
work for a system when reaches to a state of thermodynamic equi-
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 289 6009505.
E-mail address: pouria.ahmadi@uoit.ca (P. Ahmadi).
The main goal of exergy analysis is to quantitatively detect and
evaluate the thermodynamic inefficiencies of the process under
consideration [2–4]. During the past decade many researchers
have carried out the exergy analysis for power plants. Dincer and
Al-Muslim [5] analyzed a Rankine cycle reheat steam power plant
to study the energy and exergy efficiencies at different operating
conditions with varying boiler temperature, boiler pressure, mass
fraction ratio and work output from the cycle. Rosen and Dincer
[6] performed a study of industrial steam heating process through
exergy analysis. The results suggested that exergy analysis should
be used as the central tool in process optimization when the use of
large quantities of the steam in energy centers is contemplated.
Barzegar et al. [7] performed the exergy, exergoeconomic and
exergoenvironmental analysis of a CCPP. The results showed that
combustion chamber had the greatest exergy destruction and also
had the greatest cost of exergy destruction in comparison with
other components of the cycle. Rosen and Dincer [8] performed
an exergoeconomic analysis of power plants and applied it on a
coal fired electricity generating station. They found that the ratio
of thermodynamic loss rate to the capital cost is a significant
parameter in evaluating the plant performance, which may lead
to a successful trade-off in the design of the plant. Ahmadi et al.
[4] carried out energy, exergy and exergoeconomic analyses of a
steam power plant in Iran. They also considered the effect of the

0196-8904/$ - see front matter Crown Copyright Ó 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2010.12.023
 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308 2297

Nomenclature

c Cost per exergy unit [$/MJ] c Compressor

cf Cost of fuel per energy unit [$/MJ] CC Combustion chamber
C_ Cost flow rate ($/s) DB Duct burner
cp specific heat at constant pressure [kJ/kg.K] ev Evaporator
_
Ex Exergy flow rate [MW] ec Economizer
_ d
Ex Exergy destruction rate [MW] f Fuel
h Enthalpy (kJ/kg) F Fuel for a component
LHV Lower heating value [kJ/kg] g Combustion gases
m_ Mass flow rate [kg/s] GT Gas turbine
T Temperature (K) HP High pressure
W_ net Net power output [MW] HRSG Heat recovery steam generator
Z Capital cost of a component [$] j jth stream
Z_ Capital cost rate [$/sec] k kth component
DP Pressure loss (bar) LP Lower pressure
P Product of a component
Greek Letters p Pump
g Efficiency o Ambient condition
c Specific heat ratio PP Pinch point
u Maintenance factor r Pressure ratio
n Coefficient of fuel chemical exergy w water
x Molar fraction
Subscripts and superscripts CCPP Combined cycle power plant
a Air CRF Capital recovery factor

load variations and ambient temperature in order to find the
exergy destruction in each component of the cycle. Moreover,
some exergy and exergoeconomic analyses have been carried out
for CHP plant and other thermal systems [9–13]. Therefore, it
shows the importance of exergy and exergoeconomic in thermal
systems. Although exergy and exergoeconomic analyses are of
great importance and indispensable in thermal systems, they can-
not find the optimal design parameters in such systems. Therefore;
using an optimization procedure with respect to the thermody-
namics laws along with thermoeconomics is essential [14].
Sayyaadi [15] performed an exergoeconomic optimization of a
1000 MW light water reactor power generation system using a
genetic algorithm. He considered ten decision variables. Moreover,
it was shown that by optimization techniques considered in his
research fuel cost of optimized system is increased in comparison
to the base case plant, nevertheless this shortcoming of optimized
system is compensated by larger monetary saving on other eco-
nomic sectors. Dincer et al. [16] found the optimum temperatures
in a shell and tube condenser with respect to exergy. The optimiza-
tion problem used in that study was defined subject to condensa-
tion of the entire vapor mass flow and it was solved based on the
sequential quadratic programming (SQP) method. Ahmadi et al.
[17] optimized a combined cycle power plant using (SQP). The
objective function of that study was introduced as total cost of
the plant in terms of dollar per second, which was defined as the
sum of the operating cost, related to the fuel consumption.
To the best of our knowledge, optimization of a dual pressure
combined cycle power plant with supplementary firing has not
been analyzed and optimized with a genetic algorithm. The pri-
mary objective of this study is to develop a thermodynamic model,
conduct a thermoeconomic optimization and use the actual data
obtained from the Neka combined cycle power plant in the north
part of Iran near the Caspian Sea for comparison purposes. There-
fore, the key objectives are to conduct both exergy and exergoeco-
nomic analyses and optimization of a CCPP through energy and
exergy, undertake parametric studies to investigate how system
inputs and outputs are affected by the operating conditions,
compare the model results with the actual data for validation
purposes, and develop an optimization program to determine the
best design parameters of the cycle. In this regard, the optimization
procedure is considered to be a powerful scheme which is used
wide spared recently called evolutionary algorithm (i.e., genetic
algorithm). The design parameters of this study are selected as:
compressor pressure ratio (rA), compressor isentropic efficiency
(gAC), gas turbine isentropic efficiency (gGT), gas turbine inlet
temperature (TIT), duct burner mass flow rate (mDB), High pressure
stream (HP), Low pressure stream (LP), HP main steam tempera-
ture (THP), LP main steam temperature (TLP) HP pinch point temper-
ature difference (PPHP), LP pinch point temperature difference
(PPHP), condenser pressure (PCond), steam turbine isentropic
efficiency (gST) and pump isentropic efficiency (gpump). The
objective function representing the total cost of the plant in terms
of dollar per second is defined as the sum of the operating cost
related to the fuel consumption and the capital investment for
equipment purchase and maintenance costs. To have a good
insight into this analysis, a sensitivity analysis for fuel cost and
net output power is carried out. In summary, the following are
the specific contributions of this paper to the subject matter area:
 A complete modeling of a dual pressure CCPP with supplemen-
tary firing (SF) is performed.
 To have good verification results, the modeling output of the
cycle is compared with actual CCPP data taken from a power
plant.
 Both exergy and exergoeconomic analyses of this system are
carried out and linked to the optimization.
 A complete objective function representing the fuel cost, cost of
exergy destruction, purchase cost and maintenance cost are
considered for optimization study.
 A modified version of evolutionary algorithm (i.e., genetic algo-
rithm) is used for objective optimization. The code, which is
developed based on genetic algorithm, is employed for finding
the set of optimal solution with respect to aforementioned
objective function.
 A sensitivity analysis of change in design parameters with
change in unit cost of fuel or investment cost is performed.
 The effects of net output power on the design and operating
parameters are studied.
2298 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308

