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McGowan, Jon G.

Publications and source records attributed to McGowan, Jon G..

Thermoeconomic analysis of a multigeneration system using waste heat from a triple power cycle

Multigeneration systems represent an appealing concept, due to their multiple benefits compared to standalone systems, which has motivated researchers to develop different types of multigeneration systems for several applications. Considering their significance, in this study, a novel multigeneration is proposed that uses the waste heat of a thermodynamically efficient triple power cycle with a 100 MWe capacity. The proposed system, which can generate power, freshwater, cooling, and domestic hot water concurrently, is evaluated using detailed thermodynamic and economic analyses. The triple cycle includes a simple Brayton cycle coupled with a supercritical carbon dioxide recompression cycle and a high-temperature organic Rankine cycle. The waste energy of the recompression and organic Rankine cycles is recovered by a half effect absorption chiller, a multi-effect distillation unit, and two heat exchangers. The results show that for an optimized triple cycle, up to 1,804 kW cooling and 8,472 m 3 /day of hot water can be generated from the hot supercritical carbon dioxide stream with a levelized cost of cooling and hot water of 0.0362/ton-hr and $0.6823/MWth, respectively. The integration of a multi-effect distillation unit with 7 effects can generate 4,167 m 3 /day freshwater with a levelized cost of water of $1.142/m 3 . Finally, the proposed multigeneration system offers a very promising application and a number of benefits such as a generating multiple useful products with no adverse effect on the thermodynamic efficiency of the triple power cycle.

Thermoeconomic analysis↗

Marine Renewable Energy Center

Project Goals: The funding provided by this contract supported the following activities: A) Test Site Development; B) Seed Grant Funded Technology Development; C) Stakeholder Activities The first year of funding was dedicated to the formation of the NE MREC University Consortium which was comprised of University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD) and Amherst (UMA), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), University of New Hampshire (UNH), and the University of Rhode Island (URI). The consortium worked together to encourage research and promote benefits of obtaining energy from ocean wind, waves, tides and currents. In addition, NE MREC’s goal was to fund projects aimed at potential test sites with the first year funding going to studies of the potential for tidal device testing in Muskeget Channel, at the General Sullivan Bridge in New Hampshire, and for wave device testing at the proposed National Offshore Renewable Energy Innovation Zone (NOREIZ) located off the Massachusetts coast. The project spanned 4.5 years and addressed three specific tasks that are interrelated but also served as independent investigations.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering Curriculum Development

Utility-scale electricity produced from offshore wind farms has the potential to contribute significantly to the energy production of the United States. In order for the U.S. to rapidly develop these abundant resources, knowledgeable scientists and engineers with sound understanding of offshore wind energy systems are critical. This report summarizes the development of an upper-level engineering course in "Offshore Wind Energy Systems Engineering." This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive knowledge of both the technical challenges of offshore wind energy and the practical regulatory, permitting, and planning aspects of developing offshore wind farms in the U.S. This course was offered on a pilot basis in 2011 at the University of Massachusetts and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), TU Delft, and GL Garrad Hassan have reviewed its content. As summarized in this report, the course consists of 17 separate topic areas emphasizing appropriate engineering fundamentals as well as development, planning, and regulatory issues. In addition to the course summary, the report gives the details of a public Internet site where references and related course material can be obtained. This course will fill a pressing need for the education and training of the U.S. workforce in this critically important area. Fundamentally, this course will be unique due to two attributes: an emphasis on the engineering and technical aspects of offshore wind energy systems, and a focus on offshore wind energy issues specific to the United States.

17 WIND ENERGY↗