Multigeneration system exergy analysis and thermal management of an industrial glassmaking process linked with a Cu–Cl cycle for hydrogen production

A multigeneration system for hydrogen production linked with a glassmaking process via thermal management is examined in this study. The exhaust gas is interconnected with a Rankine cycle and the copper-chlorine (Cu–Cl) cycle for hydrogen production. The present system consists of a steam Rankine cycle, Cu–Cl cycle with multistage compression, double-stage organic Rankine cycle, and multi-effect desalination system. A Cu–Cl cycle based on the four-step model is employed with the proposed system. The useful system outputs are electricity, hydrogen, and fresh water. The simulation software packages utilized in the analysis and modeling are Engineering Equation Solver and Aspen Plus. The energy efficiency of the overall system is 36.5% while 38.1% is the exergy efficiency. The parametric studies are conducted to investigate the system performance. In addition, the effects of exhaust gas variables, such as flow rate, temperature, and pressure are examined to investigate the system performance.     

Energy and exergy analyses of a solar driven Mg–Cl hybrid thermochemical cycle for co-production of power and hydrogen

Analysis and performance assessment of a solar driven hydrogen production plant running on an Mg–Cl cycle, are conducted through energy and exergy methods. The proposed system consists of (a) a concentrating solar power cycle with thermal energy storage, (b) a steam power plant with reheating and regeneration, and (c) a hybrid thermochemical Mg–Cl hydrogen production cycle. The results show that higher steam to magnesium molar ratios are required for full yield of reactants at the hydrolysis step. This ratio even increases at low temperatures, although lowering the highest temperatures appears to be more favorable for linking such a cycle to lower temperature energy sources. Reducing the maximum cycle temperature decreases the plant energy and exergy efficiencies and may cause some undesirable reactions and effects. The overall system energy and exergy efficiencies are found to be 18.8% and 19.9%, respectively, by considering a solar heat input. These efficiencies are improved to 26.9% and 40.7% when the heat absorbed by the molten salt is considered and used as a main energy input to the system. The highest exergy destruction rate occurs in the solar field which accounts for 79% of total exergy destruction of the integrated system.     

Performance analysis of a novel solar PTC integrated system for multi-generation with hydrogen production

The performance analysis of a novel multi-generation (MG) system that is developed for electricity, cooling, hot water and hydrogen production is presented in this study. MG systems in literature are predominantly built on a gas cycle, integrated with other thermodynamic cycles. The aim of this study is to achieve better thermodynamic (energy and exergy) performance using a MG system (without a gas cycle) that produces hydrogen. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) utilizes some of the electricity generated by the MG system to produce hydrogen. Two Rankine cycles with regeneration and reheat principles are used in the MG configuration. Double effect and single effect absorption cycles are also used to produce cooling. The electricity, hot water, cooling effect, and hydrogen production from the multi-generation are 1027 kW, 188.5 kW, 11.23 kg/s and 0.9785 kg/h respectively. An overall energy and exergy efficiency of 71.6% and 24.5% respectively is achieved considering the solar parabolic trough collector (PTC) input and this can increase to 93.3% and 31.9% if the input source is 100% efficient. The greenhouse gas emission reduction of this MG system is also analyzed.     

Design and energy evaluation of a stand‐alone copper‐chlorine (Cu‐Cl) thermochemical cycle system for trigeneration of electricity,hydrogen, and oxygen