2. Energy analysis  Combustion reaction equations:

To find the optimum physical and thermal design parameters kCx1 Hy1 þ ðxO2 O2 þ xN2 N2 þ xH2 O H2 O þ xCO2 CO2 þ xAr ArÞ
of the system, an optimization program is developed in Matlab ! yCO2 CO2 þ yN2 N2 þ yO2 O2 þ yH2 O H2 O þ yNO NO þ yCO CO
software. The steam and gas temperature profile in a combined
cycle power plant (CCPP), input and output enthalpy and exergy þ yAr Ar
of each line in the plant were estimated to study the optimization
of the plant. The energy balance equations for various parts of the yCO2 ¼ ðk  x1 þ xCO2  yCO Þ
CCPP (Fig. 1) are as follows: yN2 ¼ xN2  yNO

 Air compressor: k  y1
yH2 O ¼ xH2 O þ ð6Þ
  ca 1
 2
1 ca
TB ¼ TA 1 þ rc 1 ð1Þ
gAC k  y1 yCO yNO
yO2 ¼ xO2  k  x1   
4 2 2
_ AC ¼ ma C pa ðT B  T A Þ
W ð2Þ yAr ¼ xAr
nfuel
where Cpa is considered to be a temperature variable function as fol- k¼
nair
low [1]:
  !  Gas turbine:
3:8371T 9:4537T 2
C Pa ðTÞ ¼ 1:04841  þ 8 2 39
104 107 <  1c cg =
! ! p g
T D ¼ T C 1  gGT 41  C 5 ð7Þ
5:49031T 3 7:9298T 4 : pD ;
 þ ð3Þ
1010 1014
_ GT ¼ mg C pg ðT C  T D Þ
W ð8Þ
 Combustion chamber (CC):

m _ g hC þ ð1  gcc Þm
_ f LHV ¼ m
_ a hB þ m _ f LHV ð4Þ W _ GT  W
_ Net ¼ W _ AC ð9Þ
PC _ f þm
_g ¼m _a
¼ ð1  DPcc Þ ð5Þ m ð10Þ
PB

Fig. 1. Schematic flow diagram of a dual pressure combined cycle power plant.
 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308 2299

where Cpg is taken as a temperature variable function as follow [2]: Steam turbine cycle efficiency:
  ! !
2 3
6:99703T 2:7129T 1:22442T W ST  W pump
C Pg ðTÞ ¼ 0:991615 þ þ  gST ¼ ð23Þ
105 107 1010
Q in;bot
ð11Þ Combined cycle plant efficiency:
 Duct burner: W GT  W Comp þ W ST  W pump
gCCPP ¼ ð24Þ
Q in;CCPP
The additional fuel is burnt in the supplementary firing to in-
crease the temperature of the exhaust gas that passes through The combinations of energy and mass balance equation are numer-
the HRSG. In a duct burner: ically solved and the temperature and enthalpy of each line of the
plant are predicted. In this analysis, some assumptions are made
_ g hD þ m
m _ f ;DB LHV ¼ ðm _ f ;DB Þh11 þ ð1  gDB Þm
_ g þm _ f ;DB LHV ð12Þ
as follows, e.g., [18,19]:
where LHV is the lower heating value of the natural gas and gDB is
the duct burner efficiency and taken as 93% [18,19].  All the processes are steady-state and steady flow.
 The principle of ideal-gas mixture is applied for the air and
 Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG): combustion products.
 The fuel injected to the combustion chamber is assumed to be
A dual pressure HRSG is considered here as a common type for natural gas.
the CCPPs. By applying the energy balance for gas and water in  Heat loss from the combustion chamber is considered to be 3%
each part of the HRSG the gas temperature and water properties of the fuel lower heating value [20]. Moreover, all other compo-
will be calculated by solving the following equations: nents are considered adiabatic.
 The dead-state conditions are P0 = 1.01 bar and T0 = 293.15 K.
High-pressure superheater:

