Title: Application of life cycle assessment and exergy analysis in a combined cycle power plant using natural gas at Lavrion, Greece

Authors: Christopher Koroneos, Dimitris Dimou, Nikos Andrinopoulos, Nicolas Moussiopoulos

Addresses: Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 483, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. ' Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 483, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. ' Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 483, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece. ' Laboratory of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 483, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece

Abstract: Natural gas (NG) has been penetrating the Greek energy market in the last few years. The first electricity production plant using NG in Greece was built in the city of Lavrion, South of Athens. This power plant uses combined cycle and has a capacity of 174 MW. The application of the life cycle analysis (LCA) tool enables us to perform a quantitative and qualitative analysis of all environmental impacts of the plant. The extension of LCA to an exergetic life cycle analysis (ELCA) leads to the evaluation of the thermodynamic imperfection of the production processes. This approach allows for a holistic view of the performance of the power plant. The environmental impact categories that were analysed are the global warming, smog formation, acidification, nitrification, ozone depletion, abiotic or resource depletion and land use. The application of ELCA has led to the analysis of the exergy content of the flue gases.

Keywords: electricity generation; natural gas; life cycle assessment; exergy analysis; exergetic LCA; ELCA; Greece; power plants; environmental impact; thermodynamics; global warming; smog formation; acidification; nitrification; ozone depletion; resource depletion; land use; flue gases.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPEC.2011.041887

International Journal of Power and Energy Conversion, 2011 Vol.2 No.4, pp.365 - 386

Received: 12 Oct 2010
Accepted: 09 Jan 2011
Published online: 29 Jan 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article