Power plants or thermal systems wherein products such as electricity and steam are generated affect the natural environment, as well as human society, through the discharging of wastes. The wastes from such plants may include ashes, flue gases, and hot water streams. The waste cost is of primary importance in plant operation and industrial ecology. Therefore, an appropriate approach for including waste cost in a thermoeconomic analysis is essential. In this study, a method to take waste cost into account in thermoeconomics to determine the production cost of products via thermoeconomic analysis is proposed. The calculation of the waste cost flow rates at the dissipative units and their allocation to system components are important to obtain the production cost of a plant.
Keywords: MOPSA method; SPECO method; allocation of the waste cost; thermoeconomic theory; unit cost of product.