Thermo-economic analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell fuelled with methanol and methane

Abstract Exergy and economic analysis is often used to find and identify the most efficient process configuration for proton exchange membrane fuel cell from the thermo-economic point of view. This work gives an explicit account of the synergetic effect of exergetic and economic analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) using methanol and methane as fuel sources. This was carried out through computer simulation using Thermolib simulation toolbox. Data generated from the simulated model were subsequently used for the thermodynamic and economic analysis. Analysis of energy requirement for the two selected processes revealed that the methane fuelled system requires the lower amount of energy (4.578 kJ/s) in comparison to the methanol fuelled configuration which requires 180.719 J/s. Energy analysis of both configurations showed that the principle of energy conservation was satisfied while the result of the exergy analysis showed high exergetic efficiency around major equipment (heat exchangers, compressors and pumps) of methane fuelled configuration. Higher irreversibility rate were observed around the burner, stack, and steam reformer. These trends of exergetic efficiency and irreversibility rate were observed around equipment in the methanol fuelled system but with lower performance when compared with the methane fuelled process configuration. On the basis of overall exergetic efficiency and lost work, the methanol system was more efficient with lower irreversibility rate of 547.27 kJ/s and exergetic efficiency of 34.44% in comparison with the methane fuelled system which has the highest irreversibility rate of 624.03 kJ/s and highest exergetic efficiency of 36.51%. Economic analysis showed that methane system had a lower capital cost of $ 476 396.2 and slightly higher annual utility cost of $ 10 334.2 as against the methanol system whose capital and annual total utility cost were $ 683 919 and $ 10 073 respectively. The methane system configuration is favoured based on the assumed economic parameters by the least cost per kilowatt of electricity produced ($3 804.99/kW). The result of various analysis conducted shows that trade-off between economic, energy and exergetic performance of methane and methanol system favoured selection of methane system configuration as the best preferred choice of PEMC configuration.

[1]  Siti Kartom Kamarudin,et al.  Overview on the challenges and developments of micro-direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) , 2007 .

[2]  A. S. Olawale,et al.  Exergetic and Economic Assessment of Distillation Hybrid Configurations for Bioethanol Refining , 2014 .

[3]  Somayeh Ahmadi,et al.  Optimization of operating parameters in a hybrid wind–hydrogen system using energy and exergy analysis: Modeling and case study , 2015 .

[4]  Daisie D. Boettner,et al.  Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell-powered vehicle performance using direct-hydrogen fueling and on-board methanol reforming , 2004 .

[5]  Klaus D. Timmerhaus,et al.  Plant design and economics for chemical engineers , 1958 .

[6]  Brant A. Peppley,et al.  Integrated fuel processors for fuel cell application : A review , 2007 .

[7]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Exergoeconomic analysis of a vehicular PEM fuel cell system , 2007 .

[8]  Michael P. Harold,et al.  Comparison of conventional and membrane reactor fuel processors for hydrocarbon-based PEM fuel cell systems , 2004 .

[9]  Brent R. Young,et al.  An exergy calculator tool for process simulation , 2006 .

[10]  A. Perna,et al.  Investigations on an advanced power system based on a high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell and an organic Rankine cycle for heating and power production , 2015 .

[11]  J. C. Schouten,et al.  Exergy analysis of an integrated fuel processor and fuel cell (FP–FC) system , 2006 .

[12]  Mehrzad Shams,et al.  Model development and optimization of operating conditions to maximize PEMFC performance by response surface methodology , 2015 .

[13]  Lei Zhang,et al.  A review of anode catalysis in the direct methanol fuel cell , 2006 .

[14]  Rodney L. Borup,et al.  Fuel effects on start-up energy and efficiency for automotive PEM fuel cell systems , 2005 .

[15]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Exergy-cost-energy-mass analysis of thermal systems and processes , 2003 .

[16]  Yang Shi,et al.  Sensitivity analysis and thermoeconomic comparison of ORCs (organic Rankine cycles) for low temperature waste heat recovery , 2015 .

[17]  A. M. Efstathiou,et al.  Hydrogen Production Technologies: Current State and Future Developments , 2013 .

[18]  L. Salemme,et al.  Calculation of the energy efficiency of fuel processor – PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell systems from fuel elementar composition and heating value , 2013 .

[19]  M. Al-Nimr,et al.  Using the multiple regression analysis with respect to ANOVA and 3D mapping to model the actual performance of PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell at various operating conditions , 2015 .

[20]  N. Georgescu-Roegen.  The Entropy Law and the Economic Process , 1973 .

[21]  Y. Çengel,et al.  Thermodynamics : An Engineering Approach , 1989 .

[22]  Ali Amini,et al.  Thermo-economic optimization of low-grade waste heat recovery in Yazd combined-cycle power plant (Iran) by a CO2 transcritical Rankine cycle , 2015 .

[23]  M. Hanafy,et al.  Modeling of a Methane Fueled Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell System , 2009 .

[24]  Vittorio Verda,et al.  Thermoeconomic analysis of a Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) system integrated with a wind power plant in the framework of the IPEX Market , 2015 .

[25]  Antonio Valero,et al.  Bblocks Software for Thermoeconomic Analysis of Dual-purpose Power and Desalination Plants , 2012 .

[26]  Nils-Olof Nylund,et al.  PATHWAYS FOR NATURAL GAS INTO ADVANCED VEHICLES , 2002 .

[27]  Barnett F. Dodge,et al.  Chemical engineering thermodynamics , 1944 .

[28]  Xin-Jian Zhu,et al.  An artificial neural network ensemble method for fault diagnosis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell system , 2014 .

[29]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Performance investigation of a transportation PEM fuel cell system , 2012 .

