Waste heat recovery potential in the thermochemical copper–chlorine cycle for hydrogen production: Development of an efficient and cost-effective heat exchanger network

Shayan Sadeghi, Samane Ghandehariun and Marc A. Rosen

Energy, 2023, vol. 282, issue C

Abstract: With the finite nature of fossil fuel resources and related environmental issues, it is necessary to replace fossil-fuel-based hydrogen production methods with more sustainable ones. For the clean production of hydrogen, the copper-chlorine (Cu–Cl) thermochemical cycle is a favorable choice. However, internal waste heat recovery of the cycle is essential to improve the efficacy of the system. In this paper, the waste heat recovery potential of the four-step Cu–Cl cycle is investigated, to support the design of a new cost-effective and high-performance heat exchanger network. Pinch analysis is executed to find the optimum rates of cold and hot utilities for this cycle. Three heat exchanger network cases are investigated which include case 1, without heat recovery; case 2, with 16 heat exchangers; and case 3, with 11 heat exchangers. The effect of varying design parameters on the energy system's efficiency and cost-related parameters are also explored here. Based on the pinch analysis results, the minimum heating and cooling and the maximum recoverable heat, on a normalized basis, are 333.3 kJ/mol H2, 76.9 kJ/mol H2, and 134.4 kJ/mol H2, respectively. Moreover, for cases 1, 2, and 3 the thermal efficiencies are calculated as 33.3%, 41.1%, and 40.5%, respectively. Additionally, it is observed that, when the thermal energy of the cycle is supplied from a solar power tower plant, the levelized cost of hydrogen for case 1 is 9.6 $/kg H2, for case 2 is 7.9 $/kg H2, and for case 3 is 7.8 $/kg H2.

Keywords: Hydrogen production; Waste heat recovery; Thermochemical Cu–Cl cycle; Pinch analysis; Heat exchanger network; Economic analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:282:y:2023:i:c:s0360544223017516

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2023.128357

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