In a combined heat and power plant (CHP plant), heat and power are produced simultaneously in the
same power plant process. The CHP technology reduces total fuel consumption compared to a situation
where heat and electricity are produced separately. For condensing power plants the exergy loss is
usually calculated by multiplying the entropy generation rate with the real environmental temperature
because the plant exchanges heat with the environment at the temperature close to this temperature.
Instead, CHP plants emit heat into the environment at higher temperature level. The goal of this paper is
to perform the Second Law analysis for a coal-fired CHP plant undergoing ClausiuseRankine cycle. The
Second Law analysis is based on the use of effective heat-absorbing and heat-emitting temperatures. In
this paper, temperatures are defined for a CHP plant undergoing ClausiuseRankine cycle. The maximum
power to heat ratio of the CHP plant as well as entropy generation and power (exergy) losses are defined
using the before mentioned temperatures instead of the real environmental temperature.
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