[30]  Hongguang Zhang,et al.  Thermoeconomic multi-objective optimization of an organic Rankine cycle for exhaust waste heat recovery of a diesel engine , 2015 .

[31]  George Tsatsaronis,et al.  Exergoeconomic analysis of vehicular PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell systems with and without expander , 2014 .

[32]  M. Harold,et al.  Comparison of methanol-based fuel processors for PEM fuel cell systems , 2005 .

[33]  Chang-Bock Chung,et al.  Modeling and operation optimization of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system for maximum efficiency , 2016 .

[34]  Jincan Chen,et al.  The parametric optimum analysis of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell and its load matching , 2010 .

[35]  Jan Szargut,et al.  Exergy Analysis of Thermal, Chemical, and Metallurgical Processes , 1988 .

[36]  Brent R. Young,et al.  AN OPEN SOURCE EXERGY CALCULATOR TOOL , 2011 .

[37]  Spyros Voutetakis,et al.  A combined methanol autothermal steam reforming and PEM fuel cell pilot plant unit: Experimental and simulation studies , 2009 .

[38]  Marc A. Rosen,et al.  Exergy and economics: Is exergy profitable? , 2002 .

[39]  Aziz Khan,et al.  Conical nano-structure arrays of Platinum cathode catalyst for enhanced cell performance in PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) , 2015 .

[40]  Teresa J. Leo,et al.  Exergy analysis of PEM fuel cells for marine applications , 2010 .

[41]  V Boscaino,et al.  A fuel cell-battery hybrid power supply for portable applications , 2010, SPEEDAM 2010.

[42]  Haoting Wang,et al.  An experimental study of the dynamic behavior of a 2 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack under various loading conditions , 2015 .

[43]  Geoffrey P. Hammond,et al.  Exergy analysis of the United Kingdom energy system , 2001 .

[44]  Ata D. Akbari,et al.  Thermoeconomic analysis & optimization of the combined supercritical CO2 (carbon dioxide) recompression Brayton/organic Rankine cycle , 2014 .

[45]  Houcheng Zhang,et al.  Parametric analysis of an irreversible proton exchange membrane fuel cell/absorption refrigerator hybrid system , 2015 .

[46]  Wei Liu,et al.  A hybrid system using a regenerative electrochemical cycle to harvest waste heat from the proton exchange membrane fuel cell , 2015 .

[47]  Suthida Authayanun,et al.  Effect of different fuel options on performance of high-temperature PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) systems , 2014 .

[48]  Ernest J. Henley,et al.  Separation Process Principles , 1998 .

[49]  Noam Lior,et al.  Sources of Combustion Irreversibility , 1994 .

[50]  Uyanga Enkhnaran,et al.  Exergy analysis of NEXA™ PEM fuel cell module , 2011, Proceedings of 2011 6th International Forum on Strategic Technology.

[51]  Yu Qian,et al.  Thermoeconomic analysis of oil shale retorting processes with gas or solid heat carrier , 2015 .

[52]  K. Jiao,et al.  Exergy Analysis of High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Systems , 2015 .

[53]  José C. Páscoa,et al.  Analysis of PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) fuel cell cathode two-dimensional modeling , 2014 .

[54]  D. Sangaa,et al.  Exergy Analysis of 1.2 kW NexaTM Fuel Cell Module , 2012 .

[55]  Martin John Atkins,et al.  Thermo-economic optimisation of industrial milk spray dryer exhaust to inlet air heat recovery , 2015 .

[56]  V. Silva,et al.  Comparison of the performance and EIS (electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) response of an activated PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) under low and high thermal and pressure stresses , 2016 .

[57]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Assessment of exergy efficiency and Sustainability Index of an air?water heat pump , 2010 .

[58]  Feridun Hamdullahpur,et al.  Modeling and parametric study of a methanol reformate gas-fueled HT-PEMFC system for portable power generation applications , 2015 .

[59]  Z. Önsan.  Catalytic Processes for Clean Hydrogen Production from Hydrocarbons , 2007 .

[60]  Ebrahim Afshari,et al.  Performance analysis of a membrane humidifier containing porous metal foam as flow distributor in a PEM fuel cell system , 2014 .

[61]  Joan M. Ogden,et al.  A comparison of hydrogen, methanol and gasoline as fuels for fuel cell vehicles: implications for vehicle design and infrastructure development , 1999 .

[62]  J. Ogden.  Developing an infrastructure for hydrogen vehicles: a Southern California case study , 1999 .

[63]  Lin Hua,et al.  Fabrication of metallic bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cells by rubber pad forming , 2010 .

[64]  Youyi Wang,et al.  Dynamic performance of a high-temperature PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell – Modelling and fuzzy control of purging process , 2016 .

[65]  Suthida Authayanun,et al.  Evaluation of an integrated methane autothermal reforming and high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell system , 2015 .

[66]  M. R. von Spakovsky,et al.  Fuel cell systems and system modeling and analysis perspectives for fuel cell development , 2002 .

[67]  Sibel Ozdogan,et al.  Simulation study of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system with autothermal reforming , 2006 .

[68]  S. Bandyopadhyay.  Effect of feed on optimal thermodynamic performance of a distillation column , 2002 .

[69]  M. Kanoğlu,et al.  Thermodynamic evaluation of geothermal energy powered hydrogen production by PEM water electrolysis , 2014 .

[70]  J. M. Zalc,et al.  Fuel processing for PEM fuel cells: transport and kinetic issues of system design , 2002 .

[71]  V. Matawala.  Exergoeconomic optimization of an industrial aqua ammonia vapour absorption refrigeration unit , 2012 .