_ ST 3. Exergy analysis
m _ w;LP h6  m
_ w;HP h10 þ m _ w h19 ¼ W ð13Þ

High-pressure evaporator: Exergy analysis is a method that uses the conservation of mass
and conservation of energy principles together with the second law
_ g cp ðT 12  T 13 Þ ¼ m
m _ s;HP ðh9  h8 Þ ð14Þ of thermodynamics for the analysis, design and improvement of
energy and other systems. The exergy method is a useful tool for
High-pressure economizer: furthering the goal of more efficient energy-resource use, for it en-
ables the locations, types and magnitudes of wastes and losses to
_ g cp ðT 13  T 14 Þ ¼ m
m _ s;HP ðh8  h7 Þ ð15Þ be identified and meaningful efficiencies to be determined [14].
Today there is a much stronger emphasis on exergy aspects of sys-
Low-pressure superheater:
tems and processes. The emphasis is now on system analysis and
_ g cp ðT 14  T 15 Þ ¼ m
m _ s;LP ðh6  h5 Þ ð16Þ thermodynamic optimization, not only in the mainstream of engi-
neering but also in physics, biology, economics and management.
Low-pressure evaporator: As a result of these recent changes and advances, exergy has gone
beyond thermodynamics and become a new distinct discipline be-
m _ s;LP ðh5  h4 Þ
_ g cp ðT 15  T 16 Þ ¼ m ð17Þ cause of its interdisciplinary character as the confluence of energy,
environment and sustainable development.
Deaerator evaporator:
According to the literature, exergy can be divided into four dis-
m _ s;LP ðh3  h2 Þ
_ g cp ðT 16  T 17 Þ ¼ m ð18Þ tinct components. The two important ones are the physical exergy
and chemical exergy. In this study, the two other components
Condensate pre-heater:
which are kinetic exergy and potential exergy are assumed to be
m _ s;LP ðh2  h1 Þ
_ g cp ðT 17  T 18 Þ ¼ m ð19Þ negligible as the elevation and speed have negligible changes
[21,22]. The physical exergy is defined as the maximum theoretical
The combinations of energy and mass balance equations are
useful work obtained as a system interacts with an equilibrium
numerically solved, and the temperature profile in the gas and
state. The chemical exergy is associated with the departure of
water/steam side of HRSG are predicted.
the chemical composition of a system from its chemical equilib-
rium. The chemical exergy is an important part of exergy in com-
 Steam turbine (ST):
bustion process. Applying the first and the second law of
thermodynamics, the following exergy balance is obtained:
By applying the energy balance for a steam turbine, as shown in
Fig. 1, the following relation is obtained: X X
_ Qþ
Ex _ i exi ¼
m _ W þ Ex
_ e exe þ Ex
m _ D ð25Þ
i e
_ w;hp h10 þ m
m _ w;hp h6  m
_ w h19 _ ST
¼W ð20Þ
where subscripts e and i are the specific exergy of control volume
_ =W STis inlet and outlet flow and Ex_ D , is the exergy destruction. Other terms
gST ¼ W STact ð21Þ
in this equation is as follows [22–24]:
The performances of combined cycle power plant, including the  
thermal efficiencies for topping cycle, bottoming cycle, and overall _ Q ¼ 1  T  Q_ i
Ex ð26Þ
efficiency are calculated as given below respectively [1]: Ti
Gas turbine cycle efficiency:
Ex _
_ W ¼W ð27Þ
W GT  W Comp
gGT ¼ ð22Þ
Q in;top exph ¼ ðh  h Þ  T  ðS  S Þ ð28Þ
2300 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308

