An energy management of a combined cooling and power cogeneration system using hydrogen energy for an off-grid application

Abstract

In order to decarbonize electricity production in insular tropical regions, hydrogen as an energy vector appears to be a promising solution. But some issues have to be dealt with, like the overall yield of the hydrogen chain. Moreover, thermo-chemical systems can produce cooling by thermal recovery. In this paper, we study a system composed by an electrolyzer, a hydrogen fuel cell, a Li-ion battery pack and a thermochemical reactor coupled with a conventional ammonia heat pump. In this system, the waste-heat from the electrolyzer and the fuel cell are used to desorb a thermochemical reactor for a differed production of cooling. A Mixed Integer Linear Program is used to optimize the energy management, taking into account the electrical and thermal load demand and the aging of the electrolyzer, the fuel cell and the battery. Results show that the system is able to provide the electrical and thermal needs of the load and the use of the thermochemical cooling system improves the fuel cell and the electrolyzer efficiency by 11 % and 15 % respectively compared to a system without thermochemical storage.