Title: An ecology impact assessment method for energy system combining exergy, economy, and emergy analysis

Authors: Qin Liu; Xin Li; Haoxiang Duan; Yun Li; Congfei Yao; Weijia Huang

Addresses: School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China ' Hebei Zhengyuan Chemical Engineering Design Co., Ltd, Hebei, 050061, China ' School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China ' School of Environment and Architecture, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China ' Institute of Bismuth and Rhenium Science, School of Materials and Chemistry, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China ' School of Energy and Power Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai, 200093, China

Abstract: Based on UEV method and second thermodynamics, this work introduced an exergy-ecology assessment method with different calculation strategies (l = s_m, l = s_out) for energy system, and adopted two boilers to show the application of the proposed method. The exergy efficiency of natural gas and solar boilers is 9.22% and 29.34%, respectively. Natural gas boiler has a much higher exergy-ecology impact than solar boiler with two strategies, e.g., 10.850 vs. 3.421 for l = s_out, in that case, it is exergy loss, rather than hot water, dominates the environmental impact of the two boilers. This method may be relatively preferred from the perspective of ecology-sustainability.

Keywords: exergy analysis; unit emergy value; ecology index; exergy-ecology assessment; solar energy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2024.141687

International Journal of Exergy, 2024 Vol.45 No.1/2, pp.37 - 53

Received: 15 Apr 2024
Accepted: 26 Jun 2024
Published online: 30 Sep 2024 *

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