Thermodynamic and environmental performance assessment of an ejector-based organic Rankine cycle coupled with chemical looping combustion for combined cooling and power

Most chemical looping combustion (CLC)-based power plants generate cooling power by recovering the cold energy from liquid fuel, making it necessary to provide cooling solutions for scenarios without available liquid fuels. Given the cooling potential of ejector-based waste heat recovery units, this study proposes a novel combined cooling and power system that employs an ejector-based organic Rankine cycle to recover low-grade waste heat from CLC and compares the performance of two ejector configurations. A mathematical model is established, followed by exergy analysis, parametric studies, and dual-objective optimization to evaluate the system's thermodynamic and environmental indicators. The results show that the two reactors and ejector1 have the greatest exergy losses in the upstream and downstream cycles, respectively. Increasing reactor operating pressure, organic turbine outlet pressure, and evaporative temperature can enhance the system's cooling capacity. An optimum air reactor operating temperature exists to maximize the power generation performance. Both ejector configurations have the same highest electrical efficiency, and the dual-ejector mode augments the carbon dioxide emission reduction (CDER) by 0.49 tons/day compared to the single-ejector mode. Under optimal conditions, the electrical efficiency, exergy efficiency, cooling power, and CDER of the dual-ejector mode are 50.28%, 47.59%, 4895.28 kW, and 13.43 tons/day, respectively.