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Energy Procedia
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Applied Energy Symposium

CUE2018-Applied EnergyandSymposium
Forum 2018:
andLow carbon
Forum cities
2018: Lowandcarbon
urban cities
energyand
systems,
CUE2018, 5–7 June 2018, Shanghai, China
urban energy systems, 5–7 June 2018, Shanghai, China
Applied Energy Symposium and Forum 2018: Low carbon cities and urban energy systems,
Modeling and techno-economic
The 15th CUE2018, 5–7
International analysis
June 2018,
Symposium of the
onShanghai,
District heatand
China
Heating pump-integrated
Cooling
PEMFC-based micro-CHP system
Modeling and techno-economic
Assessing the feasibility ofanalysis
using the ofheat
the heat pump-integrated
demand-outdoor
Fei Yang, Nianzhi Huang,
PEMFC-based Qie Sun*, Lin
micro-CHPCheng, Ronald
system Wennersten
temperature function for a long-term district heat demand forecast
Shandong University, No.17923 Jingshi Road, Jinan 250061, China
Fei
I. Andrić Yang,
a,b,c
*,Nianzhi
A. PinaaHuang, Qiea,Sun*,
, P. Ferrão Lin Cheng,
J. Fournier b Ronald Wennersten
., B. Lacarrièrec
, O. Le Correc
a Shandong
IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology University,
and Policy No.17923
Research JingshiSuperior
- Instituto Road, Jinan 250061,
Técnico, Av.China
Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
b
Veolia Recherche & Innovation, 291 Avenue Dreyfous Daniel, 78520 Limay, France
Abstract c
Département Systèmes Énergétiques et Environnement - IMT Atlantique, 4 rue Alfred Kastler, 44300 Nantes, France

