In this study, energy demand of a faculty was aimed to supply with a hybrid energy system (HES) consisting of photovoltaic (PV) panels, wind turbine (WT) and bomass (BM) system with optimum power usage distribution and sized to reach a lowest cost and a reliable system. In this optimization, total net present cost (TNPC) for economic analysis, loss of power supply probability (LPSP) for reliability, and localized cost of energy (LCOE) for determining the unit energy cost were considered and an effective control algorithm was developed to decide the power source for improving system reliability. We used genetic algorithm (GA) and simulated annealing (SA), which are commonly used in the literature. On the other hand, we utilized the Grey Wolf Optimizer (GWO), which was recently found out and inspired by the hierarchy and hunting instincts of grey wolves. The results of GWO algorithm were also compared with GA and SA and confirmed that GWO is satisfying. GWO achieved better results to solve problems by setting LPSP to both 0.02 and 0.01 upper limits. When LPSP set to 0.02 maximum point, GWO suggested PV system at 86.39 kW power and BG at 50 kW power. Consequently, the energy requirement of a faculty was supplied by an optimized and designed PV/WT/BM HES. In addition, by the installation of optimized system, 144.29 tons of CO₂ emissions per year will be reduced.

In this study, results of HTRI Xchanger software used in the analysis of shell and tube heat exchangers (STHE), and Kern and Bell-Delaware methods, which are the conventional methods used for calculation of shell side heat transfer coefficient (SSHTC) and pressure loss (PL), were compared with experimental data. An experimental study was considered for Heat exchanger (HE) dimensions and fluid properties from literature. Then SSHTC and PL values were calculated using Kern and Bell-Delaware methods and HTRI Xchanger software for the measured shell side flowrates. SSHTC and PL values calculated for lower shell side mass flowrates by Kern method deviated from experimental results at low ratios. In addition, deviations in high flowrates values increasingly moved away from experimental results. In the Bell-Delaware method, although low deviations were observed in the high shell-side mass flowrates, the deviations increased at low flow rates and diverged from the experimental results. The deviation of SSHTC values calculated by the HTRI Xchanger program was found to be massively independent from the shell side flowrate. In addition, as in Bell-Delaware method, it has been observed that deviations in the shell side pressure loss (SSPL) calculations increased with increasing shell-side mass flowrate. As a result, SSHTC was calculated with average deviations of + 17, −11, and + 18%, by Kern and Bell-Delaware methods and HTRI Xchanger software respectively. Similarly, shell side PL was found with + 64, −25, and −32% average deviation, respectively.