where Ex_ Q and Ex

_ W are the corresponding exergy of heat transfer ator of a system with information that is useful to the design and
and work which cross the boundaries of the control volume, T is operation of a cost-effective system, but not obtainable by regular
the absolute temperature (K) and () refers to the ambient condi- energy or exergy analysis and economic analysis [26]. When exer-
tions respectively. gy costing is not applied, authors should use a different term (e.g.,
The total exergy rate becomes thermoeconomics). Thermoeconomics is a more general term and
_ ¼ Ex
_ ph þ Ex
_ ch characterizing any combination of a thermodynamic analysis with
Ex ð29Þ
an economic one [27,28]. In order to define a cost function which
_ ¼ mex.
where Ex _ depends on optimization parameters of interest, component cost
The mixture chemical exergy is defined as follows [21]: should be expressed as functions of thermodynamic design param-
" # eters [28]. The first study in this regard was proposed in the paper
Xn X
n
called CGAM problem.
exch
mix ¼ X i exchi þ RT0 X i LnX i þ GE ð30Þ
i¼1 i¼1
For each flow line in the system, a parameter called flow cost
rate C ($ s1) is defined, and the cost balance equation of each com-
where GE is the excess free Gibbs energy which is negligible at low ponent is written as
pressure in a gas mixture. X X
For the evaluation of the fuel exergy, the above equation cannot C_ e;k þ C_ w;k ¼ C_ q;k þ C_ i;k þ Z_ k ð34Þ
e i
be used. Thus, the corresponding ratio of simplified exergy is de-
fined as the following [1,5,20,21]: Here, the cost balances are generally written so that all terms
are positive. one can write the following [22]:
n ¼ exf =LHVf ð31Þ
X X
where exf is a fuel exergy. Due to the fact that for the most of usual ðce E_ e Þk þ cw;k W
_ k ¼ cq;k E_ q;k þ ðci E_ i Þk þ Z_ k ð35Þ
gaseous fuels, the ratio of chemical exergy to the LHV is usually
close to unity, one may write [21,24]: C_ j ¼ cj Ej ð36Þ
nCH4 ¼ 1:06 In this analysis, it is worth mentioning that the fuel and product
ð32Þ
nH2 ¼ 0:985 exergy should be defined. The exergy product is defined according
to the components under consideration. The fuel represents the
For gaseous fuel with CxHy, the following experimental equation source that is consumed in generating the product. Both the product
is used to calculate n [21]: and fuel are expressed in terms of exergy. The cost rates associated
with the fuel (C_ F ) and product (C_ P ) of a components are obtained by
y 0:0698 _ For example, in a turbine, fuel is dif-
n ¼ 1:033 þ 0:0169  ð33Þ replacing the exergy rates (E).
x x ference between input and output exergy and product is the gener-
In the present work, for the exergy analysis of the plant, the ated power of the turbine.
exergy of each line is calculated at all states and the changes in In the cost balance formulation (Eq. (35)), there is no cost term
the exergy are determined for each major component. The source directly associated with exergy destruction of each component.
of exergy destruction (or irreversibility) in combustion chamber Accordingly, the cost associated with exergy destruction in a com-
is mainly combustion (chemical reaction) and thermal losses in ponent or process is a hidden cost. Thus, if one combines the exer-
the flow path [24,25]. However, the exergy destruction in the heat gy balance and cost accounting together, one can obtain the
exchanger of the system i.e. HRSG is due to the large temperature following equation:
difference between the hot and cold fluid. The exergy destruction
E_ F;K ¼ E_ P;K þ E_ D;K ð37Þ
rate and the exergy efficiency for each component for the whole
system in the power plant (Fig. 1) are shown in Table 1. Accordingly, the expression for the cost of exergy destruction is
defined as:
4. Exergoeconomic analysis C_ D;k ¼ cF;k E_ D;k ð38Þ

4.1. Economic model Further details of the exergoeconomic analysis, cost balance
equations and exergoeconomic factors are in detail discussed else-
Exergoeconomics or thermoeconomic is the branch of engineer- where [4,7,8,14,20].
ing that appropriately combines, at the level of system compo- In addition, several methods have been suggested to express the
nents, thermodynamic evaluations based on an exergy analysis purchase cost of equipments in terms of design parameters in Eq.
with economic principles, in order to provide the designer or oper- (35). However, we have used the cost functions as suggested by
Ahmadi et al. [17] and Rosen et al. [29]. Nevertheless, some mod-
ifications have been made to tailor these results to the regional
Table 1
conditions in Iran and considered the inflation rate. To convert
The exergy destruction rate and exergy efficiency equations for plant components.
the capital investment into cost per time unit, one may write
Components Exergy destruction Exergy Efficiency
P P
_

 

HRSG E_ D;HRSG ¼ i;HRSG E_  o;HRSG E_ gHRSG ¼ E10E11þE
_ E6 E1 Z k ¼ Z k  CRF  u=ðN  3600Þ ð39Þ
18

Steam turbine _ED;T ¼ P E_  P E_  W _ ge;s ¼ W t =ðEi;T  E_ e;T Þ

_ _ where Zk is the purchase cost of kth component in dollar. The capital
i;T e;T
Pump _ED;P ¼ E_ i;p þ W
_ P ge;p ¼ ðE_ i;p  E_ o;p Þ=W_ p recovery factor (CRF) depends on the interest rate as well as esti-
Compressor ED,AC = EA  EB  EW,AC gAC ¼ EW2 E1
AC
mated equipment life time. CRF is determined using the following
Combustion ED,cc = EB + Ef,cc  EC EC
gcc ¼ EB þE relation [7]:
f ;cc
chamber
Gas turbine ED,GT = EC  ED  WGT gGT ¼ EW GT ið1 þ iÞn
C ED CRF ¼ ð40Þ
Duct burner ED,DB = ED  E11 + Ef,DB E11
gGT ¼ ED þE ð1 þ iÞn  1
f ;DB
P P
Condenser E_ D;C ¼ i;C E_  e;C E_ gCond ¼ 1  PED;Cond E Here, i, is the interest rate and n is the total operating period of the
in;Cond
system in years.
 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308 2301

