Airborne wind energy-driven hybrid system for simultaneous production of power, potable water, and liquid carbon dioxide

Abstract

There has been a significant demand for shifting the energy sources from fossil fuels to renewable and sustainable resources. Airborne wind energy systems as a relatively new class of wind energy converters present great promise for inexpensive and sustainable energy, especially at remote locations. However, they have not yet been integrated into a hybrid system capable of producing on-demand substances and energies. Here, a new hybrid structure driven by airborne system is proposed for the first time that can harness stronger and more stable energy from wind that is inaccessible by conventional wind turbines. The structure is thoroughly investigated starting from the blade design and validations to complex energy, exergy, exergoeconomic, and sensitivity analyses. The proposed integrated structure can generate over 45 MW power and simultaneously produce potable water and liquid carbon dioxide at the rate of 50 m3/h and 60.32 m3/h, respectively. The total exergy efficiency of the integrated structure is 93.45% and the total exergy destruction is about 199 MW. The exergoeconomic analysis illustrates that the maximum capital cost occurs in airborne turbines with 43% while the minimum belongs to the fuel cell with 2.706 $/h. The proposed structure may open new avenues toward the use of airborne wind energy for remote locations, long-distance transportations, and industrial-scale applications in the near future.