Design and thermodynamic analysis of a novel methanol, hydrogen, and power trigeneration system based on renewable energy and flue gas carbon dioxide. (1st April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nazerifard, Reza; Khani, Leyla; Mohammadpourfard, Mousa; Mohammadi-Ivatloo, Behnam; Akkurt, Gülden Gökçen
• Is Part Of: Energy conversion and management. Volume 233(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-04-01
• Subjects: Adj Adjust -- CC Carbon capture -- DMFC Direct methanol fuel cell -- EOD Electro-osmotic drag -- HX Heat exchanger -- MEA Mono Ethanol Amine -- MOR Methanol oxidation reaction -- MSR Methanol synthesis reactor -- MSU Methanol synthesis unit -- ORC Organic Rankine cycle -- ORR Oxygen reduction reaction -- PEME Proton exchange membrane electrolyzer -- RWGS Reverse water gas shift; Flue gas -- Carbon dioxide -- Methanol -- Electrolysis -- Direct methanol fuel cell -- Organic Rankine cycle; Direct energy conversion -- Periodicals; Energy storage -- Periodicals; Energy transfer -- Periodicals; Énergie -- Conversion directe -- Périodiques; Direct energy conversion; Periodicals; 621.3105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enconman.2021.113922
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0196-8904

Abstract

Highlights: A novel methanol, hydrogen and power trigeneration system with carbon capture is proposed. Performance of the system is analyzed from energy and exergy viewpoints. Energy and exergy efficiencies of 66.84% and 55.10% are achievable for the system. The highest exergy destruction occurs in water electrolyzer system. The inlet temperature of methanol synthesis reactor has a great effect on its performance. Abstract: In this paper, a new trigeneration system is proposed to decrease atmospheric carbon dioxide emission and produce methanol, hydrogen, and power. The system is composed of an organic Rankine cycle, a direct methanol fuel cell, a carbon capture unit, a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, and a methanol synthesis unit. A flue gas stream with a defined composition, solar energy, and the atmospheric air are the system's inlets. In the design step, special attention is paid to heat and mass integration between different components so that its waste can be lowered as much as possible. Then, mass balance law, energy conservation principle, exergy relations, and auxiliary equations are applied for each subsystem to investigate the system's thermodynamic performance. Also, the effect of changing operating parameters on the performance of each subsystem is studied. The obtained results show that the proposed system has the energy and exergy efficiencies of 66.84% and 55.10%, respectively. Furthermore, 94% of the total exergy destruction rate belongs to the water electrolyzer, while the contribution of the organic Rankine cycle is negligible. The performance of the methanol synthesis reactor depends strongly on its inlet temperature. Maximum equilibrium methanol concentration and carbon dioxide conversion are achieved at the inlet temperature of 210 °C. The parametric studies reveal that there is an optimum fuel cell current density in which its produced power density is maximized.