Design and assessment of a solar-driven combined system with hydrogen production, liquefaction and storage options
Mehmet Gursoy, İbrahim Dinçer
Abstract
There has been an increased interest in tackling with the crucial issue of providing energy needs sustainably and effectively without using fossil fuels. The present study, in this regard, aims to focus on using solar energy for various purposes, which aligns with the overall objective of shifting towards more environmentally friendly and sustainable energy options. This proposed system not only helps decrease greenhouse gas emissions but also tackles the increasing demands for power, fresh water, and liquid hydrogen production and storage. The present system, therefore, integrates a solar power tower, Brayton-Rankine cycle, multi-effect desalination unit, proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer, and Linde-Hampson hydrogen liquefaction cycle. Both the Engineering Equation Solver and the System Advisor Model software packages are employed to perform comprehensive thermodynamic evaluations, examine both energy and exergetic efficiencies, thermal storage capacity and simulate the behaviour of the integrated power process. The system can generate 47,304 tons of freshwater per year, 5975.4 kW of liquid hydrogen, and 103.28 MW of electricity. The thermal efficiency is 41.2% during both the charging and discharging processes. The exergy and energy efficiencies of the proposed system are determined to be 41% and 39%, respectively.