Analysis of the current methods used to size a wind/hydrogen/fuel cell-integrated system: A new perspective

Abstract

SUMMARYAs an alternative to the production and storage of intermittent renewable energy sources, it has been suggested that one can combine several renewable energy technologies in one system, known as integrated or hybrid system, that integrate wind technology with hydrogen production unit and fuel cells. This work assesses the various methods used in sizing such systems. Most of the published papers relate the use of simulation tools such as HOMER, HYBRID2 and TRNSYS, to simulate the operation of different configurations for a given application in order to select the best economic option. But, with these methods one may not accurately determine certain characteristics of the energy resources available on a particular site, the profiles of estimated consumption and the demand for hydrogen, among other factors, which will be the optimal parameters of each subsystem. For example, velocity design, power required for the wind turbine, power required for the fuel cell and electrolyzer and the storage capacity needed for the system. Moreover, usually one makes excessive use of bi-parametric Weibull distribution function to approximate the histogram of the observed wind to the theoretical, which is not appropriate when there are bimodal frequency distributions of wind, as is the case in several places in the world. A new perspective is addressed in this paper, based on general system theory, modeling and simulation with a systematic approach and the use of exergoeconomic analysis. There are some general ideas on the advantages offered in this method, which is meant for the implementation of wind/ hydrogen/fuel cell-integrated systems and in-situ clean hydrogen production.

Modelling small-scale stand-alone (PV) energy systems with reverse osmosis integration

“…The overall system modelled is shown in Figure 1 with simulations conducted in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. Alternative simulation software has also been used in other research into renewable energy systems and reverse osmosis (Geovanni, Orlando, Rafael, Alberto, & Sebastian, 2010). A range of laboratory based measurements were undertaken to establish relevant model parameters and (hardware specific) operational characteristics of system components.…”

A review of water electrolysis–based systems for hydrogen production using hybrid/solar/wind energy systems

“…The second scenario is the wind/H 2 grid-assisted system, where the electricity from the grid near the wind farm is used to help the wind turbine produce hydrogen due to wind intermittency. While the third scenario involves wind energy that drives the electrolyzer during excess production and provides electricity to the grid, the fourth is similar to the previous one and contains a storage system and fuel cell for electricity production (Zhou and Francois 2009;Geovanni et al 2010). Finally, the last one has a storage system and serves two purposes: (I) to power the fuel cell and produce electricity and (II) to transport part of the stored hydrogen for other purposes (Sherif et al 2005).…”

Exploration of aqueous zinc-hydrogen peroxide batteries

“…Among the various types of fuel cells, polymer electrolyte fuel cells have the advantage of high energy densities. Research on polymer electrolyte fuel cells using hydrogen as the fuel has progressed enormously 1–9, the exploration of the direct methanol fuel cells also rapidly flourishes 10–13 and that the innovation of the direct borohydride fuel cell is proceeding at a gallop 14–18.…”