In this article, a new stand‐alone Cu‐Cl cycle system (SACuCl) for trigeneration of electricity, hydrogen, and oxygen using a combination of a specific combined heat and power (CHP) unit and a 2‐step Cu‐Cl cycle using a CuCl/HCl electrolyzer is presented. Based on the self‐heat recuperation technology for the CHP unit and the heat integration of the Cu‐Cl cycle unit, the power efficiency of the SACuCl for 5 prescribed scenarios (case studies) is predicted to achieve about 48% at least. The SACuCl uses the technologies of the dry reforming of methane and the oxy‐fuel combustion to achieve a relatively high CO₂ concentration in the flue gas, and CO₂ emissions for power generation could be almost restricted by 0.418 kg/kWh. From the aspect of the electricity required for hydrogen production, it is verified that the 2‐step Cu‐Cl cycle system is superior to the conventional water electrolyzer because the CHP process supplies the heat/electricity for Cu‐Cl thermochemical reactions and a thermoelectric generator is connected to the exhaust gas for recovering the power consumption from the compressor and the CuCl/HCl electrolyzer. Finally, the heat exchanger network and the pinch technology are employed to determine the optimum heat recovery of the Cu‐Cl cycle. In case 5 analyzed for the SACuCl, the electricity required for the heat‐integrated 2‐step Cu‐Cl cycle is predicted to dramatically decrease from 4.39 to 0.452 kWh/m³ H₂ and the cycle energy efficiency could be obviously increased from 23.77 to 31.97%.     

Development of an integrated thermochemical cycle-based hydrogen production and effective utilization

In this study, an assessment of a renewable energy-based hybrid sulfur-bromine cycle for hydrogen fuel production and effective utilization is performed since the present era requires lots of hydrogen for fueling many systems. Hydrogen, produced by the hybrid sulfur-bromine cycle, is supplied to the combustion subsystems by blending with natural gas for residential use. Solar and wind energy sources are potentially considered as renewable energies for green hydrogen production. Also, a drying unit is included with an incineration subsystem. A desalination unit is also integrated to produce freshwater for the community. In this way, electricity, heat, and clean water required both for the community and the subsystems are supplied. The integrated system is then assessed in terms of energy and exergy efficiencies. Here, 0.233 kg/s of natural gas and hydrogen blend and 1.338 kg/s of biomass are provided to the system. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the overall system are determined to be 64.43% and 32.24%.     

Thermo-economic analysis and optimization of the very high temperature gas-cooled reactor-based nuclear hydrogen production system using copper-chlorine cycle

An improved very high temperature gas-cooled reactor (VHTR) and copper-chlorine (Cu–Cl) cycle-based nuclear hydrogen production system is proposed and investigated in this paper, in order to reveal the unknown thermo-economic characteristics of the system under variable operating conditions. Energy, exergy and economic analysis method and particle swarm optimization algorithm are used to model and optimize the system, respectively. Parametric analysis of the effects of several key operating parameters on the system performance is conducted, and energy loss, exergy loss, and investment cost distributions of the system are discussed under three typical production modes. Results show that increasing the reactor subsystem pressure ratio can enhance the system's thermo-economic performance, and the total efficiencies and cost of producing compressed hydrogen from nuclear energy are respectively lower and higher than that of generating electricity. When the system operates at the maximum hydrogen production rate of 403.1 mol/s, the system's net electrical power output, thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency, and specific energy cost are found to be 38.77 MW, 39.3%, 41.26%, and 0.0731 $/kW·h, respectively. And when the system's hydrogen production load equals to 0, these values are respectively calculated to be 177.25 MW, 50.64%, 53.29%, and 0.0268 $/kW·h. In addition, more than 90% of the system's total energy losses are caused by condenser and Cu–Cl cycle, and about 50–60% of the system's total exergy destructions occur in VHTR. About 60% and 30% of the system's specific energy cost are respectively caused by the equipment investment and the system operation & maintenance, and the investment costs of VHTR and Cu–Cl plant are the system's main capital investment sources.     