In Eq. (39), N is the annual number of the operation hours of the 5.4. Evolutionary algorithm
unit, and u (1.06) [17] is the maintenance factor. Finally, in order
to determine the cost of exergy destruction for each component, 5.4.1. Genetic algorithm
the value of exergy destruction, ED,k, is computed using exergy bal- In recent years, optimization algorithms have received increas-
ance equation as given in the previous section. ing attention by the research community as well as the industry. In
the area of evolutionary computation (EC), such optimization algo-
5. Optimization (objective function, design parameters and rithms simulate an evolutionary process where the goal is to
constraints) evolve solutions by means of crossover, mutation, and selection
based on their quality (fitness) with respect to the optimization
5.1. Definition of objective function problem at hand [30]. Evolutionary algorithms (EAs) are highly rel-
evant for industrial applications, because they are capable of han-
According to the previous section, a new objective function dling problems with non-linear constraints, multiple objectives,
which is sum of the fuel cost and the cost of exergy destruction and dynamic components properties that frequently appear in real
as well as purchase cost is considered and minimized using the ge- problems [31]. Genetic algorithms (GAs) are an optimization tech-
netic algorithm. Hence, the objective function is described as nique based on natural genetics. GAs were developed by Holland
follows: [32] in an attempt to simulate growth and decay of living organ-
X isms in a natural environment. Even though originally designed
C_ Tot ¼ C_ F þ Z_ k þ C_ D ð41Þ as simulators, GAs have proven to be a robust optimization tech-
K nique. The term robust denotes the ability of the GAs for finding
the global optimum, or a near-optimal point, for any optimization
where C_ F ¼ cf ðm
_ f ;cc þ m
_ f ;DB Þ  LHV ð42Þ problem. The basic idea behind GAs could be described in brief as
follows. A set of points inside the optimization space is created by
Here, Z_ k ; C_ F and C_ D are purchase cost of each component, fuel cost random selection of points. Then, this set of points is transformed
and cost of exergy destruction respectively. Moreover, Cf is fuel cost into a new one. Moreover, this new set will contain more points
which is considered to be 0.003$/Mj in our analysis [17]. that are closer to the global optimum. The transformation proce-
dure is based only on the information of how optimal each point
5.2. Design parameters is in the set, consists of very simple string manipulations, and is re-
peated several times. This simplicity in application and the fact
The design parameters of this study are selected as: compressor that the only information necessary is a measure of how optimal
pressure ratio (rAC), compressor isentropic efficiency (gAC), gas tur- each point is in the optimization space, make GAs attractive as
bine isentropic efficiency (gGT), gas turbine inlet temperature (TIT), optimizers. Nevertheless, the major advantages of these GAs are:
duct burner mass flow rate (mDB), High pressure stream (HP), Low
pressure stream (LP), HP main steam temperature (THP), LP main  Constraints of any type can be easily implemented.
steam temperature (TLP) HP pinch point temperature differ-  GAs usually finds more than one near-optimal point in the opti-
ence(PPHP), LP pinch point temperature difference (PPHP), con- mization space, thus permitting the use of the most applicable
denser pressure (PCond), steam turbine isentropic efficiency (gST) solution for the optimization problem at hand.
and pump isentropic efficiency (gpump). Therefore, these decision
parameters should be selected in the way the objective function The basic steps for the application of a GA for an optimization
is minimized. problem are summarized in Fig. 2 [30]. A set of strings is created
randomly. This set, which is transformed continuously in every
step of the GA, is called population. This population, which is cre-
5.3. Constraints
ated randomly at the start, is called initial population. The size of
this population may vary from several tens of strings to several
Each optimization problem needs some reasonable number of
thousands. The criterion applied in determining an upper bound
constrains defined due to the physical limitations. In this particular
for the size of the population is that further increase does not result
optimization study, a list of constraints selected is given in Table 2.
in improvement of the near-optimal solution. This upper bound for
These constraints are applied to our present code as written in
each problem is determined after some test runs. Nevertheless, for
the Matlab program. The search domain is defined between
most applications the best population size lies within the limits of
these constraints by a genetic algorithm method for optimization
10–100 strings .The ‘‘optimality’’ (measure of goodness) of each
study. As a result, each optimized design parameter lies within this
string in the population is calculated. Then on the basis of this va-
range.
lue an objective function value, or fitness, is assigned to each
string. This fitness is usually set as the amount of ‘‘optimality’’ of
Table 2 each string in the population divided by the average population
The list of constraints for optimization [7,20]. ‘‘optimality’’. An effort should be made to see that the fitness value
Constraints Rationale is always a positive number. It is possible that a certain string does
not reflect an allowable condition. For such a string there is no
TIT < 1550oK Material temperature limit
rComp < 22 Commercial availability ‘‘optimality’’. In this case, the fitness of the string is penalized with
gComp < 0.9 Commercial availability a very low value, indicating in such a way to the GA that this is not
gGT < 0.9 Commercial availability a good string. Similarly, other constraints may be implemented in
Pmain < 110 bar Commercial availability the GA. A set of ‘‘operators’’, a kind of population transformation
gST Commercial availability
gp Commercial availability
device, is applied to the population. These operators will be dis-
mDB < 2 kg/s Super heater temperature limitation cussed. As a result of these operators, a new population is created,
5 bar < PCond < 15 bar Thermal efficiency limitation that will hopefully consist of more optimal strings. The old popula-
Tmain Material temperature limitation tion is replaced by the new one. A predefined stopping criterion,
T 18  120  C To avoid formation of sulfuric acid in exhaust gases
usually a maximum number of generations to be performed by
5 °C < PP < 30 °C Second law of thermodynamic limitation
the GA, is checked. If this criterion is not satisfied a new generation
2302 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308

Coding of
parameter space

Random creation of
initial population

Generati

Evaluation of population New population

Finesses (Replacement of old one)

Is Number of
Generation
exceeded?

