Technical modelling and simulation of integrating hydrogen from solar energy into a gas turbine power plant to reduce emissions

Abstract

This work studies hybridizing natural gas-fired power plant with renewable energy sources to improve environmental and operational performance. Precisely, it looks at mixing different proportions of solar hydrogen (produced via the electrolysis process using solar photovoltaic energy) to power a gas turbine. Using Aspen HYSYS software simulator to analyze four cases with different hydrogen mixing ratios (5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%). Next, the study is going to determine the size of the solar hydrogen production system (water electrolyze, hydrogen tanks, photovoltaic plant) required for each case. The results show that the addition of 20% by volume of hydrogen recorded a reduction of 4.5% in the mass flow rate of fuel. Adding just 5% hydrogen reduced annual carbon dioxide emissions by 8.952 tons. Relative to the size of the solar hydrogen production system, the number of electrolyzes and the area of the photovoltaic station increases significantly with the rise in hydrogen percentages. In conclusion, blending hydrogen from renewable sources can dramatically reduce carbon dioxide emissions. However, the required solar hydrogen infrastructure is expanding rapidly at higher hydrogen mixing ratios.