Iran. J. Chem. Chem. Eng. Research Article Vol. 42, No.

7, 2023

Simulation and Techno-Economic Analysis of

the Integration of a Combined Heat and Power
System in a Flare Gas Recovery Unit – Case Study:
Tabriz Oil Refining Company (Northwest Iran)

Farrokhi, Mahmoud*; Neyestani, Fatemeh; Kazemi-Beydokhti, Amin; Heydarzadeh Darzi, Hamid

Department of Chemical Engineering, School of Petroleum and Petrochemical Engineering,
Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, I.R. IRAN

ABSTRACT: Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems can reduce energy waste in various
industries including oil, gas, and petrochemical plants. In this research, the feasibility of the establishment
of a CHP system in A Flare Gas Recovery (FGR) unit is studied. The integration of CHP system in FGR
unit is investigated from the economic, technical, and environmental viewpoints. The FGR unit of Tabriz
Oil Refining Company which is located in northwest Iran is considered as a case study. No such
an integration has been investigated previously. The simulation of the proposed system is performed using
ASPEN-HYSYS software. Rankine cycle is considered for the combined production of heat and power
and water is utilized as the Rankine cycle working fluid. The fuel needed by the CHP system
is supplied from the FGR unit. In order to more utilization of the fuel energy, the thermal energy
of furnace flue gases is recovered through a regenerator heat exchanger. The simulation results showed that
the proposed system can generate about 4 MW of electrical power and 16 MW of thermal power
corresponding to 15.42% and 77.63% electrical and thermal efficiencies, respectively. Moreover,
4,532 kg/h of hot steam with a temperature of 381.4 ˚C is produced by utilizing the furnace flue gases'
thermal energy. The results of this study showed a promising performance for the integration
of a CHP system in FGR unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Company. The present study may be a step
forward towards the efficient use of energy sources. Future works in this field can be done with a view
to the practical integration of CHP systems in FGR units.

KEYWORDS: Combined heat and power; Rankin cycle; Flare gas recovery; ASPEN-HYSYS;
Technoeconomic analysis.

INTRODUCTION
Industrial processes are among the energy-intensive development of any country. Combined heat and power
activities. Therefore, energy saving and its effective systems, as an efficient method to reduce energy
utilization will have significant effects on the progress and consumption, are currently on the agenda of many

*To whom correspondence should be addressed.

+ E-mail: [email protected]
1021-9986/2023/7/2318-2331 14/$/6.04

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developed countries and a significant portion of the combustion engines, and the use of nanofluids in ORC
electrical and thermal energy required in these countries systems in order to improve the efficiency of CHP systems.
is produced using this method [1, 2]. Electricity and heat Simulation and experimental investigation of the efficiency
are two basic needs in any country or industry. In most improvement of a CHP system through utilizing carbon
countries, huge power plants have been built to supply nanotube as an additive to the water to make a nanofluid
electricity, and most large industries, such as refineries performed by Kazemi-Beydokhti et al. [9]. They utilized
and petrochemicals, have independent units within their different nanofluids in their experimental CHP system and
complex to provide these services [3]. concluded that the modified carbon nanotube had an
Recently, more attention has been paid to CHP systems improving effect on the heat recovery in the CHP system
due to their higher energy efficiency. These units are supplied compared with some other fluids. Eyerer et al. [10]
with energy sources such as fossil, biomass, solar, and examined the potential of using geothermal energy
geothermal, among which the use of fossil fuels has been for CHP systems in Germany. The results showed that
more common despite environmental problems [4, 5]. the proposed system can provide 1.51% of the electricity
There are various researches in the field of consumption and 1.48% of the thermal energy required for
simultaneous production of heat and power from a single ambient heating and domestic hot water. They also
energy source in the literature. For example, Lee et al. [6] showed that Germany could use renewable and clean
modeled and simulated a CHP system using a 1 MW solar geothermal energy instead of fossil fuels in the future
power plant in Beijing. The results showed that using the to meet its electricity and heating needs.
renewable solar energy as fuel for the CHP unit and using In order to more efficient utilization of energy in the
the absorption heat pump, 6,214 kWh of electricity and CHP units, the heat of combustion gases is generally used
14,502 MJ of thermal energy can be obtained daily. The for more thermal efficiency in various industries,
efficiency of the proposed system is 15.96%, which is especially in chemical companies [11, 12]. In fact, by
4.55% higher than that of the current solar power plant. consuming one fuel source, electricity and thermal energy
Additionally, 914 MJ/day of thermal energy was can be produced in these units simultaneously. Recently,
recovered using the absorption heat pump in the some studies have been conducted on the reduction of fuel
considered system. In another study, Kazemi et al. [7] and energy consumption and efficiency enhancement of
proposed a hybrid system for combined production of CHP units. Kazemi-Beydokhti and Zeinali Heris [13]
heat and electricity from solar energy. The hybrid system investigated the thermal optimization of CHP systems
comprised of a solar air collector, solar chimney, using nanofluids. Their results showed that higher thermal
thermoelectric generators, and wind turbine. The air efficiency and acceptable economic benefits can be achieved
passed through the solar chimney was utilized to produce using nanofluids as working fluid and biogas as fuel
electricity through a wind turbine during the night-time. in these units. In another study, Ortega et al. [14] investigated
The solar energy was also used for heat generation and the use of recovered gases in the FGR unit as fuel for CHP
running the wind turbine for power generation during the systems. They argued that the solution could not only
daytime. They performed economic and environmental prevent the loss of valuable hydrocarbons in the flaring
analysis on their proposed system and concluded that the process but also prevent global warming and the release
payback period is less than 1.5 years and system is of greenhouse gases into the environment.
capable in CO 2 emission reduction of 5,111 kg/yr. Semmari et al. [15] investigated the simultaneous
Mahian et al. [8] performed exergy analysis for production of electricity and heat by an ORC utilizing
different CHP systems with different power sources in the toluene as the working fluid. The energy source was the
gas turbine, reciprocating engine, Rankine cycle, fuel recovered heat from flare gas. In this study, they
cells, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and hybrid energy investigated the thermodynamic performance of the
systems. They stated that the use of renewable energy system in terms of energy and exergy. They also
sources in ORC and hybrid systems could be a very performed a sensitivity analysis to identify the most
influential research topic. Their results showed that further important parameters affecting system performance.
studies could be conducted on fuel cells, internal Sensitivity analysis was performed on evaporation