Investigation of an integrated system with industrial thermal management options for carbon emission reduction and hydrogen and ammonia production

A new integrated energy system employing the cement slag waste heat is uniquely proposed in this study. The core focus of the proposed system is to generate clean hydrogen thermochemically and convert it into ammonia. The designed system consists of the copper–chlorine (Cu–Cl) cycle, a cryogenic air separation unit and a steam Rankine cycle while the useful commodities produced by the proposed system are hydrogen, ammonia, oxygen, hot water and electricity. A CO₂ emission analysis is also conducted to calculate the emissions which can be avoided by recovering this waste heat. The Aspen Plus simulation software is utilized to model and simulate the proposed integrated system. A thermochemical water splitting process is incorporated into the system for hydrogen production. The cryogenic air separation unit is integrated in order to separate nitrogen from the air. This proposed system also reduces the environmental effects of the flue gas emitted by the cement industry. Multiple parametric studies are performed to investigate the system performance by varying operating conditions and state properties. The energy analysis is implemented on each component of the designed system. The overall energy efficiency of the system is concluded as 30.1%. The amount of CO₂ emissions which can be avoided by utilizing this waste heat is 29.64 ktonne/5 years.     

Energy and exergy analyses and optimization study of an integrated solar heliostat field system for hydrogen production

In this paper, we propose an integrated system, consisting of a heliostat field, a steam cycle, an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) and an electrolyzer for hydrogen production. Some parameters, such as the heliostat field area and the solar flux are varied to investigate their effect on the power output, the rate of hydrogen produced, and energy and exergy efficiencies of the individual systems and the overall system. An optimization study using direct search method is also carried out to obtain the highest energy and exergy efficiencies and rate of hydrogen produced by choosing several independent variables. The results show that the power and rate of hydrogen produced increase with increase in the heliostat field area and the solar flux. The rate of hydrogen produced increases from 0.006 kg/s to 0.063 kg/s with increase in the heliostat field area from 8000 m² to 50,000 m². Moreover, when the solar flux is increased from 400 W/m² to 1200 W/m², the rate of hydrogen produced increases from 0.005 kg/s to 0.018 kg/s. The optimization study yields maximum energy and exergy efficiencies and the rate of hydrogen produced of 18.74%, 39.55% and 1571 L/s, respectively.     

A theoretical study of molten carbonate fuel cell combined with a solar power plant and Cu–Cl thermochemical cycle based on techno-economic analysis

A novel power and hydrogen coproduction system is designed and analyzed from energetic and economic point of view. Power is simultaneously produced from parabolic trough collector power plant and molten carbonate fuel cell whereas hydrogen is generated in a three-steps Cu–Cl thermochemical cycle. The key component of the system is the molten carbonate fuel cell that provides heat to others (Cu–Cl thermochemical cycle and steam accumulator). A mathematic model is developed for energetic and economic analyses. A parametric study is performed to assess the impact of some parameters on the system performance. From calculations, it is deduced that electric energy from fuel cell, solar plant and output hydrogen mass are respectively 578 GWh, 25 GWh and 306 tons. The overall energy efficiency of the proposed plants is 46.80 % and its LCOE is 7.64 c€/kWh. The use of MCFC waste heat allows increasing the solar power plant efficiency by 2.15 % and reducing the annual hydrogen consumption by 3 %. Parametric analysis shows that the amount of heat recovery impacts the energy efficiency of fuel cell and Cu–Cl cycle. Also, current density is a key parameter that influences the system efficiency.     

Thermodynamic evaluation of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with very high temperature gas-cooled reactors

Hydrogen production using thermal energy, derived from nuclear reactor, can achieve large-scale hydrogen production and solve various energy problems. The concept of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration can realize the cascade and efficient utilization of high-temperature heat derive for very high temperature gas-cooled reactors (VHTRs). High-quality heat is used for the high-temperature processes of hydrogen production, and low-quality heat is used for the low-temperature processes of hydrogen production and power generation. In this study, two hydrogen and electricity cogeneration schemes (S1 and S2), based on the iodine-sulfur process, were proposed for a VHTR with the reactor outlet temperature of 950 °C. The thermodynamic analysis model was established for the hydrogen and electricity cogeneration. The energy and exergy analysis were conducted on two cogeneration systems. The energy analysis can reflect the overall performance of the systems, and the exergy analysis can reveal the weak parts of the systems. The analysis results show that the overall hydrogen and electricity efficiency of S1 is higher than that of S2, which are 43.6% and 39.2% at the hydrogen production rate of 100 mol/s, respectively. The steam generators is the components with the highest exergy loss coefficient, which are the key components for improving the system performance. This study presents a theoretical foundation for the subsequent optimization of hydrogen and electricity cogeneration coupled with VHTRs.     

