environmental and thermoeconomic study of the impact of using air-cooled condensers in the kalina cycle for power generation in hot and dry regions

The kalina cycle utilizes low-temperature heat sources to generate high-pressure vapor for running a turbine to produce power. since the vapor at the turbine exit is relatively low temperature, a cool medium is required to liquefy the vapor at the condenser. this requirement imposes a practical limitation to the kalina cycle for application in hot and dry regions. this paper studies the environmental and economic impact of using air-cooled condensers in the kalina cycle. a dual kalina cycle (ksc-d), the hybrid dual kalina cycle (ksc-dh), and the basic kalina cycle (ksc-1) have been compared, considering tarasht steam power plant, as a case study. subsequently, power output, water consumption, co2 emission, and irr , npv were investigated for each case. results show the least power output (4346704 kwh year-1) and the maximum power output (5008627 kwh year-1) belong to the basic kalina cycle with an air-cooled condenser (ksc-1a) and the ksc-dh cycle, respectively. moreover, using air-cooled condensers in the dual kalina cycle (ksc-da) saves about 425825×103 m3 of water annually. ksc-da is the most cost-effective and has the shortest payback time of three years. also, for ksc-da, the natural gas saved is 0.7765 to 1.22 mm3 year-1, and the reduction in co2 emission is about 4378 tons year-1. the overall results indicate that although the ksc-da ranks fourth in terms of power output among the different cases (producing 4564262 kwh year-1), it is still the most viable choice regarding the impact on the environment and reducing the amount of co2 emissions.