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temperature, flare gas temperature, working fluid on FGR and CHP systems in Iran. For instance, in a case
superheat temperature, and turbine efficiency. The results study in southern Iran, Mousavi et al. [23] assessed the
showed that with a constant temperature for the inlet flare technical, economic, and environmental aspects of FGR
gas, the total exergy destruction is reduced and as a result, systems using HYSYS, Thermoflow, and ASPEN
the thermodynamic performance of the system and the software. They considered three scenarios for flare gas
turbine power output are improved. The sensitivity recovery with the objective of energy consumption
analysis on the inlet flare gas temperature showed that with reduction and control of environmental pollution. The first
the increasing temperature of the hot source, an exergy scenario was the compression of flare gas and injection
destruction occurs in the evaporator and the entire system. into oil wells to enhance oil recovery. The second scenario
Superheating temperature sensitivity analysis showed that was electricity generation and surplus gas injection into oil
superheating of toluene should be minimized because it wells and the third one was power generation using a CHP
belongs to the dry fluids’ category. Superheating reduces system and an internal combustion engine. The results
the thermal performance of the system and causes showed that the first scenario with an internal investment
significant exergy degradation, especially in the rate of 171% and a payback period of 1.02 years is the best
condenser. Also, increasing the turbine efficiency leads to method. In another study, the feasibility of using a CHP
improving the thermodynamic performance of the system system in a car-manufacturing factory in the northeast of
both from the total exergy destruction and turbine power Iran was investigated by Deymi-Dashtebayaz and
output viewpoints. Kazemiani-Najafabadi [24]. They proposed the use
In most of the chemical industry processes, including of a gas engine for electricity generation and recovery of
oil and gas refining, a pressure control system is used and its exhaust waste to supply the heating demands
a flare tower is placed at the end of this system. In case of of the car factory. Two different investment scenarios
unexpected and high-pressure flow inside these units and were proposed. The electricity sales to the grid and in-site
for protecting equipment and pipelines, some of the consumption of generated heat were the preferred
existing gas is discharged to the pressure control system scenarios. Integration of a hot oil system and a CHP
using control valves and burned in the burners [16]. generator through the combination of pinch technology
Therefore, the existence of flaring systems is essential in and mathematical programming was studied by Shahidian
these industries. Despite eliminating the risk of pressure Akbar et al. [25]. The integrated system included a gas
vessels exploding in oil and gas industries and maintaining turbine as the top cycle a hot oil system and an ORC as the
employee safety, these systems are not harmless. This is bottoming cycle. The proposed integrated design provided
because flare burners emit various pollutants into the 30% increase in income compared to the conventional
atmosphere and cause environmental problems such as air design.
pollution, acid rain, noise pollution, unpleasant odors, and Due to the destruction of the environment by industrial
eventually diseases in humans and living organisms [17, 18]. processes in the past years, attention to the environment
Hence, its environmental effects must be reduced. along with economic and technical issues such as energy
Additionally, it’s possible to create added value from flare and exergy efficiency, has recently attracted the attention
gases due to the presence of hydrocarbon compounds of many researchers [26, 27]. In this regard, Sarkari et al. [28]
such as methane, ethane, and propane, as well as hydrogen conducted a case study on the recycling of regeneration gas
in these gases [19]. Gathering and recovering of these from a mercaptan removal unit through flash gas
gases are among the activities performed in this field compression in order to flare gas reduction. The flow rate
in the industries which have considerable amount of flare of flaring gas was 13,000 Nm3/h. Experimental
gas [20, 21]. In fact, they can be sold as a product or burned investigations as well as dynamic simulation were
as fuel in some units in these industries. Another solution performed to prevent this amount of flaring. A new
is to establish a CHP system to utilize these gases as fuel configuration was proposed and tested to achieve this goal.
and provide all or part of the electricity and heat needs of The proposed configuration was capable of reducing 75%
these industries [22]. of flare gas, and decrease 75% of CO2, and CH4 emissions.
Some investigations have recently been performed Furthermore, process simulation was recently used

