Sensitivity of the Exergy Costs Due to Changes in the Most Relevant Variables of a Diesel Cycle- Based Cogeneration Power Plant Available to Purchase

This work analyzes the sensitivity of the exergy costs due to variations in the independent variables of a Diesel Cycle-Based Cogeneration Power Plant (DCBCPP). From a diagnosis standpoint, this type of analysis is quite important since it will evaluate the variations of the exergy costs with respect to slight modifications in the inlet operational data. Many papers related to thermoeconomic analysis could be cited, however, there are few articles related to the use of exergy cost theory applied to a DCBCPP. The power plant has 8 internal combustion engines each one generating 11.340 MW. Only three of the engines have a boiler installed which uses the exhaust gases of combustion for steam generation. The other five engines emit the exhaust gases to the environment. In this paper only the exergy costs of the products (electricity and steam) are dealt with, since from a practical point of view they are part of the most important variables of the system.