Levelized electricity costing per carbon dioxide intensity of an organic Rankine cycle by using a water hyacinth-municipal solid waste fuel

The potential of using a new type of water hyacinth and municipal solid waste at the ratio of 50:50 %wt as a heat source for a 20 kWe organic Rankine cycle has been determined in terms of energy, economic and environment aspects (3E model). From the testing results, it was found that the thermal performance of the ORC efficiency shows a linear correlation with the temperature different of heat source and heat sink at amplified by 8–9%. Levelized electricity costing from a water hyacinth-MSW-ORC (WMORC) system was determined to be 0.086 USD/kWh. The environmental impacts, 0.172 kg CO2-eq of greenhouse gas emission was estimated from the utilization of 1 kg of the new fuel. The LCA of the WMORC system was 0.6078 kg CO2-eq for the electrical energy generation of 1 kWh. In the 3E model assessment, a new parameter of levelized electricity costing per carbon dioxide intensity was defined and was found to be 0.052 USD·kg CO2-eq/kWh2, which was 20% lower compared to 0.065 USD·kg CO2-eq/kWh2 from the standard power plant in Thailand. Thus, this technique is an alternative sustainable solution to tackle the energy crisis, to limit waste as well as to reduce CO2 emission in Thailand.