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for hazard identification of integration of flare gas with of Tabriz Oil Refining Company.
cogeneration system by Sarkar et al. [29]. The effect of This study investigates the feasibility of using the
flare gas quality and conditions under abnormal situation gaseous product of the FGR unit (line 115) to generate
were studied. The results showed the nominal effect thermal energy and electricity. Fig. 2 represents an
of flare gas temperature on the process. In addition, overview of the proposed process for the simultaneous
it was found that flare gas composition could affect production of electricity and heat using the gaseous fuel
the heat transfer behavior of fired gas boiler. Tube rupture, supplied by the FGR unit.
firebox instability, steam explosion, and flame impingement The process of simultaneous production of heat and
were among the hazards identified which must be prevented. electricity is simulated with the aid of ASPEN-HYSYS
The main objective of the present work is performing software using the Peng-Robinson equation of state.
a case study on the feasibility of integration of a simultaneous The Peng-Robinson equation of state is generally the
electricity and heat production system in the flare gas recommended thermodynamic model for oil, gas, and
recovery unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Company (northwest petrochemical applications. This model supports the greatest
Iran). The study focused on the effects of the proposed variety of systems and the widest range of operating
system from the technical, economical, and environmental conditions (temperatures greater than – 271 ˚C, and pressers
aspects. No such an integration has been performed lower than 100,000 kPa). The main assumptions made
previously in the FGR unit under consideration. The fuel throughout the simulation are introduced below.
needed in CHP system is supplied from the FGR unit. A Steady-state conditions were assumed and pure
Rankine cycle utilizing water as the working fluid is water was used as the Rankine cycle working fluid and
considered for the combined production of heat and power. cooling agent of the Rankine cycle condenser. Besides,
The working fluid undergoes evaporation, expansion, the pressure drop across the shell and tube of the heat
condensation, and compression processes sequentially. exchangers was assumed to be 0.1 kPa. Negligible
Mechanical and thermal energy are produced in the pressure drop and heat loss were assumed throughout
expansion and condensation processes, respectively. To the piping. The furnace efficiency was assumed to be
more utilization of the fuel energy and increase the 75% and 20% of excess air was supplied to the furnace.
efficiency of the process, the thermal energy of In addition, the efficiency of the turbine and pump
combustion hot gases exhausted from the furnace, which was kept constant at 75% and negligible heat loss in heat
have a significant temperature and flow rate, are also used exchangers was also assumed. The condenser minimum
to generate a superheated vapor. The results of this case temperature approach of 5 ˚C was assumed.
study are presented in this paper. The next section of this It is noted that in process simulation, the temperature
paper describes the details of proposed process for and pressure of the working fluid at the furnace inlet,
simultaneous heat and power production using the fuel the corresponding temperature at the outlet of the furnace,
supplied from the FGR unit as well as its simulation. the outlet pressure of the turbine, and the outlet
Furthermore, the simulation assumptions are introduced. temperature of the condenser were adopted according to
Thereafter, the simulation results are presented and the information received from the utility unit of Tabriz Oil
discussed. Finally, the conclusion section summarizes Refining Company. Furthermore, the properties (temperature,
the paper, highlights and concludes the main results and pressure, flow rate, and composition) of the furnace fuel
findings, and recommends the next step for this study. were exactly the specifications of the gaseous product
of the FGR unit.
THEORETICAL SECTION Fig. 3 illustrates the partial flow diagram of the
The products of the FGR unit of Tabriz Oil Refining simultaneous production of electricity and heat using
Company are liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon streams. the FGR unit gaseous product as fuel. As can be seen
The liquid product (line 113 in Fig. 1) is sent to Isomax from Figs. 2, and 3, the proposed system for combined
unit to produce gasoline, and the gaseous product (line 115) generation of heat and power has a closed cycle in which
is burned in a furnace and its generated heat is used water was used as the working fluid. Temperature and
in the factory. Fig. 1 shows a simple view of the FGR unit pressure of water at stream 101 were 60.44 ˚C and 4,200 kPa,