This study proposes a micro-combined heat and power (CHP) system by combining a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
Abstract
and a heat pump (HP) to simultaneously meet the thermal and electrical demand in a residential area. The main components of the system
are: the fuel processing unit, fuel cell (FC) unit and HP unit. In the proposed scenario the heat produced by the reforming process and
Abstract
This
FC isstudy proposes
exploited a micro-combined
by feeding both the radiant heatfloor
and heating
power (CHP)
systemsystemand theby combining
domestic a proton
hot water exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
(DHW).
and a heat heating
ADistrict pump (HP)
zero-dimensional to simultaneously
model
networks was
are established
commonlymeet in the thermal PLUS
ASPEN
addressed and electrical
in the to demand
simulate
literature inHP-integrated
astheone aof
residential
the mostarea. The main
PEMFC-based
effective components
micro-CHP
solutions ofsystem.
the system
for decreasing An
the
are:
greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector. These systems require high investments which are returned through the and
exergythe fuel
and processing
economic unit,
analysis fuel
has cell
been (FC) unit
performed andtoHP unit.
evaluate Inthethe proposed
plant scenario
feasibility. the heat produced by the reforming process heat
FC is exploited
Insales.
traditional tobythe
Due fuel feeding
cell bothfor
systems
changed theresidential
radiant
climate floor heating
and system
application,
conditions andrenovation
the domestic
the installation
building is usually hotmade
water
policies, of(DHW).
heata small
demand FC insystem able to could
the future cover the basic
decrease,
A zero-dimensional
electrical
prolonging loadthe model
andinvestment
a large was
boiler toestablished
return cover in ASPEN
the heating
period. PLUS demand.
and DHW to simulate the HP-integrated
To evaluate PEMFC-based
the performance micro-CHP
of the proposed systemsystem.
better, An
we
exergy
set
The and
themain economic
boiler-integrated
scope of thisanalysis
paperhasis been
PEMFC-based performed
to assessmicro-CHP to evaluate
system
the feasibility of astheaplant
using thefeasibility.
reference. The results
heat demand provedtemperature
– outdoor the superiority of this
function for system over
heat demand
In traditional
conventional
forecast. Thefueldistrict
cell systems
technologies for residential
ofasAlvalade,
regards locatedapplication,
meeting a high thermal
in Lisbon the installation
load in the was
(Portugal), is usually
residential
used as made
sector. of a study.
a case small FC Thesystem ableistoconsisted
district cover theofbasic
665
electrical
buildings load and
that a large
vary boilerconstruction
in both to cover the heating
period and DHW typology. demand.
ThreeToweather
evaluate scenarios
the performance of the proposed
(low, medium, high) system better,
and three we
district
Copyright
set © 2018 Elsevier
the boiler-integrated Ltd. Allmicro-CHP
PEMFC-based rights reserved.
renovation
Keywords: scenariosPEMFC-based
HP-integrated were developed micro-CHP
(shallow, system
intermediate,
system; as a deep).
exergy analysis; reference.
To The
economic results
estimate
analysis theproved
error, the superiority
obtained of this system
heat demand values over
were
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CUE2018-Applied Energy Symposium and
conventional
compared technologies
with results as
from regards
a dynamic meeting
heat ademand
high thermal
model, load in the residential
previously developed sector.
and validated by the authors.
Forum 2018: Low carbon cities and urban energy systems.
The results showed that when only weather change is considered, the margin of error could be acceptable for some applications
1. Introduction
Keywords:
(the errorHP-integrated PEMFC-based
in annual demand was micro-CHP
lower thansystem;20% exergy
for allanalysis;
weathereconomic
scenarios analysis
considered). However, after introducing renovation
scenarios, the error value increased up to 59.5% (depending on the weather and renovation scenarios combination considered).
The value of slopemicro-CHP
PEMFC-based coefficient systems
increasedrepresent
on average within the range
an interesting solution of to 3.8% up to 8%
distributed per decade,
energy that corresponds
production due to their to the
high
1. Introduction
decrease
electrical in the number
efficiency and of heating hours
modularity of 22-139h to
[1]. According during the heating
statistics, about 27% seasonof(depending on theconsumption
the total energy combination of weather
is in the formand
ofrenovation
electricityscenarios
and 38%considered).
is in thermalOn the other
energy in thehand, functionsector
residential intercept increased
worldwide [2].for 7.8-12.7%
Countries pera decade
with (depending
cold climate on the
may spend
coupled scenarios).micro-CHP
The valuessystemssuggested could beanused to modify the function parameters for production
the scenarios considered, and
more energy on heating, such as Finland uses almost 64% of their energy for heating indoor areas and domestic waterhigh
PEMFC-based represent interesting solution to distributed energy due to their [3],
improve the
electrical accuracyand
efficiency of heat demand[1].
modularity estimations.
According to statistics, about 27% of the total energy consumption is in the form
of electricity and 38% is in thermal energy in the residential sector worldwide [2]. Countries with a cold climate may spend
© 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
more energy on heating, such as Finland uses almost 64% of their energy for heating indoor areas and domestic water [3],
Peer-review under responsibility of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and
Cooling.
* Qie SUN. Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 ; fax: +0-000-000-0000 .
E-mail address: qie@sdu.edu.cn
Keywords: Heat demand; Forecast; Climate change
1876-6102 Copyright
* Qie SUN. © 2018 Elsevier; fax:
Tel.: +0-000-000-0000 Ltd. +0-000-000-0000
All rights reserved..
Selection
E-mailand peer-review
address: under responsibility of the scientific committee of the Applied Energy Symposium and Forum 2018: Low carbon cities and
qie@sdu.edu.cn
urban energy systems, CUE2018.
1876-6102 Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1876-6102
Selection and© 2017 The under
peer-review Authors. Published of
responsibility bythe
Elsevier Ltd.committee of the Applied Energy Symposium and Forum 2018: Low carbon cities and
scientific
Peer-review
urban under responsibility
energyCopyright
systems, CUE2018. of the Scientific Committee of The 15th International Symposium on District Heating and Cooling.
1876-6102 © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of the CUE2018-Applied Energy Symposium and Forum
2018: Low carbon cities and urban energy systems.
10.1016/j.egypro.2018.09.063
84 Fei Yang et al. / Energy Procedia 152 (2018) 83–88
2 Fei Yang et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

