Electrolytic hydrogen based renewable energy system with oxygen recovery and re-utilization

Kodjo Agbossou, Mohan Lal Kolhe, Jean Hamelin, Étienne Bernier and Tapan K. Bose

Renewable Energy, 2004, vol. 29, issue 8, 1305-1318

Abstract: The Hydrogen Research Institute (HRI) has developed a stand-alone renewable energy (RE) system based on energy storage in the form of hydrogen. When the input devices (wind generator and photovoltaic array) produce more energy than is required by the load, the excess energy is converted by an electrolyzer to electrolytic hydrogen, which is then stored after stages of compression, purification and filtration. Conversely, during a time of input energy deficit, this process is reversed and the hydrogen produced earlier is reconverted to electrical energy through a fuel cell. The oxygen which has been produced by the electrolyzer during the hydrogen production is also stored at high pressure, after having gone through a purification and drying process. This stored oxygen can be re-utilized as oxidant in place of compressed air in the fuel cell. The modifications of the electrolyzer for oxygen storage and re-utilization of it as oxidant for the fuel cell are presented. Furthermore, the HRI has designed and developed the control system with power conditioning devices for effective energy management and automatic operation of the RE system. The experimental results show that a reliable autonomous RE system can be realized for such seasonal energy sources, using stored hydrogen as the long-term energy buffer, and that utilizing the electrolyzer oxygen by-product as oxidant in the fuel cell increases system performance significantly.

Keywords: Energy storage; Hydrogen; Oxygen; Electrolyzer; Fuel cell; Integrated energy system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:29:y:2004:i:8:p:1305-1318

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2003.12.006

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