Fig. 2. Genetic algorithm flowchart.

is started, otherwise the GA terminates. It is now evident that

Simulation Typical power Plant
when the GA terminates, a set of points (final population) has been 600
Temperature (C)

defined, and in this population more than one equivalently good 500
(optimal) point may exist. As it was discussed, this advantage of
400
the GAs permits the selection of the most appropriate solution
300
for the optimization problem.
200
100
6. Results and discussion
0
er

6.1. Modeling verification

er

r
r

r
k

o
o

te
r

te
ac

to

iz
iz

at
at

ea

ea
om
m

ra
St

or
or

rh

rh
no

po

ap
ap

on
pe

pe
o

Ev
Ev

To verify the modeling results, one of the most significant parts

Ec
Ec

Ev

Su

Su
P
LP

P
LP

or

LP

P
H

at CCPP (so-called:HRGS) is considered and the results of HRSG are

H

H
at
er

compared with the corresponding measured values obtained from

ea
D

an actual running HRSG (Neka combined cycle power plant) in

North of Iran. The list of input values for thermal modeling of HRSG
at Neka CCPP is shown in Table 3. The gas temperature variation of
Neka dual pressure HRSG with duct burner obtained by the simu-
lation program and the corresponding measured values are shown
and compared in Fig. 3. The results show that the average of differ-
Table 3
Input parameters of HRSG thermal modeling for the HRSG at Neka CCPP (with duct
burner).
Fig. 3. Variation of hot gas temperature for various heat transfer elements of HRSG
at Neka CCPP (comparison of modeling results with measured values).
ence between the numerical and the measured values of parame-
ters at various sections of HRSG was about (1.14%) with the
maximum of 1.36% in LP superheater. This verifies the correct
performance of the developed simulation code to model the ther-
mal performance of HRSG as well as the whole plant.

Input 6.2. Number of generation

Inlet gas temperature: 773.15 K
Inlet gas flow rate: mg = 500 kg/s The genetic algorithm optimization is applied to obtain the
Inlet water temperature = 320 K CCPP optimum design parameters. Fig. 4 shows the convergence
Total water flow rate: m_ w = 76.11 kg/s of the objective function with number of generation (40 in our case
Inlet water enthalpy hw = 185 kJ/kg
study at which there was no noticeable change in the value of the
Ambient temperature: To = 293 K
objective function). From this figure, it can be concluded that the
 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308 2303

2.1 should be selected in the way that both combustion chamber

and duct burner mass flow rate have the minimum value. On the
Total Cost Rate ($/s)

2.05
other hand, by decreasing the mass flow rate the amount of impact
2
by emissions is reduced, and also the total efficiency of the cycle is
decreased.
1.95
6.4. Sensitivity analysis
1.9

1.85
To have a good insight into this real optimization problem, the
0 20 40 60 80 100 sensitivity analysis has been performed. In this part, two important
Number of Generations factors are considered. These two significant factors are unit cost of
fuel and net output power of the combined cycle power plant.
Fig. 4. Variation of objective function of the system with number of generation Thus, by change in these two cases and applying the genetic algo-
(Cf = .003$/MJ).
rithm the sensitivity analysis is performed. It should be noted that
to find the optimal design parameters for each unit cost of fuel and
developed genetic algorithm has a good and powerful convergence
output power the new optimization procedure is applied. Hence,
rate. It has two important benefits: (i) lower running time of the
each optimal value is the best one for each cost and output power.
computer and (ii) better optimization results.
The benefit of this method is to predict the trend of design
parameters when any changes in the unit cost of fuel and output
6.3. Optimization results power are occurred.
Unit cost of fuel: as it was discussed before, the unit cost of fuel
By applying the developed genetic algorithm code for this prob- has an essential rule in the objective function. Therefore, any
lem and considering both objective function and constraints the changes in this parameter can affect the value of objective function
optimal design parameters of the combined cycle are found. The as well as the design parameters. It means that when the unit cost
optimal decision variables of the plant are shown in Table 4. It of fuel increases, the optimal design of the cycle should be selected
can be concluded that by selecting these design parameters the in the way that other terms in the objective function, i.e., Eq. (41)
objective function defined in Eq. (41) has the lowest value. It is decrease. In order to investigate the effects of fuel price of opti-
worth mentioning that in the objective function (i.e., Eq. (41), fuel mum design parameters, the simulation and optimization proce-
cost has the significant effect. Therefore, the design parameters dures are repeated with different input values. For instance, by
increase in the Cf the mass flow rate of the combustion chamber
Table 4
and duct burner should be decreased by an increase in the com-
Optimal design parameters of the dual pressure com- pressor isentropic efficiency. Figs. 5–17 show the effect of changes
bined cycle power plant. in the unit cost of fuel. Figs. 5 and 6 show that at a constant output
Decision variable Value
power both gas turbine isentropic efficiency and compressor isen-
tropic efficiency increase by any increment in unit cost of fuel. The
rC 11.40
reason is that when the unit cost of fuel is increased, first term in
gC 0.855
gGT 0.877 the objective function increases, and other terms decreases respec-
TIT (K) 1383.80 tively. When the output power increases at a constant unit cost of
mDB (kg/s) 0.80 fuel, some parameters should be changed in order to achieve the
PPHP (C) 16.34
required power. As we know, the changes in Gas Turbine Inlet tem-
PPLP (C) 25.55
HP (bar) 98.10
perature (TIT) is not drastic due to the material limitation. There-
LP (bar) 10.40 fore, it can be assumed that TIT is fixed. By increasing the output
HPTemp (C) 542.20 power, the mass flow rate must be increased. Increase in the mass
LPTemp (C) 222.86 flow rate is caused by two ways, first by an increase of the air mass
PCond (kPa) 14.30
flow rate and second the fuel mass flow rate. Since an increase of
gPump 0.825
gST 0.781 the fuel mass flow rate leads to an increase in the first term in
the objective function (Cf mf LHV); it should be selected as low as