Development and analysis of a novel biomass-based integrated system for multigeneration with hydrogen production

Energy and exergy analyses of an integrated system based on anaerobic digestion (AD) of sewage sludge from wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for multi-generation are investigated in this study. The multigeneration system is operated by the biogas produced from digestion process. The useful outputs of this system are power, freshwater, heat, and hydrogen while there are some heat recoveries within the system for improving efficiency. An open-air Brayton cycle, as well as organic Rankine cycle (ORC) with R-245fa as working fluid, are employed for power generation. Also, desalination is performed using the waste heat of power generation unit through a parallel/cross multi-effect desalination (MED) system for water purification. Moreover, a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer is used for electrochemical hydrogen production option in the case of excess electricity generation. The heating process is performed via the rejected heat of the ORC's working fluid. The production rates for products including the power, freshwater, hydrogen, and hot water are obtained as 1102 kW, 0.94 kg/s, 0.347 kg/h, and 1.82 kg/s, respectively, in the base case conditions. Besides, the overall energy and exergy efficiencies of 63.6% and 40% are obtained for the developed system, respectively.     

Thermodynamic analysis and assessment of an integrated hydrogen fuel cell system for ships

In this thermodynamic investigation, an integrated energy system based on hydrogen fuel is developed and studied energetically and exergetically. The liquefied hydrogen fueled solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) based system is then integrated with a steam producing cycle to supply electricity and potable water to ships. The first heat recovery system, after the fuel cells provide thrust for the ship, is by means of a turbine while the second heat recovery system drives the ship's refrigeration cycle. This study includes energy and exergy performance evaluations of SOFC, refrigeration cycle and ship thrust engine systems. Furthermore, the effectiveness of SOFCs and a hydrogen fueled engine in reducing greenhouse gas emissions are assessed parametrically through a case study. The main propulsion, power generation from the solid oxide fuel cells, absorption chiller, and steam bottoming cycle systems together have the overall energy and exergy efficiencies of 41.53% and 37.13%, respectively.     

Performance assessment of solar-driven integrated Mg–Cl cycle for hydrogen production

The present study develops a new solar energy system integrated with a Mg–Cl thermochemical cycle for hydrogen production and analyzes it both energetically and exergetically for efficiency assessment. The solar based integrated Mg–Cl cycle system considered here consists of five subsystems, such as: (i) heliostat field subsystem, (ii) central receiver subsystem, (iii) steam generation subsystem, (iv) conventional power cycle subsystem and (v) Mg–Cl subsystem. Also, the inlet and outlet energy and exergy rates of all of subsystems are calculated and illustrated accordingly. We also undertake a parametric study to investigate how the overall system performance is affected by the reference environment temperature and operating conditions. As a result, the overall energy and exergy efficiencies of the considered system are found to be 18.18% and 19.15%, respectively. The results show that the Mg–Cl cycle has good potential and attractive overall cycle efficiencies over 50%.     

Design and modeling of a multigeneration system driven by waste heat of a marine diesel engine

