Optimal Design For A Shell-Tube Heat Exchanger Of A Binary Geothermal Power Plant From Economic Point Of View

The goals of this study are to design and optimize heat exchangers for 1 MW binary geothermal power system. It comprises two components i.e., preheater and evaporator. This study adopts genetic algorithm (GA) to reach an optimized outcome for both capital investment and operating expense aspects. Indeed the use of optimization tools in designing heat exchangers is not new. However, the material specification from Tubular Exchanger Manufacturers Association (TEMA) standards is not always considered in the previous studies. In this case, the design is not practical in actual application due to the availability of the materials and components size. Motivated by this issue, this study further investigates the design with and without TEMA. The design considers various design variables, i.e., tube diameter, number of tube passes, baffle spacing and tube length. A case study is further analyzed to validate the practicality of proposal model. Implications of the results are analyzed and discussed. The results show that total cost for both preheater and evaporator decrease 46.1% and 56.4%, respectively when it is compared to traditional approach without optimization tools.