PV system design for powering an industrial unit for hydrogen production

Abstract

Needs for hydrogen, as a chemical feedstock, have been growing in the industry, more particularly in the petrochemical industry and in the floating glass technology. Moreover, by its versatility as an energy vector and its renewability, hydrogen has also become an attractive candidate as the vector energy of the future. This has resulted in large surge in demand for hydrogen. However, as hydrogen exists in nature mainly in combination with other elements, the development of its viable and sustainable production technologies has then become necessary.Water electrolysis is a hydrogen production technique that has reached the stage of industrial exploitation. Used with PV, it offers a sustainable mean for hydrogen production.In Algeria, using PV with electrolysis opens a wide range of opportunities. Not only it permits the development of its huge solar energy resources but also to diversify its energy mix.In the present work, study of the CEVITAL hydrogen production unit is carried out. The unit, located in southern Algiers suburb, is meant to produce high purity hydrogen by water electrolysis. The hydrogen production unit is first presented. Then the test results are reported and the characteristics, derived from the experimental data, are outlined.A PV system for powering the hydrogen production unit is proposed. A solar only configuration is assumed. Using the empirical characteristics of the electrolyzer, the meteorological and the solar radiation data of the location where the hydrogen production unit is installed and the socio–economic parameters, a techno-economic study is carried out. The results show that the system PV coupled with the hydrogen production unit is viable.