The contributions of Prof. Jan Szargut to the exergy and environmental assessment of complex energy systems

This paper describes how the scientific contributions of Prof. Szargut and his co-workers have inspired the academic activities of the Exergy Team of the Laboratory of Environmental and Thermal Engineering (LETE) of the Polytechnic School of the University of Sao Paulo. The work of Prof. Szargut was at first used for preparing a course on Exergy Analysis, which has been taught since 1992 to MSc and Ph.D. students of the graduate program in Mechanical Engineering of the Polytechnic School of the University of Sao Paulo. Since then, the methods and concepts established by Prof. Szargut have played an important role in the development of the various research lines at LETE for the past fifteen years. Complex thermodynamic systems, such as petroleum production and refining plants, biofuel production routes, combined production of ethanol and electricity technologies, aircraft systems, environmental impact mitigation processes, CO2 capture units, ammonia production facilities, and the human body and its systems were analyzed using the concepts and tools suggested by Prof Szargut. The present article illustrates how the application of exergy analysis, thermoeconomic and environmental performance indicators, cumulative exergy consumption, definition of reference environment and chemical exergy can serve different purposes when evaluating thermodynamic systems. •The influence of the scientific contributions of Prof. Szargut to the academic activities at the Exergy Group LETE/USP is summarized.•The concepts of chemical exergy, the degree of thermodynamic perfection, and cumulative exergy consumption, as well as the sustainability index are reviewed.•The relevance of the exergy method to the teaching and study of complex energy systems is discussed.