Design, analysis, and multi-objective optimization of LNG cold energy cascade utilization CCHP system including ORC, cold storage, and data center cooling

To effectively recover LNG cold energy and waste heat from flue gas, a novel LNG cold energy cascade utilization system was constructed using Aspen HYSYS software. The system consists of a triple-stage ORC power generation system, a cold storage system, and a data centre cooling system. The performance of the proposed system was evaluated in detail through thermodynamic and economic analyses. The effects of several key parameters on system performance were studied, and the system’s performance was optimized using the Multi-Objective Sunflower Optimization (MOSFO) and the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II). After investigating the suggested system’s ideal performance, it was shown that MOSFO performs better than NSGA-II. According to the findings, the suggested system has a net power production of 1781.87 kW under beginning conditions, a payback period of 2.16 years, a total investment cost of 4,630,135.92 $, a thermal efficiency of 53.08 %, and an exergy efficiency of 30.14 %. Following optimization, the payback period was shortened by 0.05 years and the exergy efficiency rose by 1.83 %.