Exergoeconomic Analysis

Exergoeconomics is the branch of engineering that combines exergy analysis and economic principles to provide the system designer or operator with information not available through conventional energy analysis and economic evaluations but crucial to the design and operation of a cost-effective system (Bejan et al., Thermal design and optimization, Wiley, 1996). In fact, it provides extra information than exergy analysis for the design of cost-effective energy systems, as an exergy-aided cost-reduction method, by associating costs with exergy losses. It aims to calculate separately the costs of each product generated by a system having more than one product, to understand the cost-formation process and the flow of costs in the system, to optimize specific variables in a single component, or to optimize the overall system (Abusoglu and Kanoglu, Renaw Sust Energy Rev 13:2295–2308, 2009). Many examples of exergoeconomic approaches were found in literature and can be divided into two classes: (1) the exergoeconomic accounting methods that aim at the costing of product streams, the evaluation of components and systems, and the iterative optimization of energy systems; (2) the calculus approaches have as a goal the optimization of the overall system and the calculation of marginal costs (Atmaca and Yumrutas, Energy Convers Manag 79:790–798, 2014a; Atmaca and Yumrutas, Energy Convers Manag 79:799–808, 2014b).

The basic elements of exergoeconomics are presented in this work including cost balances, means for costing exergy transfers, and exergoeconomic variables used for the evaluation and optimization of a thermal or chemical system.