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Design and analysis of a hybrid concentrated photovoltaic thermal system integrated with an organic Rankine cycle for hydrogen production

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Abstract

Solar is one of the most promising energy sources because of the abundance of solar radiation in certain parts of the world. One of the main limiting factors of using traditional photovoltaic cells is that they require a lot of space to generate a significant amount of power. The alternative method, the concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) module, does not utilize the infrared part of the spectrum; thus, the concentrated photovoltaic thermal (CPVT) module was developed. In this paper, the design of a CPVT system coupling with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) is analyzed where the CPVT thermal receiver acts as a heat exchanger in ORC to generate additional electrical power. The generated power by hybrid CPVT–ORC system is converted to hydrogen by an electrolysis system to store power. The performance of hydrogen production system using an integrated CPVT–ORC power generation system is analytically evaluated, and the results of the modeling and analyses are presented, involving assessments of the influence of varying several design parameters on the rate of hydrogen production. The CPVT and ORC together produce up to 1152 W of electricity under 160 suns solar concentration. When all the electricity is supplied to an electrolyzer, 0.1587 kg of 99.99% pure hydrogen is produced and stored for future use in a fuel cell. The electrolyzer operates at up to 57% efficiency and has an average performance of 725.5 kWh kg−1. The results revealed that coupling ORC to the CPVT enables the system to improve the electrical power generation and consequently diurnal hydrogen production increases up to 30%.

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Abbreviations

AEC:

Alkaline electrolyzer cell

CHP:

Combined heat and power

CPC:

Compound parabolic concentrator

CPV:

Concentrating photovoltaic

CPVT:

Concentrating photovoltaic thermal

HTF:

Heat transfer fluid

IR:

Infrared

LFR:

Linear Fresnel lens reflectors

MJSC:

Multijunction solar cell

ORC:

Organic Rankine cycle

PEC:

Photoelectrochemical

PEM:

Proton exchange membrane or polymer electrolyte membrane

PEMEC:

Proton exchange membrane or polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyzer cell

PTC:

Parabolic trough collector

PV:

Photovoltaic

SPD:

Solar parabolic dish

SPT:

Solar power tower

ST:

Steam turbine

TIP:

Turbine inlet pressure

TIT:

Turbine inlet temperature

TJC:

Triple junction cell

UV:

Ultraviolet

\(R_{\text{E}}\) :

Performance of the electrolyzer

\(A_{\text{E}}\) :

Electrolyzer cell area (m2)

\({\text{CP}}_{\text{H}}\) :

Specific heat capacity of hydrogen (J kg−1 K−1)

\(F\) :

Faraday constant (A s mol−1)

h :

Enthalpy (J kg−1)

\(I_{\text{E}}\) :

Electrolyzer current (A)

\(I_{{{\text{EC}},\hbox{max} }}\) :

Electrolyzer cell maximum current (A)

\(L_{\hbox{min} }\) :

Minimum electrical load requirement (W)

\(L_{\text{v}}\) :

Latent heat value (J kg−1)

\(M_{{{\text{H}}_{2} }}\) :

Molar mass of hydrogen (g mol−1)

\(\dot{m}_{{{\text{H}}_{2} ,{\text{T}}}}\) :

Hydrogen production mass flow rate from electrolyzer (kg h−1)

\(\dot{m}_{\text{r}}\) :

Refrigerant mass flow rate (kg s−1)

\(n\) :

Electrons requirement for splitting water

\(n_{\text{H}}\) :

Number of moles of hydrogen gas in storage tank (mol)

\(n_{\text{ta}}\) :

Instantaneous number of moles of hydrogen gas in storage tank (mol)

\(N_{\text{CM}}\) :

Number of solar cells in one panel

\(N_{\text{EC}}\) :

Number of cells of electrolyzer

\({\text{NP}}_{\text{CPV}}\) :

Number of CPV panels

\(\dot{n}_{{{\text{E}},{\text{H}}_{2} }}\) :

Hydrogen production flow rate from electrolyzer (mol s−1)

\(P_{\text{com}}\) :

Hydrogen compressor power (W)

\(P_{\text{CPV - ORC}}\) :

CPV-ORC power output (W)

\(P_{\text{E}}\) :

Pressure of hydrogen production from electrolyzer (Pa)

\(P_{\text{H}}\) :

Pressure of hydrogen storage tank (Pa)

\(P_{\text{ta}}\) :

Instantaneous pressure of hydrogen tank (Pa)

\(\dot{Q}_{\text{in}}\) :

Heat input (W)

\(\dot{Q}_{\text{out}}\) :

Heat output (W)

\(r\) :

Isentropic exponent of hydrogen

\(R\) :

Universal gas constant (J mol−1 K−1)

\(R_{\text{E}}\) :

Electrolyzer performance

\(T_{\text{com}}\) :

Hydrogen compressor temperature (K)

\(T_{\text{E}}\) :

Electrolyzer temperature (°C)

\(T_{\text{ta}}\) :

Temperature of hydrogen storage tank (K)

\(U_{\text{E}}\) :

Electrolyzer cell voltage (V)

\(U_{\text{rev}}\) :

Reversible voltage of electrolysis (V)

\(V_{{{\text{EC}},\hbox{max} }}\) :

Electrolyzer cell maximum voltage (V)

\(V_{\text{ta}}\) :

Volume of hydrogen storage tank (m3)

\(\dot{W}_{\text{P}}\) :

Pump work input (W)

\(\dot{W}_{\text{T}}\) :

Turbine work output (W)

\(\dot{W}_{{{\text{T}},{\text{a}}}}\) :

Actual power of the turbine (W)

\(\dot{W}_{{{\text{T}},{\text{s}}}}\) :

Isentropic power of the turbine (W)

\(Z_{\text{H}}\) :

Compressibility factor of hydrogen

\(\eta_{\text{CDC}}\) :

Efficiency of DC to DC converter (%)

\(\eta_{\text{com}}\) :

Efficiency of compressor (%)

\(\eta_{{{\text{DC}}/{\text{AC}}}}\) :

Efficiency of DC to AC converter (%)

\(\eta_{\text{EF}}\) :

Faraday efficiency of electrolyzer (%)

\(\eta_{\text{mppt}}\) :

Efficiency of maximum power point tracking device (%)

\(\eta_{\text{mP}}\) :

Mechanical efficiency of the pump (%)

\(\eta_{\text{sP}}\) :

Isentropic efficiency of the pump (%)

\(\eta_{\text{ORC}}\) :

Efficiency of organic Rankine cycle (%)

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  1. Combustion and Sustainable Energy Laboratory (ComSEL), Department of Mechanical Engineering, Arkansas Tech University, 1811 N Boulder Ave, Russellville, AR, 72801, USA

    Seyed Ehsan Hosseini & Brayden Butler

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  1. Seyed Ehsan Hosseini
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Hosseini, S.E., Butler, B. Design and analysis of a hybrid concentrated photovoltaic thermal system integrated with an organic Rankine cycle for hydrogen production. J Therm Anal Calorim 144, 763–778 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-020-09556-4

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