A novel thermally integrated high-temperature PEM fuel cell and absorption system for sustainable heating/cooling application

Abstract

A new configuration of a high-temperature PEM (Proton exchange membrane) fuel cell coupled with a double-effect absorption system is proposed and investigated in detail. The present paper proposes a high-temperature PEM fuel cell energy system operating in dual modes, i.e., (i) as an absorption refrigerator and (ii) as an absorption heat pump. Thermodynamic coupling is carried out to meet the cooling and heating requirements during the summer and winter seasons, respectively. Energy and exergy-based investigations are performed for the proposed integrated system. The thermodynamic results show that the efficiency of the combined system in the chiller mode can be increased to 68.6% for the fuel cell work output of 162 kW. On the other hand, for the heat pump mode, the energy efficiency of 83.46% can be obtained at current density and operating temperature of 0.8 A/cm2 and 150 °C, respectively. The cooling and heating output obtained during the summer and winter seasons are 205.6 kW and 285.5 kW, respectively. A parametric study of the system is carried out for the dual-mode operation from an energy and exergy point of view. For summer and winter seasons, the influence of key operating parameters such as current density, evaporator, and fuel cell temperature on the system performance is presented. It was reported that the evaporator temperature positively affects the system's energy efficiency.