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Fig. 1: Simple view of the FGR unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Company

Fig. 2: Overview of the CHP process using fuel supplied by the FGR unit

Fig. 3: Partial flow diagram of the simulated CHP system

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respectively. Then, water was entered to the FH-100 Table 1: Compounds in line 115 and outlet stream from
furnace with a mass flowrate of 20,330 kg/h and heated up furnace chimney
to a temperature of 395 ˚C. The furnace fuel was supplied Composition (mole %)
Stream

from the FGR unit through line 115 with the specifications 115 [30] FLUE GAS

given in Tables 1 and 2. As exclaimed earlier, line 115 Methane 20.88 0.00
was sweetened gas in the FGR unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Ethane 7.20 0.00
Company, which has been used as fuel in the CHP system. Propane 11.41 0.00
The required air for the furnace was provided by a stream i-Butane 4.79 0.00
named “AIR”, which was considered with an excess air n-Butane 7.45 0.00
content of 20%. The temperature and pressure of the i-Pentane 3.53 0.00
combustion gases released through the FLUE GAS stream n-Pentane 2.33 0.00
were 411.5 ˚C and 202.3 kPa, respectively. The steam n-Hexane 2.81 0.00
coming out of the furnace (line 102) at 395 °C was combined Oxygen 0.00 3.24
with the steam in line 202, at a temperature of 381.4 °C
H2O 0.80 14.37
in the MIX-100 mixer. The steam in line 202 was generated
Hydrogen 35.77 0.00
in the shell and tube heat exchanger E-100 by recovery
CO 0.11 0.00
the heat of the hot flue gases from the combustion in the
Nitrogen 2.92 73.34
furnace. In this heat exchanger, the temperature of the
CO2 0.00 9.05
working fluid was increased from 60.44 °C to 381.4 °C.
H 2S 0.00 0.00
The hot gases leaving the furnace were finally discharged
to atmosphere through the EXHAUST GAS stream at
Table 2: Operating conditions of the CHP process streams*
65.44 °C, from which a significant amount of heat has been Vapor Temperature Pressure Mass Flow
recovered. The steam coming out of the MIX-100 mixer Stream
Fraction (˚C) (bar) (kg/h)
with a mass flowrate of 24,862 kg/h was entered the turbine 100 0 60.44 42 20,330
through line 300 and produced 4,439 kW of mechanical 101 0 60.44 42 20,330
power. The generated mechanical power could then 102 1 395 42 20,330
be converted to electricity with high efficiency through 200 0 60.44 42 4,532
an electric generator. The pressure and temperature 201 0 60.44 42 4,532
at the turbine outlet (line 301) was reached to 50 kPa and 202 1 381.4 41.999 4,532
81.35 ˚C. The vapor quality at the turbine outlet was about
300 1 392.5 42 24,862
96%. Subsequently, the temperature of working fluid
301 0.9579 81.35 0.5 24,862
passed the condenser was reached to 60 ˚C through heat
302 0 60 0.499 24,862
transferring to the cold water. In the condenser, pure water
303 0 60.44 42 24,862
flowing in the shell side of the heat exchanger was acted
FUEL (115) 0.9874 35.03 6.642 1,585
as a cooling agent. Its temperature and pressure at the inlet
AIR 1 25 2.023 29,635
were 25 ˚C and 300 kPa, respectively. After receiving heat
from the working fluid, the temperature of water FLUE GAS 1 411.5 2.023 31,220

was reached to 76.35 ˚C, which can be considered as EXHAUST GAS 0.9819 65.44 2.022 31,220

an appropriate temperature for heating purposes. Then, CW-in 0 25 3 259,600

using a pump, the pressure of the working fluid leaving the CW-out 0 76.35 2.999 259,600
condenser was increased to 4,200 kPa. To complete the CHP * The streams’ numbers and names are based on Figs. 2 and 3.
process cycle, the working fluid in line 303 was divided into
two streams of 100 and 200 through the TEE-100 splitter. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this flow divider device, the flowrate of stream 100 was adjusted Electricity and heat generation
so that the fuel consumption of the furnace was obtained Petroleum and gas refining as well as petrochemical
according to the available data (flowrate of line 115). industries require a lot of energy (heating, cooling, and electricity).

