Thermodynamic analysis and optimization of an integrated solar thermochemical hydrogen production system

In this study, thermodynamic analysis of solar-based hydrogen production via copper-chlorine (Cu–Cl) thermochemical water splitting cycle is presented. The integrated system utilizes air as the heat transfer fluid of a cavity-pressurized solar power tower to supply heat to the Cu–Cl cycle reactors and heat exchangers. To achieve continuous operation of the system, phase change material based on eutectic fluoride salt is used as the thermal energy storage medium. A heat recovery system is also proposed to use the potential waste heat of the Cu–Cl cycle to produce electricity and steam. The system components are investigated thoroughly and system hotspots, exergy destructions and overall system performance are evaluated. The effects of varying major input parameters on the overall system performance are also investigated. For the baseline, the integrated system produces 343.01 kg/h of hydrogen, 41.68 MW of electricity and 11.39 kg/s of steam. Overall system energy and exergy efficiencies are 45.07% and 49.04%, respectively. Using Genetic Algorithm (GA), an optimization is performed to evaluate the maximum amount of produced hydrogen. The optimization results show that by selecting appropriate input parameters, hydrogen production rate of 491.26 kg/h is achieved.