Enhancing cellulose industry sustainability: Thermodynamic, exergo-economic and environmental analysis and multi-objective optimization of a gasification-ORC system for wood residue utilization

In the pursuit of sustainable energy solutions, renewable energy sources like biomass offer significant potential to meet global energy demands while reducing environmental impacts. This study evaluates power generation from waste energy in the cellulose industry using an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with a flash chamber integrated with a wood chip-based gasification system. The analysis, conducted from energy, exergy, economic, and environmental perspectives, was performed using EES software, with the gasification model validated using data from the Artavil Industrial Group’s gasification system to ensure reliable simulation results. The findings demonstrate that the ORC with flash chamber effectively recovers waste heat, reducing fossil fuel dependency and improving waste management by utilizing wood residues. The flash chamber enhances phase separation and heat recovery efficiency, enabling isobutene to achieve net power output up to 300 kW and thermodynamic efficiencies of 58–54 % due to favorable vapor phase behavior. Conversely, R11 exhibited superior economic and environmental performance, with a sum unit cost of product (SUCP) as low as 7.05 $/GJ and carbon dioxide emission rate (CDER) of 104.6 kg/MWh. Parametric analyses revealed that increasing wood chip mass flow rate enhanced power output but reduced efficiencies. In this regard, a combustion chamber temperature higher than 700–900 K reduced the power output from 354.4 to 204.3 kW and the efficiency from 59.47 % to 56.1 % for isobutene. Results highlight the importance of fluid selection, flash chamber operation, and operational optimization to balance energy efficiency, cost, and environmental impact. The study underscores the ORC’s viability for sustainable power generation in the cellulose industry, offering insights for system design and future research.