In this study, a novel marine diesel engine waste heat recovery layout is designed and thermodynamically analyzed for hydrogen production, electricity generation, water desalination, space heating, and cooling purposes. The integrated system proposed in this study utilizes waste heat from a marine diesel engine to charge an organic Rankine and an absorption refrigeration cycle. The condenser of the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) provides the heat for the single stage flash distillation unit (FDU) process, which uses seawater as the feedwater. A portion of the produced freshwater is used to supply the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer array. This study aims to store the excess desalinated water in ballast tanks after an Ultraviolet (UV) treatment. Therefore it is expected to preclude the damage of ballast water discharge on marine fauna. The integrated system's thermodynamic analysis is performed using the Engineering Equation Solver software package. All system components are subjected to performance assessments based on their energy and exergy efficiencies. Additionally, the capacities for power generation, freshwater production, hydrogen production, and cooling are determined. A parametric study is conducted to evaluate the impacts of operating conditions on the overall system. The system's overall energy and exergy efficiencies are calculated as 25% and 13%, respectively, where the hydrogen production, power generation, and freshwater production capacities are 306.8 kg/day, 659 kW, and 0.536 kg/s, respectively. Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the absorption refrigeration cycle is calculated as 0.41.     

Development and assessment of a new solar-based trigeneration system using hydrogen for vehicular application in a self-sustained community

In the present study, a new solar-based energy system for a self-sustained community is presented and analysed via the principles of thermodynamics. The presented system can meet the electricity demand, cooling load, and hydrogen (for the refueling of the vehicles) in a community by using a solar heliostat system (based on molten salt) in remote areas. Steam Rankine cycle is used to feed the electricity demand while some of the steam is bled out to operate the two-stage ammonia water-based absorption system for the cooling application. The result of the present study shows that with a heliostat area of 6000 m², 372 kW of electricity, 610 kW of cooling capacity, and 7.2 kg/h of hydrogen is generated. Furthermore, exergy analysis results reveal that the maximum exergy destruction takes place in the central receiver (1170 kW) followed by heliostat (980 kW). The performance assessment of the overall presented system is made via exergy and energy efficiencies and estimated as 17.7%, and 38.9% respectively. Effects of some crucial parameters such as direct normal irradiance, evaporator temperature, the bleeding ratio, etc. have been studied on the overall system performance.     

A specific exergy costing assessment of the integrated copper-chlorine cycle for hydrogen production

In this study the specific exergy costing (SPECO) approach is employed on a four-step integrated thermochemical copper-chlorine (Cu Cl) cycle for hydrogen production for a second-law based assessment purposes. The Cu–Cl cycle is considered as one of the most environmentally benign and sustainable options of producing hydrogen and is thus investigated in this study due to its potential of ensuring zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Several conceptual Cu–Cl cycles have been exergoeconomically examined previously, however this study aims at investigating the four-step integrated Cu–Cl cycle developed at the Clean Energy Research Laboratory (CERL) at the Ontario Tech University thereby contributing to the thermo/exergoeconomic assessments of the thermochemical hydrogen production. In this study, the cycle is first thermodynamically modeled and simulated in a process simulation software (Aspen Plus) through exergy and energy approaches. The basic principles of the SPECO methodology are applied to the system and exergetic cost balances are performed for each cycle component. The exergetic costing of each cycle stream is then performed based on the cost balance equations. The purchased equipment cost and the hourly levelized capital cost rates for each cycle component is also obtained. The exergoeconomic factor, relative cost difference and exergy destruction cost rate for various cycle components are also evaluated. Moreover, the effect of several parameters on the total and hourly levelized capital cost rates is analyzed by performing a comprehensive sensitivity analysis. Based on the analysis, the exergy cost, the unit or specific exergy cost, and the unit costs of hydrogen are evaluated to be 6407.55 $/h, 0.042 $/MJ, and 4.94 $/kg respectively.     

A new integrated renewable energy system for clean electricity and hydrogen fuel production

