Researchers have designed a new multigeneration energy system that offers five outputs, namely electricity, hydrogen, cooling, heating and hot water. The system is mainly driven by a solar -heliostat system and contains compressed air and pumped hydro -storage technologies for storing surplus power.
A group of researchers from Canadian Ontario Tech University developed a new multi -owneration system that is able to offer electricity, hydrogen, cooling, heating and hot water.
Driven by solar -high -pat technology, the proposed system uses microbial electrolysis cells (MEC) to produce hydrogen and pumped hydro and compressed air for storing surplus power.
The operation of the system includes some main activities. Firstly, a solar -heliostat system generates thermal energy that is used to heat a melted salt mixture. This mixture is in turn used to pre -heat compressed air in the gas turbine cycle and produce steam for creating electrical energy via a Rankine cycle.
The component of the power generation consists of two parts – one for charging and the other for loading. In loading mode, surplus energy from the Rankine cycle is used to compress air and is stored in underground caves. During the discharge mode, the compressed air is re -heated to generate electricity with the help of a few heat exchangers.
With regard to the generation of hydrogen, the MEC processes use waste water obtained from a municipal waste water treatment plant as a raw material, so that micro -organisms can break down organic material and create H2 as a by -product.
A cooling cycle, or a heat pump cycle, is further used to offer cooling for residential and industrial use. It uses waste heat in the process, which heats an R134A work fluid. Pomphydro storage is also integrated in the system to store surplus energy and release when needed.
The system was modeled for operation in the Australian city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, because of the high solar radiation and already existing mining infrastructure, which facilitates caves. The simulations were carried out using the Engineering Equation Solver software.
“The proposed multigeneneration system is very adaptable and can be changed for implementation in other regions with different means and limitations. The system can be adjusted to record wind energy as an extra renewable input in areas with lower solar radiation,” the academic suggested. “Photovoltaic panels can be used instead of concentrated solar energy (CSP) systems in urban areas when a limited area is available for heliostat fields.”
The group determined 52 system status points and key system parameters to simulate the system and discovered that it can generate electricity 30,703.4 kW of electricity in the discharging mode and offer 77.39 kg/s space heating.
“The multigeneneration system displayed energy and exergy efficiency of 32.05% and 37% respectively in loading mode and efficiency of 56% and 65% during discharging the mode, which indicates effective performance,” they added. “The energetic and exergetic performance coefficients (police) for the absorption system appear to be 4.56 and 0.19 respectively.”
The system also turned out to be 5366.45 kW net electrical power, 2.39 kg/s heating, 2 kg/s cooling output and 50 kg/s hot water output during loading mode. It also generated H2 at a speed of 0.05 kg/s. “A thorough techno-economic analysis is required to assess the financial viability of the system on this site, taking into account installation costs, operational costs and payback period,” the academics concluded.
The system was presented in “Design and performance assessment of an integrated energy system with compressed air and pumped hydro storagePublished in the Journal of Energy Storage.
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