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Table 3: Heating value and mass flow rate of line 115 components
Component Methane Ethane Propane i-Butane n-Butane i-Pentane n-Pentane n-Hexane Hydrogen
Heating value (MJ/kg) 50.168 47.63 46.47 45.74 45.86 45.36 45.47 45.22 120.95
Mass flow (kg/h) 204.01 131.89 306.64 169.55 263.80 155.25 102.19 147.52 43.92

the total heating value of line 115 is 74,290 MJ/h which is

equal to 20,636 kW. The thermal efficiency of the CHP
system can be calculated by Equation (2).
𝑄̇𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑
𝜂ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 𝑄̇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
(2)

In Equation (2), 𝜂ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 is the thermal efficiency of

the cogeneration system, 𝑄̇𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 is the amount of thermal
energy obtained in the condenser of the CHP system, and
𝑄̇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 is the amount of heat generated from the combustion
Fig. 4: Fuel total heating value, thermal and net electrical of the fuel. According to the data obtained from the
power produced by the CHP system simulation, the thermal efficiency of the system is 77.63%.
Correspondingly, the electrical efficiency of the CHP
These industries meet their energy requirements by system (𝜂𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 ) can be calculated from Equation (3), in
an in-site energy unit at a high cost. In CHP systems which the net generated electric power (𝑃𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙̇ )
thermal energy and electricity is generated simultaneously is divided by the heat generated from fuel combustion
by utilizing a single energy source. In the integrated CHP (𝑄̇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 ).
system in the FGR unit, 16,019 kW of thermal energy
is generated by the condenser. This amount of energy is used 𝑃̇ 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙
𝜂𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 = (3)
𝑄̇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙
to heat 259,600 kg/h of water up to a temperature of 76.35 ˚C.
This heated water can be used for space heating, The amount of electrical power produced by the CHP
preheating the material streams and so on. In addition, for system was obtained as 3,995 kW by considering the 90%
more utilization of the fuel supplied by the FGR unit (line efficiency of converting the mechanical power produced
115), the furnace exhaust hot gases were kept in contact by the turbine into electrical power through an electric
with the working fluid in E-100 heat exchanger. This can generator. It should be noted that 43.3 kW of electrical
prevent the heat pollution caused by the release of these power is consumed by the pump and 769.7 kW is required
hot gases to the atmosphere. Consequently, 4,532 kg/h to supply atmospheric air to the furnace. Therefore, the net
of steam at a temperature of 381.4 ˚C and pressure of 42 bar electricity produced by the system is 3,182 kW, from
is generated. The steam generated by this heat exchanger which the electrical efficiency of the CHP system will be
is added to the steam produced by furnace and fed 15.42%. Fig. 4, shows the total heating value of the fuel,
to the turbine for mechanical power production. Table 3 thermal and net electrical power produced by the
shows the heating value and mass flow rate of the main cogeneration system.
constituents of line 115. Fig. 5, shows the comparison of the proposed
According to the mass flow rate of each of the components cogeneration unit with the conventional generation of heat
in line 115 and their heating value, the total heating value and power. As can be seen from this Figure, the cogeneration
of line 115 can be calculated from Equation (1). unit is more efficient than conventional generation. In the
proposed CHP system 16,019 kW of thermal energy and
(𝐻𝑉)115 = ∑𝑖 𝑚̇𝑖 (𝐻𝑉)𝑖 (1)
3,182 kW of electricity were generated through consumption
In which, (𝐻𝑉)115 is the total heating value of line 115, of 20,636 kW of energy corresponding to an energy
𝑚̇𝑖 is the mass flow rate of each component in this line, conversion efficiency of 93%. Producing the same amount
and (𝐻𝑉)𝑖 is the heating value of each component. of electricity in a typical power plant with an efficiency
According to Equation (1) and the information in Table (3), of 35% requires 9,091 kW of energy. Besides,

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Table 4: Required information for economic analysis

Net power generated Base price of natural gas
Generated heat by the system Fuel total heating value Base price of electricity [31]
by the system (methane) [31]
16,019 kW 3,182 kW 20,636 kW 0.078 $/kWh 2.5 $/Million Btu

Fig. 5: Comparison of simultaneous and conventional generation of electricity and heat

production of the same amount of thermal energy in heat exchanger (E-100) in ˚C.
a boiler with an efficiency of 80% requires 20,024 kW
of energy. Therefore, the overall efficiency of independent Economic aspects
production of electricity and heat will be 66%. In this section, the establishment of a CHP system in the
FGR unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Company is investigated
Environmental aspects from the economic viewpoint. It is noted that in this
Industries such as petrochemicals and petroleum and analysis, the initial investment costs for the design and
gas refineries are highly harmful to the environment due to construction of the proposed system are not considered and
their flaring operations. In flaring process, greenhouse only the annual profit from the process is calculated based
gases such as CO2 and H2S are released to the atmosphere. on the revenues and related costs. In the CHP system,
In addition, gas flaring in these industries causes heat the revenues come from electricity and heat generation.
pollution and as a result change the climatic patterns. This On the other hand, the process is associated with costs that
issue is currently receiving a great deal of attention from include the cost of fuel combusted in the furnace,
international environmental organizations. As previously the injection of air into the furnace by the blower and
mentioned, in the simulated CHP system, a significant the compression and circulation of the working fluid
portion of the heat carried by the hot flue gases absorbed by the pump. The information required to perform economic
by the working fluid, and therefore the flue gases analysis is summarized in Table 4.
are discharged to the atmosphere with a lower temperature. The base price of natural gas can be determined in terms
During this process, the temperature of the flue gases of $/kg using the heating value of methane along with
is reduced from 411.5 ˚C to 65.44 ˚C. This consequently Equation (5).
prevents the heat release of 3,962 kW to the environment. $ 𝐵𝑡𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑙 50,168,000 𝐽
𝑁𝐺 𝑃𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑒 = 2.5 × × × =
106 𝐵𝑡𝑢 252 𝑐𝑎𝑙 4.184 𝐽 1 𝑘𝑔
The quantitative value of this heat can be calculated from $
Equation (4). 0.12 𝑘𝑔 (5)