Fig. 5. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of compressor isentropic efficiency gComp.
2304 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308

Fig. 9. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of
Fig. 6. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of duct burner mass flow rate.
gas turbine isentropic efficiency gGT.

destruction. Therefore, the last term in Eq. (41) is decreased. It

can be concluded that study of the variation of the optimal decision
200 MW 180 MW 160 MW variables versus fuel unit cost reveals that by increasing the fuel
13 cost, the optimal decision variables generally result in a more
thermodynamically efficient design. As it is shown, the values of
Air Comp Pressure Ratio (rc)

12.5 decision variables rComp, gComp, gGT and TIT increase with increasing
the fuel unit cost. Increasing the inlet gas turbine temperature
12 plays a crucial rule in decreasing the exergy destruction of the
combustion chamber. On the other hand, according to the cost of
11.5 exergy destruction which is proportional to the exergy destruction,
the last term of the objective function decreases. Moreover, an in-
11 crease in the turbine inlet temperature, TIT, reduces the exergy
destruction in the combustion chamber and turbine. Since increas-
10.5 ing TIT results in higher exhaust temperature of exhaust gases, the
0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 constraint T18 > 120 °C does not cause any limitation for rising TIT.
Unit Cost of Fuel ($/MJ) However, due the fact that any increase in TIT affects the turbine
investment cost, TIT only increase within a certain limit. Thus,
Fig. 7. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of
these changes result in decrease in the objective function. Fig. 9,
compressor ratio rComp.
shows the effect of change in the duct burner mass flow rate versus
unit cost of fuel. As it is shown, by increase in the unit cost the
possible. On the other hand, at constant unit cost of fuel, by in- mass flow rate of the duct burner is decreased due to the fact that
crease in the output power, if the compressor pressure increases, the objective function should be decreased respectively. Since the
the compressor outlet temperature increases which leads to in- mass flow rate has a positive effect on increasing the first term
crease of the compressor work as well as increase in the exergy of the objective function, the genetic algorithm tends to optimally
destruction. Hence, genetic algorithms are utilized to optimize find the design parameters which result in a decrease in the duct
the objective function. Therefore, the optimal values for burner mass flow rate. Also, this reduction in the mass flow rate
compressor pressure ratio decreases by an increase in the output can decrease the environmental impacts as discussed earlier [7,20].
power at a constant unit cost of fuel. One of the most important parameters in designing the heat
According to the literature information [7,20], increasing the recovery steam generators is the pinch temperature difference.
isentropic efficiency leads to a decrease in the cost of exergy The pinch temperature is defined as a temperature difference

200 MW 180 MW 160 MW

Gas Turbine Inlet Temperature (K)

1405

1400

1395

1390

1385

1380
0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.01
Unit Cost of Fuel ($/MJ)

Fig. 8. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of gas turbine temperature TIT.
 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308 2305

Fig. 10. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of high pressure pinch temperature (PPHP).

Fig. 11. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of low pressure pinch temperature (PPLP).

Fig. 12. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of HP steam turbine temperature.

between the outlet gas from the evaporator and the saturation
temperature. A smaller pinch temperature corresponds to a larger
heat transfer surface area and more costly system as well as higher
exergy efficiency and lower operating cost. A good HRSG is a sys-
tem in which its pinch temperature has the minimum value. How-
ever, based on the second law of thermodynamic this temperature
cannot be zero. Therefore, decrease in the pinch temperature
results in decreasing the HRSG cost of exergy destruction [1,7].
The HRSG has both high- and low-pressure pinch temperatures.
Figs. 10 and 11 show the effect of pinch temperatures on unit cost
of fuel. It is shown that at constant output power, increasing the
unit cost of fuel results in a decrease in the pinch temperature
due to increasing the HRSG exergy efficiency as well as decreasing
the HRSG cost of exergy destruction.
Figs. 12 and 13 show the variation of super heater temperatures
versus unit cost of fuel. As shown in these figures, the increase in
the unit cost of fuel causes increasing both HP and LP superheater
temperatures. As it was discussed earlier, increasing the unit cost
2306 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308

200 MW 180 MW 160 MW

250

LP SH Temperature (C)
245

240

235

230

225

220
0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.01

Unit Cost of Fuel ($/MJ)

Fig. 13. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of LP steam turbine temperature.

200 MW 180 MW 160 MW

115
113
HP drum pressure (bar)

111
109
107
105
103
101
99
97
95
0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.01
Unit Cost of Fuel ($/MJ)

Fig. 14. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of HP drum pressure.

