This course aims at teaching the students techniques for the optimal design and synthesis of energy plants, with the aim of rational utilization of energy and economic resources. This is particularly important in energy intensive industrial plants as power plants, mechanical industries, food industries, pulp and paper, chemical industries, etc. Techniques focused on the thermodynamic, energetic and economic evaluation of these plants will be presented. The principles and methodologies for the optimal design and operation of plants and components will be analyzed in detail. In addition, the techniques for thermoeconomic analysis and process integration, finalized to the optimal use of natural resources (energy, water, etc.) as well as the minimization of investment and operation costs will be presented. The course is composed by lessons, where the theoretical aspects are analysed and various applications to real systems are presented as well.

At the end of this course, students are expected to know the techniques for design, analysis and optimization of thermal systems and their components: thermoeconomic analysis, single and multi-objective optimization, design improvement, thermal diagnosis, entropy generation minimization.

Engineering thermodynamics and heat transfer.

General problem of the energetic and economic optimization of a system: synthesis problem, optimal design and optimal operation.
Design and operation variables, constraints and objective functions. Principles for preliminary and optimal design of thermal plants.
Rational use of economic and energy resources.
Thermoeconomic analysis as a methodology for rational energy resources utilization. Evaluation of the total investment cost of a thermal plant. Cost functions of the components. Total cost of a systems. Thermoeconomic indicators for the system evaluation.
Possible interventions for increasing the rational utilization of the resources. Detection of the main components to be optimized in design and/or operation.
Optimization techniques: direct and indirect methods. Genetic algorithms. Multi-objective optimization. The Pareto front.
Techniques for the system synthesis: optimization of the system configuration. Synthesis and optimization of a district heating system. Process integration in the industry. Minimum consumption of energy and water.
Optimal design of components. Entropy generation minimization (EGM). Applications to the optimal geometry of devices.

The theoretical topics discussed during the lectures will be deepen by developing selected applications of thermal systems. Fossilbased advanced power systems will be investigated, as well as renewable systems including solar and biomass energy utilization.
Specific modeling tools for the solution of applications will be introduced during some lab activities scheduled in the framework of the course.

The students will be provided with material including topics discussed during the lectures and practices.

The exam will be held in oral form and it will deal with the topics discussed during the lectures and practices. Moreover, the students are asked to prepare and discuss some reports dealing with the thermoeconomic analysis of selected energy systems.