which are the two main forms of thermal demand in residential sector. Therefore, it is necessary to establish systems with
high thermal power ratio to meet the household load demands in these cold regions. Actually, to meet the high thermal
demand in the residential sector, a HP can be integrated into a PEMFC-based micro-CHP system to increase the production
of heat thanks to its high coefficient of performance (COP) [4]. In this study, we use a 1.8 kW PEMFC stack in combination
with a natural gas (NG) reformer and an air source HP to provide both electricity and heat to the household.
A number of researchers have carried out studies on the energy, economic and environmental performance of micro-
CHP systems for domestic application. Chen et al. [5] analyzed the key operating parameters for PEMFC and parabolic
trough solar collector systems on the system thermodynamic performance and performed the economic and environmental
analysis of the CCHP system, the results indicated the feasibility of his project. Arsalis et al. [6] modelled a HP-integrated
PEMFC-based micro-CHP system for single-family households and optimized the system net electrical efficiency at a
range of varying loads. The overall efficiency of the proposed system reached 81.5%. Chen et al. [7] proposed a hybrid
system to utilize the waste heat of FC, which was composed of a PEMFC, a three-heat-source HP and a regenerator. Their
study concluded that both the electricity output and the efficiency of the hybrid system can be improved compared to a
single PEMFC unit. Techno-economic analysis of PEMFC and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) micro-CHP systems for the
household has been performed in [8], the result gave a general view of the possible technology applications in the future.
Sorace et al. [9] analyzed two FC technologies for residential applications with heat pumps: a PEMFC system and a SOFC
system, results have pointed out that the total efficiency of SOFC system is 6% higher than PEMFC system while from an
economic point of view, payback years of SOFC system is longer due to its not competitive investment cost. However,
most of the existing research concentrated on the energy efficiency of the system, rather than the exergy analysis, which,
based on the first and the second law of thermodynamics, provides the information on the quality of energy flows through
a system [10]. An exergy assessment allows one to quantify the loss of efficiency in a process due to the loss of the quality
of the energy. This type of analysis obviously cannot indicate how the process can be improved insofar as making detailed
recommendations. However, such an analysis can indicate where the process can be improved and, therefore, what areas
should receive technical attention. [11]
In this paper, we analyzed the performance of a HP-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system using a zero-
dimensional model in ASPEN PLUS and the energy consumption of a typical household in winter cold area was selected
in China as the reference. An exergy and economic analysis has been performed to assess the efficiency of the proposed
system. In addition, the proposed system was compared to a boiler (NG fired)-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system
to increase the relevance of the study.

2. Modeling of the HP-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system

Since the heating loads exceed the electrical loads in the residential sector in the area with a cold climate in winter, the
study proposed a HP-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system to supply electricity and heat for a typical household,
while simultaneously achieving a reduction in total energy consumption and related carbon dioxide emissions. The system
is established according to the principle of cascade utilization of energy [12], as shown in Fig.1. This system consists of
three major subsystems: fuel processing unit, fuel cell unit and HP unit [13]. The fuel processing unit consists of a burner,
an auto-thermal reformer (ATR), a high temperature shifter (HTS), a low temperature shifter (LTS), a CO preferential
oxidation unit (PrOx) and a water separator. Cooling water is heated by the heat recovered from the reforming process and
then stored in the hot-water tank for household space heating and domestic use. The capacity of the PEMFC in this study
is 1.8 kW and the electricity generated by the PEMFC is used to drive the HP firstly. The electricity not met by FC is
obtained from the electricity grid. The household demand data for a typical family we obtained are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Household data.

Number of people 4
Floor surface (m )
2
120
Heating demand 7.2 kW
Hot water demand (60℃) 248 L/d
Electrical energy demand 5.76 kWh/d

Source: adapted from [14-16]

 Fei Yang et al. / Energy Procedia 152 (2018) 83–88 85
Fei Yang et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 3

The main assumptions made by the simulation include the follows:

 The partial pressures on the individual system components are constant.
 The gases and their mixtures obey the Peng-Robinson equation of state.
 All reactors and the fuel cell stacks run under steady-state conditions.
 This simulation process does not consider the desulfidation process of natural gas.

Fig. 1. Flowsheet of the HP-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system for residential sector.

3. Techno-economic analysis

3.1. Primary energy saving rate

The primary energy saving rate (PESR) is calculated by the following equation:
ECHP (1)
PESR  1 
Eel E
 th
el , s th , s
where ECHP is the CHP system inlet NG [kWh], Eel and Eth are respectively the electricity and thermal energy produced
with the CHP system, ηel,s is the electrical grid efficiency and ηth,s is the boiler efficiency. These two efficiencies stand for
the efficiencies for the separate production of electricity and thermal energy. Here, we set ηel,s=33% and ηth,s=85%.