Fig. 15. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of LP drum pressure.

of fuel leads to an increase in the first term in the objective func-
tion. Thus, a developed genetic algorithm code should select the
design parameters in the way to decrease the objective function.
Therefore, any increments in the superheater steam temperature
result in a decrease in the last term of the objective function.
Because higher steam turbine inlet temparture causes more output
power in the Ranking cycle. Moreover, increasing the main steam
temperature from HRSG results in a increase in the HRSG efficiency
as well as reducing its exergy destruction.
Moreover, the effect of changes in the unit cost of fuel on HP
drum pressure and LP drum pressures are shown in Figs. 14 and
15. It is obvious that at constant output power by increase in the
unit cost of fuel both HP and LP drum pressures are increased in
order to decrease the last term in the objective function. Increaseing
 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308 2307

200 MW 180 MW 160 MW

0.16

Condenser Pressure (bar)

0.14

0.12

0.1

0.08

0.06

0.04

0.02
0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009 0.01
Unit Cost of Fuel ($/MJ)

Fig. 16. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of condenser pressure PCond.

drum pressures, results in decreasing the HRSG cost of exergy condenser pressure results in an increase in the total exergy effi-
destruction and hence the objective function. The main purpose of ciency of the cycle. Therefore, it has a positive effect on both objec-
increasing the drum pressure is to produce steam with a higher en- tive function and the combined cycle efficiency. Finally, the effects
thalpy as well as exergy. In addition, higher drum pressure causes of steam turbine isentropic efficiency and pumps efficiency on the
the steam temperature and mass flow rate to increase which pro- unit cost of fuel are shown in Figs. 17 and 18. Increasing the unit
vides higher steam turbine power output. That is why a high pres- cost of fuel results in an increase in both turbine and pump isentro-
sure pump is used in such HRSGs. Fig. 16 shows the effect of pic efficiencies. In this case, more efficient devices result in increas-
changes in the condenser pressure on the unit cost of fuel. While ing the exergy efficiency as well as reducing the cost of exergy
the unit cost of fuel increases, the condenser pressure decreases destruction. Therefore, the main aim of increasing the efficiency
in order to decrease the objective function. Also, decrease in the is to decrease the last term in the objective function. It reveals that
while the unit cost of fuel increases, the more efficient devises are
needed to reduce the irreversibilities.
Another important parameter in CCPPs is the net power output.
Therefore, in order to have a good insight into this study, three dif-
ferent power outputs are considered. Hence, for each power output
a new run of the genetic algorithm is done to find the best optimal
design parameters. Figs. 5–18 show the effect of changes in the
design parameters on the net power output. Figs. 5–9, show that
optimal decision variables (except for rc) generally increase as
the net electrical power rises. When the net output power in-
creases, the devices should be selected thermodynamically to pro-
duce the necessary output power. For instance, Fig. 8 shows that at
constant unit cost of fuel, increasing the net output power results
in increasing the gas turbine inlet temperature. It is worthwhile to
Fig. 17. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value mention that increasing the net output power results in increasing
of steam turbine isentropic efficiency gST. both combustion chamber mass flow rate and duct burner mass

200 MW 180 MW 160 MW

0.85
Pump Isentropic Efficiency

0.845

0.84

0.835

0.83

0.825

0.82
0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006 0.007 0.008 0.009
Unit Cost of fuel ($/MJ)

Fig. 18. The effects of unit cost of fuel and net power demand on the optimal value of pump isentropic efficiency gpump.
2308 P. Ahmadi, I. Dincer / Energy Conversion and Management 52 (2011) 2296–2308
flow rate. Hence, the first term in the objective function tend to be
increased. Therefore, genetic algorithm is used to find the optimal
design parameter which can compensate this rise in the objective
function. Furthermore, as discussed in the previous section,
increasing the TIT results in decreasing the cost of exergy destruc-
tion as the last term in the objective function. The same result is
obvious for the pinch temperature difference. Figs. 10 and 11 show
that at constant unit cost fuel, increasing the output power leads to
decrease the pinch temperature. It is due to the fact that the power
output can be increased by increasing the HRSG efficiency and
decreasing the pinch point temperature difference. In this case,
more energy is obtained from the GT exhaust gases across the
HRSG. The same result is obtained for superheater steam temper-
ature as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. These figures show that increas-
ing the net power output has the direct effect on the objective
function due to an increase in the injected mass flow rate to the
combustion chamber and duct burner. As a result, the optimal de-
sign parameters are selected in which the other terms in the objec-
tive function decrease. This is achieved by applying a developed
genetic algorithm under the above mentioned constraints.
7. Conclusions
In the present study, a comprehensive modeling of a dual pres-
sure combined cycle power plant has been conducted. In order to
validate the model results, we compare with the actual data ob-
tained from a combined cycle power plant. Therefore, the compar-
isons show that the model results are in good agreement with the
actual data. Moreover, exergy and exergoeconomic analyses for the
CCPP are performed. The optimization method used is genetic algo-
rithm, as developed in the Matlab program. Moreover, a new objec-
tive function representing the sum of the fuel cost and the cost of
exergy destruction as well as purchase cost is considered and min-
imized using a genetic algorithm. The optimum design parameters
obtained for the plant show a trade-off between thermodynamic
and economic optimal designs. For example, from the thermody-
namical point of view, the decision variable gT should be selected
as high as possible while this leads to an increase in capital cost.
It should be noted that any change in the numerical values of a
decision variable not only affects the performance of the related
equipment but also changes the performance of other equipment
as well. It is concluded that by increasing the fuel price the numer-
ical values of decision variables in the thermoeconomically optimal
design tend to those of the thermodynamically optimal design.
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