In this paper, a new renewable energy-based cogeneration system for hydrogen and electricity production is developed. Three different methods for hydrogen production are integrated with Rankine cycle for electricity production using solar energy as an energy source. In addition, a simple Rankine cycle is utilized for producing electricity. This integrated system consists of solar steam reforming cycle using molten salt as a heat carrier, solar steam reforming cycle using a volumetric receiver reactor, and electrolysis of water combined with the Rankine cycle. These cycles are simulated numerically using the Engineering Equation Solver (EES) based on the thermodynamic analyses. The overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the proposed system are determined, and the exergy destruction and entropy generation rates of all subcomponents are evaluated. A comprehensive parametric study for evaluating various critical parameters on the overall performance of the system is performed. The study results show that both energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system reach 28.9% and 31.1%, respectively. The highest exergy destruction rates are found for the steam reforming furnace and the volumetric receiver reforming reactor (each with about 20%). Furthermore, the highest entropy generation rates are obtained for the steam reforming furnace and the volumetric receiver reforming reactor, with values of 174.1 kW/K and 169.3 kW/K, respectively. Additional parametric studies are undertaken to investigate how operating conditions affect the overall system performance. The results report that 60.25% and 56.14% appear to be the highest exergy and energy efficiencies at the best operating conditions.     

Upgrading waste heat from a cement plant for thermochemical hydrogen production

A calcium oxide/steam chemical heat pump (CHP) is presented in the study as a means to upgrade waste heat from industrial processes for thermochemical hydrogen production. The CHP is used to upgrade waste heat for the decomposition of copper oxychloride (CuO.CuCl₂) in a copper–chlorine (Cu–Cl) thermochemical cycle. A formulation is presented for high temperature steam electrolysis and thermochemical splitting of water using waste heat of a cement plant. Numerical models are presented for verifying the availability of energy for potential waste heat upgrading in cement plants. The optimal hydration and decomposition temperatures for the calcium oxide/steam reversible reaction of 485 K and 565 K respectively are obtained for the combined heat pump and thermochemical cycle. The coefficient of performance and overall efficiency of 4.6 and 47.8% respectively are presented and discussed for the CHP and hydrogen production from the cement plant.     

Thermodynamic analysis of a multigeneration system using solid oxide cells for renewable power-to-X conversion

A hybrid renewable-based integrated energy system for power-to-X conversion is designed and analyzed. The system produces several valuable commodities: Hydrogen, electricity, heat, ammonia, urea, and synthetic natural gas (SNG). Hydrogen is produced and stored for power generation from solar energy by utilizing solid oxide electrolyzers and fuel cells. Ammonia, urea, and synthetic natural gas are produced to mitigate hydrogen transportation and storage complexities and act as energy carriers or valuable chemical products. The system is analyzed from a thermodynamic perspective, the exergy destruction rates are compared, and the effects of different parameters are evaluated. The overall system's energy efficiency is 56%, while the exergy efficiency is 14%. The highest exergy destruction occurs in the Rankine cycle with 48 MW. The mass flow rates of the produced chemicals are 0.064, 0.088, and 0.048 kg/s for ammonia, urea, and SNG, respectively.     

Energy,exergy and economic analyses and multiobjective optimization of a novel solar multi-generation system for production of green hydrogen and other utilities

Renewable energy based multi-generation systems can help solving energy-related environmental problems. For this purpose, a novel solar tower-based multi-generation system is proposed for the green hydrogen production as the main product. A solar-driven open Brayton cycle with intercooling, regeneration and reheat is coupled with a regenerative Rankine cycle and a Kalina cycle-11 as a unique series of power cycles. Significant portion of the produced electricity is utilized to produce green hydrogen in an electrolyzer. A thermal energy storage, a single-effect absorption refrigeration cycle and two domestic hot water heaters are also integrated. Energy, exergy and economic analyses are performed to examine the performance of the proposed system, and a detailed parametric analysis is conducted. Multiobjective optimization is carried out to determine the optimum performance. Optimum energy and exergy efficiencies, unit exergy product cost and total cost rate are calculated as 39.81%, 34.44%, 0.0798 $/kWh and 182.16 $/h, respectively. Products are 22.48 kg/h hydrogen, 1478 kW power, 225.5 kW cooling and 7.63 kg/s domestic hot water. Electrolyzer power size is found as one of the most critical decision variables. Solar subsystem has the largest exergy destruction. Regenerative Rankine cycle operates at the highest energy and exergy efficiencies among power cycles.