Techno-economic assessment and smart management of an integrated fuel cell-based energy system with absorption chiller for power, hydrogen, heating, and cooling in an electrified railway network

Jorge Loy-Benitez, Usman Safder, Hai-Tra Nguyen, Qian Li, TaeYong Woo and ChangKyoo Yoo

Energy, 2021, vol. 233, issue C

Abstract: Nowadays, the transportation sector occupies a vital role in current society. However, this sector is the second-highest greenhouse gas emitter worldwide due to fossil fuel combustion. Transitioning from conventional to renewable energy propulsion is a promising alternative to climate change mitigation. This study proposes a smart decision-making approach of an integrated system assisted with renewable energy sources to satisfy the dynamic railway electrification demand. The proposed energy system consists of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer, solid-oxide fuel cell, and lithium-bromide absorption chiller assisted with solar radiation and wind turbine to simultaneously generate power, hydrogen, cooling, and heating loads. A novel approach consists of power-pinch analysis and multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) to determine the optimal sizing of renewable resources considering the system's thermodynamic, economic, and exergy performance. A total of five optimal scenarios with different renewable sources share were obtained. Accordingly, the scenario with a share of 70/30 of solar and wind energy showed the highest competitiveness based on the MCDM. This scenario showed an energetic and exergetic efficiency of 49% and 34%, respectively. Furthermore, it yielded acceptable subproducts generation, including the production of 312.25 kg H2/day, in an economical budget with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) value of 0.079 $/kWh.

Keywords: Climate change mitigation; Integrated energy systems; Multi-criteria decision making; Smart management; Electrified railway system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:233:y:2021:i:c:s0360544221013475

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2021.121099

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