4E analyses of a micro-CCHP system with a polymer exchange membrane fuel cell and an absorption cooling system in summer and winter modes

Abstract

In this article, a micro-combined cooling heating and power (CCHP) system is proposed for a residential building. The micro-CCHP system includes a polymer exchange membrane fuel cell, an absorption cooling system and a plate heat exchanger. The proposed system is designed to operate in both winter and summer modes, providing electricity, space cooling, and domestic hot water in the summer and electricity, space heating, and domestic hot water in the winter. Energy, exergy, economic, and environmental (4E) assessments are used to assess the performance of the micro-CCHP system. The impact of operating temperature, current density, and active cell surface area on the 4E performance of the micro-CCHP system is also investigated by a comprehensive parametric analysis. The results showed that the micro-CCHP system can deliver 5.45 kW of electricity in both modes, 3.04 kW of cooling load in the summer, 4.13 kW of heating load in the summer, and 8.26 kW in the winter. The micro-CCHP system has energy and exergy efficiencies of 81.70% and 39.65% in the summer and 88.79% and 42.64% in winter, respectively. The annual cost and greenhouse gas reduction are found to be 20003 $ and 1.98 × 1012 g in summer and 19881 $ and 2.57 × 1012 g, respectively. Among the factors taken into consideration, the parametric analysis showed that the current density has the biggest impact on the overall performance of the micro-CCHP system. The key contribution of this study lies in its demonstration of how a PEMFC stack can serve as the prime energy source for a micro-CCHP system, enabling its operation in both summer and winter modes in a residential building.