Conceptual design and analysis of a new hydrogen liquefaction process based on heat pump systems

Jiang Bian, Xingwang Zhang, Rui Zhang, Weihua Cai, Yihuai Hua and Xuewen Cao

Applied Energy, 2024, vol. 374, issue C, No S030626192401403X

Abstract: Currently, liquid hydrogen is the optimal way to store hydrogen, and many studies have combined it with solar energy to address the issues of low efficiency and high energy consumption during hydrogen liquefaction. However, these renewable energy sources are highly dependent on the environment and can suffer from an unstable supply. In this study, a new hydrogen liquefaction process based on solar energy utilizing a solar heat pump system is proposed to solve these problems. An absorption refrigeration system (ARS) is added to the mixed refrigerant pre-cooling and Joule-Brayton deep cooling to cool the compressor output stream during the hydrogen liquefaction process. In addition, a solar-based heat pump system to supply stable heat flow to the ARS is proposed for the first time, and a dual-circuit organic Rankine cycle to recover the residual heat from solar energy in the low-temperature and high-temperature circuits of the heat pump system (HPS) is introduced, which can be used to replenish the electric power of the compressor and other equipment in the liquefaction process. The excess cold from the hydrogen liquefaction process is used for carbon dioxide liquefaction. The process is simulated using HYSYS software, and a genetic algorithm (GA) is used for system optimization. The results show that the production of LH2 is 98 tons per day with specific energy consumption (SEC), coefficient of performance (COP), and exergy efficiency of 5.633 kWh/kgLH2, 0.217, and 53.15%, respectively; the proposed system is approximately 13% more energy efficient than the reference process. The overall liquefaction cost of the system is 22.456 M$, and the unit liquefaction cost is 0.624$/kgLH2. The energy savings and reductions achieved by converting unstable solar energy into a stable heat source for the hydrogen liquefaction process can serve as a prime reference for subsequent designs.

Keywords: Solar hydrogen liquefaction; Absorption refrigeration system; Heat pump system; Process optimization; Energy-exergy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2024.124020

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