Design and thermodynamic analysis of a solar-wind energy-based combined system for cleaner production of hydrogen with power, heating, hot water and clean water

A renewable energy-based combined energy generation system is modeled and assessed in this study to provide a potential solution to environmental problems where different power plants have been produced. The proposed power generation system consists of five main sub-plants: solar collector process supported by wind turbines, organic Rankine cycle, freshwater production plant, hydrogen production plant, and proton exchanged membrane fuel cell plant. The proposed power generation plant utilizes solar energy and wind energy to operate itself. Some comparative and comprehensive studies have been conducted to assess the performance of the renewable energy-based plant. The integrated plant has been designed to produce hydrogen at 0.0184 kg per second, while freshwater is produced at 82.71 kg per second. The plant can also generate 5027 kW of power at the defined conditions. Energy and exergy efficiencies of the designed system have been computed as 42.57% and 33.61%. Comprehensive and comparative sub-plant assessments have been performed in the paper to present practical information about the related subsystem.