𝑄̇ = 𝑚̇𝐶𝑝 ∆ (4) Methane must be burned at a rate of 0.41 kg/s to produce

20,636 kW of thermal energy (this amount of energy
Where, 𝑄̇ is the amount of heat recovered from the is released through combusting the fuel of line 115). This is
hot flue gas leaving the furnace in kJ/h, 𝑚̇ is the mass obtained by dividing the fuel total heating value by the
flow rate of flue gas in kg/h, 𝐶𝑝 is the specific heat of methane heating value. Taking into account 335 working
flue gas in kJ/(kg·˚C) and ∆𝑇 is the difference in flue days in a year, the cost of fuel consumed in the furnace
gas temperature at the inlet and outlet of regenerator is estimated at 1,424,045 $/yr. The income from the heat

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fluid first enters the furnace (through line 101) with

a temperature of 60.33 ºC and a specific entropy of 3.462
kJ/(kg·K). Consequently, its temperature and entropy
increased at a constant pressure of 4200 kPa. The working
fluid experiences different thermodynamic states in the
furnace. First, it changes from the subcooled liquid to the
saturated liquid state with a temperature of 254.3 ºC and
specific entropy of and 5.529 kJ/(kg·K), (point 1). It is then
subjected to a phase change (evaporation) process at
constant temperature and pressure, and its specific entropy
Fig 6. Revenue, costs and profit of the proposed CHP system increases to 8.868 kJ/(kg·K), (point 2). Following the
heating process of the working fluid in the furnace, the
produced by the system can similarly be calculated. saturated steam is heated to 392.5 °C at a constant pressure
The amount of this annual income is 1,099,364 $. and becomes superheated steam with a specific entropy of
Equation (6) shows how to calculate the revenue from the 9.407 kJ/(kg·K), (line 300). Thereafter, the working fluid
electricity generated by the system. expands in the turbine and its pressure and temperature
$ 𝑘𝑊ℎ 3,182 𝑘𝐽 are reduced from 4200 kPa to 50 kPa and 392.5 ºC to 81.35 ºC
𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 = 0.078 × × ×
𝑘𝑊ℎ 3,600 𝑘𝐽 𝑠 and mechanical power is produced. The working fluid
(335×24×3,600) 𝑠 $
= 1,995,496 𝑦𝑟 (6) at the turbine exhaust is a mixture of saturated vapor and
𝑦𝑟
liquid. During the expansion process, the specific entropy
Finally, the amount of profit from the process can be of the working fluid increases to 10.01 kJ/(kg·K). The
calculated according to the estimated revenues and costs working fluid is then enters the condenser and firstly turns
of the cogeneration unit. The calculated profit was into saturated liquid in constant temperature and pressure
1,670,815 $/yr which was obtained by deduction of total and then changes to subcooled liquid with a temperature of
expenses from the total income. The result of the economic 60 ºC and a specific entropy of 3.46 kJ/(kg·K).
calculations of the process is shown in Fig. 6. Subsequently, the working fluid is fed to the furnace
by a pump to complete the cycle. During this process,
Analysis of the CHP system on the temperature-entropy temperature and entropy changes are not significant, but
and temperature-heat flow diagrams the pressure increases from 49.9 kPa to 4200 kPa. Due to
Temperature-entropy (T-s) diagram is a the proximity of the constant pressure lines in the
thermodynamic diagram usually used to analyze subcooled liquid region on temperature-entropy diagram,
thermodynamic cycles and visualize the temperature and the points 302, 303 and 101 are located very close to each
specific entropy changes during a process. Once a T-s other on this diagram.
diagram has been prepared, various deductions can be The Carnot cycle is also shown with green color in this
made from it. For example, the heat added to or removed diagram for comparison (points 1, 2, 3, and 4). In the
from the working fluid as well as the work done by or on Carnot cycle, all of the processes are reversible and there
the system can be visualized on this diagram. For ideal are two isothermal processes (evaporation and
processes (i.e. reversible), the area under the T-s curve of condensation) and two constant-entropy processes
the process equals the heat added to or removed from the (compression in the pump and expansion in the turbine).
system during that process. In addition, the surface area The efficiency of the cycle in converting thermal energy
enclosed between different points of the cycle represents into mechanical energy can be calculated through the area
the net mechanical work produced by the system. of the enclosed surface between the different lines of
Fig. 7, illustrates the process of simultaneous the cycle and the horizontal axis as explained through
generation of electricity and heat on a T-s diagram. Yellow Equations (7) to (10).
line in this diagram represents the pathway that the
working fluid undergoes in the CHP system. The working 𝑄𝐻 = 𝑇𝐻 (𝑠2 − 𝑠1 ) = 1,725.65 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔 (7)

