Application of CCHPs in a Centralized Domestic Heating, Cooling and Power Network – Thermodynamic and Economic Implications

The main objective of the present study is to utilize the waste heat and low-medium temperature geothermal heat sources in a centralized domestic heating, cooling and electricity network. Both geothermal and waste heat (from cement industry) are utilized to run domestic-scale combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) units to meet the thermal and electrical demands of a residential area as the case study. Energy and exergy principles are applied to the designed CCHPs and the employed components, while exergoeconomic analysis is developed to show the economic feasibility of the proposed distributed energy systems. It is observed that the designed CCHPs not only meet the local energy demand in a sustainable way, but also deliver surplus thermal and electrical energy to the main grids. The thermodynamic analysis shows that under the base condition, the geothermal and waste heat driven CCHPs operate with sustainability index of 1.985 and 2.747, respectively. The economic evaluations demonstrated that, by using the proposed local CCHPs instead of the main grids to supply energy demand of the case study, it is possible to gain a benefit of 15687 € per year. This results in a lower energy payment of the end-users.