Thermodynamic analysis of a new distributed combined cooling, heating and power system

The thermodynamic performance of a methanol-solar hybrid distributed energy system utilizing power and cooling cogeneration system is analyzed. Cascade utilization of chemical and physical energy is achieved owing to the utilization of methanol-solarthermochemical process and power and power and cooling cogeneration system driven by waste heat. Energy level analysis is used to investigate the exergy performance of the new system. Results show that the primary energy saving ratio of the new system is 35.2%, which is 13.5 points higher than the conventional reference system. The new distributed energy system proposed in this work provides a new way of system integration for purpose of cascade utilization of fossil energy and new energy resources. © 2015, Science Press. All right reserved.