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𝑄𝐿 = 𝑇𝐿 (𝑠4 − 𝑠3 ) = −1,159.92 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔 (8)

𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡 = |𝑄𝐻 | − |𝑄𝐿 | = 565.73 𝑘𝐽/𝑘𝑔 (9)

𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡
𝜂𝑐 = = 0.329 (10)
𝑄𝐻
In the above equations, 𝑇𝐻 and 𝑄𝐻 are the temperature
of the working fluid and the amount of heat received by it
in the boiler, respectively. 𝑇𝐿 and 𝑄𝐿 stand for the
temperature of the working fluid and the heat rejected from
Fig. 7: Combined heat and power production process on
it in the condenser, respectively. 𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡 is the net
temperature-entropy diagram
mechanical work produced by the cycle, 𝜂𝑐 is the thermal
efficiency of the Carnot cycle and 𝑠 is the specific entropy
of the working fluid at different points in the cycle. As can
be observed, the thermal efficiency of the Carnot cycle at
operating conditions similar to the proposed cogeneration
system is 32.9 %. The efficiency of the CHP system in
converting heat into work is about 17%. The difference
between the Rankine and Carnot cycle efficiencies can be
attributed to the irreversibility of the processes in the
Rankine cycle.
Fig. 8, shows the temperature and the amount of heat
exchanged in each equipment of the cogeneration unit. Fig. 8: Temperature-heat flow diagram of the proposed CHP system
According to this Fig., the temperature of the working fluid
passed through the turbine decreased from 392.5 ºC to it to the saturated vapor state and then 9.295 × 105 kJ/h
81.75 ºC because of its expansion and power generation. heating energy is rejected from it as latent heat which leads
During this process, superheated steam converted into to producing some liquid in the stream (VF = 0.9819). It
a two-phase mixture of saturated liquid and vapor with should be noticed that the liquid water formed in this
96% quality by losing 1.59 × 107 kJ/h of heat. Then the process was due to the condensation of water vapor
working fluid passed through the condenser and is cooled produced during the combustion process. Regarding the
by cooling water. In the condenser, the working fluid is analysis of the behavior of the working fluid in the furnace,
first converted to the saturated liquid state (at constant it can be said that firstly the temperature of the working
temperature) by losing 5.534 × 107 kJ/h energy as latent fluid increases from 60.44 ºC to 254.3 ºC by receiving
heat. It then became subcooled liquid by losing 2.29 × 106 1.88 × 107 kJ/h of heat from the combustion of fuel
kJ/h energy as sensible heat and decreasing the in the furnace and becomes a saturated liquid. It then receives
temperature from 81.75 ºC to 60 ºC. The fracture observed 3.51 × 107 kJ/h more heating energy to make phase change
in the temperature-heat flow diagram of the condenser at a constant temperature and change the working fluid
is owing to the change in the type of heat transfer from the state to the saturated vapor. Then, the remaining heating
latent heat to the sensible heat. In addition, in order to more energy resulting from the fuel combustion, which is equal
utilization of the fuel energy and subsequently increasing to 0.66 × 107 kJ/h, is received by the working fluid leading
the system efficiency, the furnace’s flue gas is kept in to an increase the temperature of the steam and converted
contact with the working fluid in E-100 heat exchanger. it into a superheated state with a temperature of 395 ºC.
This led to reduce the flue gas temperature from 411.5 ºC The temperature-heat flow diagram presented in Fig.8,
to 65.44 ºC. In this process, the flue gas experiences two- confirms the expected physical phenomena occurred
step energy losses. Firstly, 1.23 × 107 kJ/h heating energy in each of the unit operations of the CHP system. It shows
is taken from the flue gas as sensible heat which changes cooling, heating, subcooling, superheating, and phase

