Multi-objective optimisation of solar-driven combined stirling engine/LNG burned micro gas turbine based on exergy and energy analysis

An appropriate method for electricity generation is one of the challenges that have been investigated by many researchers. Due to the limited fossil-resources available, access to new resources and methods for power generation is critical. In this paper, a 200-kW Capstone microturbine is considered as a base model and a stirling engine is used as an auxiliary unit. Solar energy and LNG-fuel have been used as the system's hot-source. For the evaluation of the proposed system, energy analysis and exergy methods have been used. The results show that thermal efficiency improves from 34% (base cycle) to 38% and the exergy efficiency from 35% (base cycle) to about 43% in the proposed cycle. Finally, to find the optimal design point, multi-objective optimisation was accomplished through the particle swarm optimisation (PSO) procedure. The results of the optimisation showed that the exergy and energy efficiencies are increased by 6.42% and 15.92%, respectively.