Simulation and design of an energy accumulator around the hydrogen energy vector

Abstract

This work demonstrates the study of the numerical modelling and a design of a compact energy generator based on green hydrogen. This generator aims allowing the energy storage, electricity, cold and heat productions as well as a supply the energy for the production of the sanitary hot water. The generator is considered to be powered by 30 solar cells panels and will mainly consist of a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) electrolyzer compiled with a Metal Hydride (MH) tank, a PEM fuel cell, and a system of heat exchangers sized to recover the heat from the electrolyzer, PEM fuel cell and MH tank. Furthermore, the generator will contain an adsorber to manage air conditioning (cooling and heating) and a production of the sanitary hot water. A converter block is included in the generator, in particular, a Buck-booster to raise the voltage of the solar panels and the DC-AC converter for the electricity consumption in the household. The desorption of the hydrogen contained in the tank MH will take place using the heating resistance. In overall, the designed generator is foreseen to have a dimension of 1800 × 1000 × 500 mm and its role is to allow integration of the hydrogen energy for the tertiary and residential sectors. As such it is a suitable choice of components for the cost reduction and high yield hydrogen production, storage, and consumption.