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(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Fig. 9: The effect of the furnace’s inlet air temperature on the fuel consumption (a), turbine power output (b), flue gas temperature
(c), and condenser heat load (d)

changes (i.e. evaporation and condensation) in the chosen in many industrial processes. This is also
process of simultaneous production of heat and power. an important research topic to minimize the emission of
In addition, this confirmation can be a support for pollutants produced by the furnace and prevent
the simulation results. environmental pollution [32]. The efficiency of the furnace
can be enhanced by increasing the temperature of the
Effect of the furnace’s inlet air temperature on the supplied air to the furnace. This means that the working
system performance fluid needs less fuel to reach its desired temperature
In the proposed CHP system in this study, a furnace at the furnace outlet. On the other hand, increasing the
has been used to heat the working fluid. The performance supplied air temperature leads to an increase in furnace flue
of the furnace can be enhanced by alteration of operating gas temperature. Therefore, more energy can be recovered
parameters such as the temperature of the fuel and injected from these gases and utilized in the simultaneous production
air for combustion. Due to the hydrocarbon nature of the of electricity and heat. Fig. 9, shows the effect of the furnace’s
fuel and safety requirements, increasing the fuel inlet air temperature in the range of 25 to 60 ºC on the fuel
temperature is not recommended. Therefore, increasing consumption, turbine power production, flue gas temperature,
the air temperature can be a suitable option which has been and condenser heat load. It is obvious that increment of the

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air temperature increases the temperature of the flame. in this field can be done with a view to practical integration
Therefore, the increase of the furnace’s inlet air of CHP systems in FGR units.
temperature is allowed to some extent considering the
thermal resistance of the furnace pipes and the flue gas Nomenclature
thermal energy recovery heat exchanger. As shown 𝐶𝑝 Specific heat of flue gas (kJ/(kg·˚C))
in Fig. 9, increasing the inlet air temperature supplied (𝐻𝑉)115 Total heating value of line 115 (MJ/kg)
to the furnace increases the turbine power output, furnace (𝐻𝑉)𝑖 Heating value of each component (MJ/kg)
flue gas temperature, and condenser heat load and reduces 𝑚̇ Mass flow rate of flue gas (kg/h)
the furnace fuel consumption. A linearity can be seen in 𝑚̇𝑖 Mass flow rate of each component (kg/h)
Figs 9(a) and 9(c). The fuel mass flow rate is reduced ̇
𝑃𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 Net generated electric power (kW)
linearly by the increment of the inlet air temperature. 𝑄𝐻 Amount of heat received by the working
In addition, the stack’s temperature increases linearly fluid in the boiler (kJ/kg)
by the increase of the furnace’s inlet air temperature. 𝑄𝐿 Amount of heat rejected from the working
The results of linear regression are presented in the Figure. fluid in the consenser (kJ/kg)
𝑄̇ Amount of heat recovered from the hot
CONCLUSION flue gas leaving the furnace (kJ/h)
In this study, simulation of the combined heat and 𝑄̇𝑓𝑢𝑒𝑙 Amount of heat generated from the
power production using the fuel supplied from the flare gas combustion of the fuel (kW)
recovery unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Company was ̇
𝑄𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 Amount of thermal energy obtained in the
considered. A Rankine cycle utilizing water as the working condenser of the CHP system (kW)
fluid was used for simultaneous production of heat and 𝑠 Specific entropy of the working fluid
power. In this cycle, the mechanical power was generated (kJ/(kg·K))
by turbine and thermal energy was produced by the 𝑇𝐻 Working fluid temperature in the boiler
condenser. This study investigated the feasibility of (K)
establishment of a CHP system in the FGR unit from the 𝑇𝐿 Working fluid temperature in the condenser
energy efficiency, environment and economic viewpoints. (K)
The results of this study showed that recovery of flaring 𝑊𝑛𝑒𝑡 Net mechanical work produced by the
gases and using them in CHP unit as fuel will have about cycle (kJ/kg)
1.7 million dollars economic savings annually. Also, using
the thermal energy of hot flue gases resulted from the Greec Letters
combustion of fuel in the furnace to produce steam in 𝜂𝑐 Thermal efficiency of the Carnot cycle
a regenerator heat exchanger reduces the temperature 𝜂𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 Electrical efficiency of the CHP system
of these gases from 411.5 ºC to 65.44 ºC. At the same time, 𝜂ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 Thermal efficiency of the cogeneration
it prevents the release of 3,962 kW of thermal energy into system
the atmosphere. The amount of electricity and heat ∆𝑇 Temperature difference (˚C)
generated by the CHP system is about 4 MW and 16 MW,
respectively, corresponding to an electrical efficiency of Abbreviations
15.42 % and a thermal efficiency of 77.63 %. CHP Combined Heat and Power
The results of this study showed a promising FGR Flare Gas Recovery
performance for the integration of a CHP system in FGR HV Heating Value
unit of Tabriz Oil Refining Company. The main finding of NG Natural Gas
this research is that there are many environmental and ORC Organic Rankine Cycle
economically benefits if it is possible to establish a VF Vapor Fraction
combined heat and power production system in the flare
gas recovery unit in industries which have a significant
amount of flaring. The present study may be a step forward
towards the efficient use of energy sources. Future works Received : Aug. 18, 2022 ; Accepted : Nov. 21, 2022

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