Integrated Energy-Exergy Analysis of Eco-efficient Production of Hydrogen, Heat, and Power Using the Thermochemical Cu-Cl Cycle

This research investigates environmentally sustainable energy systems designed to simultaneously generate electricity, hydrogen, and heat with minimal environmental impact. The proposed configurations utilize non-fossil energy resources and incorporate thermochemical water-splitting as a clean pathway for hydrogen production. In these systems, chemical looping combustion (CLC) is integrated with the thermochemical copper-chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle to maximize thermal synergy between the combustion and downstream processes. Detailed process simulations were performed using Aspen Plus to evaluate system performance. The analysis revealed that the optimal operating condition for CLC is achieved at an oxygen carrier-to-fuel molar ratio of ۲.۶. Under these conditions, the thermal and exergy efficiencies of the integrated CLC-CuCl system were found to be ۶۶.۱۱% and ۶۱.۱%, respectively. The air reactor was identified as the major source of exergy destruction in both configurations, accounting for approximately ۳۷۵ kW of irreversibility. Furthermore, the CLC-CuCl cycle achieved a hydrogen production rate of ۳۴.۶ kg/h, demonstrating its potential as an efficient and eco-friendly multi-generation technology.

کلیدواژه ها:

Hydrogen production ، Thermochemical ، Cu-Cl ، CLC ، Inverted Brayton Cycle