Lab Scale Investigation of the Hybrid Cogeneration of Wind Power and Fuel Cell and Study of Technical Analysis

Abstract

One of the recent familiar renewable energy sources is wind. Often, at peak times, it is not possible to use the power of the wind. Thus, it is essential to have backup power or a storage system. In the present work, we presented a hybrid system for a wind farm so that reliable power can be provided. This hybrid system includes four major parts: electrolyzer, wind turbine, fuel cell, and hydrogen storage. The system mechanism works as follows: the excess electricity generated wind turbines in demand periods is conducted to an oxygen and hydrogen generator system. Specific tanks are used for comprising and storing oxygen and hydrogen. For electricity production at peak times, it is required to introduce hydrogen to a fuel cell unit (in cases that wind power-generated electricity is less than demand). We also investigated the electricity generation by PEM fuel cell and hydrogen generation rate by alkaline electrolysis. The power generated by the fuel cell was 1008 MW and the maximum hydrogen generated by the system per hour average was 304ml. We conducted a case study for the proposed system in the Kouhin area following constructing the prototype.