Exergy analysis of a thermal power plant using a modeling approach

The objective of this article is to perform exergy analysis for thermal power plants based on the simulation software Aspen Plus. In this study, the main sections of the system including the boiler and the steam turbine are modeled using the Aspen Plus software. Exergy analysis of the modeled system is studied to obtain the energy loss distribution of the system. The influences of various operating conditions on the exergy efficiency of the system are investigated including combustion temperature, excess air coefficient, steam temperature, and steam pressure. The results show that exergy loss mainly occurs in the boiler and the steam turbine. The major sources of irreversibility are combustion and the internal thermal energy exchange in the boiler. The high-pressure turbine has the lowest exergy efficiency in the steam turbine; however, it assumes the largest work output, accounting for 37.08%. Therefore, reducing the irreversible loss in the boiler and improving the performance of the high-pressure turbine are the requirements for improving the system.