Transient analysis of a green hydrogen production and storage system using Alkaline electrolyzer

Abstract

Solar energy as a renewable energy resource has many applications in industry. Among them, green hydrogen production is one of the issues that has recently attracted a lot of attention. In this study, the time-dependent behavior of a solar-based hydrogen production system has been investigated by employing TRNSYS program. Results show that the hydrogen production of the system is significantly related to the seasonal climate changes during a year. The output power of photovoltaic panels is outmost in summer and spring. Due to restrictions on the volume of the storage tank, hydrogen production is limited, especially in summer. Investigations for a 5 m3 tank with a constant hydrogen discharge rate indicate that April and May are the most productive month of the year with 1137 m3 and 1110 m3, respectively. Total annual 46.67 MW of electrical power generated in panels produced over 9600 m3 of hydrogen. Increasing the tank volume to 20 m3 increases annual hydrogen production by 9%. Utilizing an increased discharge plan in summer for the 5 m3 storage tank also increased the productivity of the system by 12% for the same annual solar panel-generated power.