Biofuel, solar-biofuel or geothermal energy; which resource can better contribute to an integrated energy system for residential energy demands

Abstract

In this study, an integrated energy system is deployed to generate electricity, heating, cooling, and domestic hot water for a community considering three fully renewable energy source scenarios: biofuel (Case I), solar-biofuel (Case II), and geothermal energy (Case III). The proposed systems are modeled, assessed, optimized, and compared thermodynamically, economically, and environmentally; in addition, a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer (PEME) is utilized to convert the surplus electricity to stored hydrogen to raise the exergy efficiency and package value-added. Mathematical models are fully developed from thermodynamic and economic perspectives, taking a cumulative inflation rate into account via the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The novelty of the study is to focus on the comparison of the proposed renewable resources as energy inputs for the same condition (community loads), as there is a gap in this regard in the literature. Presented systems are optimized using Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) for minimum net costs as well as maximum exergy efficiency to reach the optimum operating conditions for each case during the peak cooling and heating loads. Moreover, for a more precise comparison of the proposed cases from an exergetic, economic, and environmental point of view, dynamic (hourly) behaviors of systems are analyzed over a year. A comprehensive parametric study is carried out to reckon the influence of borehole drilling depth, geofluid mass flow rate, and soil temperature gradient on case III to appraise its competitiveness in different locations, as well as the effects of the number of collectors on total cost rate and exergy efficiency for case II. Results indicate the annual net costs of $107.1k, $99.5k, and -$505.1k (where the negative sign stands for "income" instead of "cost") and average exergy efficiencies of 19.1 %, 26.3 %, and 41.3 % for cases I, II and III respectively.