Exergoeconomic and exergoenvironmental assessment of a PV/T assisted wastewater source heat pump system for a sustainable future

Abstract

This paper investigated exergetic exergoeconomical and exergoenvironmental performances of a photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) assisted wastewater source heat pump (WWSHP) system. The highest relative irreversibility among all the components occurred in the PV/T unit followed by the compressor. The functional exergy efficiencies of the WWSHP and whole system were found to be 0.10 and 0.15 respectively. The exergoeconomic factors of the condenser and wastewater heat exchanger were determined to be considerably high among all the components. The highest exergy loss per unit price was due to the PV/T system. Exergoeconomic factors for each equipment and the entire system decreased with increasing yearly working period and decreasing interest rate. The same trend was also observed in the specific cost of exergetic product. Exergy destruction related environmental impacts were found to be the major element in almost all of the components and therefore its reduction should be the main focus on exergoenvironmental performance improvements.