3.2. Exergy analysis

The exergy of the open system is calculated as Eq.(2). Here, h, s, and T represent enthalpy, entropy, and temperature,
respectively. Subscript 0 and Superscripts 0 indicate the standard condition (5℃, 1 atm). Exergy contains the potential
exergy (ep), kinetic exergy (eki), chemical exergy (ech) and thermomechanical exergy (etc), as shown in Eq.(3). For the CHP
system, kinetic and potential exergies are ignored. The exergy efficiency of the selected system is calculated by Eq.(6),
where ee and eh represent the exergy of the electricity and heat output of the system, respectively.

e  h  h T s  s
0  0  0  (2)

e  e p  eki  ech  etc (3)

n (4)
ech
  ni  ei0
i 1
86 Fei Yang et al. / Energy Procedia 152 (2018) 83–88
4 Fei Yang et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

(5)
 n    T 
e
tc   ni  C p ,i    T  T0  T0  ln  T  
 i 1    0 
e e e (6)
tote  he  ee  out = e h
ein ein

3.3. Economic analysis

The economic index to evaluate the system is based on the Net Present Value (NPV) method [8], which is defined as
the sum of the present values of incoming and outgoing cash flows over a period of time. This method is used for evaluating
the advantages and disadvantages of the scheme by the size of the NPV. If the value is greater than zero, the scheme is
feasible. And the greater the NPV, the better the scheme and the better the investment benefit. The NPV can be calculated
as follow:
n
Ck
NPV C0   (7)
1  rw 
k
k 0

where 𝐶𝐶0 is the initial investment cost, n is the number of investment years, 𝐶𝐶𝑘𝑘 is the annual saving of k-th year (sum
of the costs and incomes of k-th year), 𝑟𝑟𝑤𝑤 is the discount rate.
The economic parameters of the proposed system are presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Economic parameters of the proposed system.

Investment of whole system (€/kW) 5132.78
Annual saving of whole system (€) 946.86
Discount rate 3%
Investment years 20

Source: adapted from [9, 17]

Fig. 2. The PESR comparison between the two systems.

4. Results

4.1. PESR

PESR of both the HP- integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system and the boiler-integrated PEMFC-based micro-
CHP system are shown in Fig.2. Obviously, the latter system is more energy saving.
 Fei Yang et al. / Energy Procedia 152 (2018) 83–88 87
Fei Yang et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000 5

4.2. Exergy balance and exergy efficiency

Through the simulation, the total exergy efficiency of the proposed system is 32.42% with the electricity generation
efficiency of 23.46%, and the heat output efficiency of 8.96%. The exergy efficiency comparison between the proposed
system and the boiler-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system is shown in Fig.3, which shows the total exergy
efficiency of the proposed system is 12.01% higher than the traditional system. As for the proposed system, the exergy
efficiency of each process is analyzed as Fig.4 shows.

Fig. 3. The exergy efficiency comparison between the two systems.

Fig. 4. The exergy efficiency of each process of the proposed system

4.3. Economic analysis

The proposed system needs to purchase electricity from the power grid to make up for the shortage of fuel cell power
generation. While the boiler-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system is willing to sell the extra electricity to the power
grid in order to meet the household thermal demand with a higher NG consumption.
Fig.5 shows the relationship among the NPV, investment years and investment subsidy percentage from government.
It is clear that the government subsidy has significant influence on system economic performance.

5. Conclusions

 The exergy efficiency of the HP-integrated PEMFC-based micro-CHP system is 32.42%, which is12.01% higher
than the boiler-integrated system.
 For the proposed system, the exergy efficiency of HP is the lowest, which means technical improvements can be
made at this process. However, its exergy efficiency is still higher than that of boiler, which is less than 10%.
88 Fei Yang et al. / Energy Procedia 152 (2018) 83–88
6 Fei Yang et al./ Energy Procedia 00 (2018) 000–000

 NPV result confirms the proposed system is economic practicable for residential application. And the
government subsidy has significant influence on improving the economy of the system.
 Due to the HP uses electricity to transfer the energy in the air to the water, no chemical reactions such as
combustion are involved, so no carbon dioxide is generated from the HP. This is another important advantage of
the proposed system over both of the boiler-integrated micro-CHP system and conventional systems.

Although the system studied in this paper is better than the boiler-integrated micro-CHP system from the viewpoint of
both saving the primary energy and reducing exergy loss, there is still a lot of work to be done to use the system for
household in large scale. It is necessary to improve relevant technology in the long term, especially to optimize the HP and
achieve collaborative optimization among different units of the system. In addition, further reduction in investment cost
and more government support are crucial to enable households to accept such a system.

Fig. 5. NPV and payback period of system with government subsidy.

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