i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1

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Thermodynamic assessment of modified Organic

Rankine Cycle integrated with parabolic trough
collector for hydrogen production

Yunus Emre Yüksel

Afyon Kocatepe University, Education Faculty, Science Education Department, ANS Campus, Afyonkarahisar, 03200,
Turkey

article info abstract

Article history: Hydrogen is one of the most clean energy carrier and the best alternative for fossil fuels. In
Received 9 August 2017 this study, thermodynamic analysis of modified Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) integrated
Received in revised form with Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) for hydrogen production is investigated. The inte-
7 September 2017 grated system investigated in this study consists of a parabolic trough collector, a modified
Accepted 28 September 2017 ORC, a single effect absorption cooling system and a PEM electrolyzer. By using parabolic
Available online 21 October 2017 trough collector, solar energy is converted heat energy and then produced heat energy is
used in modified ORC to produce electricity. Electricity is then used for hydrogen produc-
Keywords: tion. The outputs of this integrated system are electricity, cooling and hydrogen. By per-
Solar energy forming a parametric study, the effects of design parameters of PTC, modified ORC and
Parabolic trough collector PEM electrolyzer on hydrogen production is evaluated. According to the analysis results,
Hydrogen solar radiation is one of the most important factor affecting system exergy efficiency and
Modified organic Rankine cycle hydrogen production rate. As solar radiation increases from 400 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2,
exergy efficiency of the system increases 58%e64% and hydrogen production rate increases
from 0.1016 kg/h to 0.1028 kg/h.
© 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

multigeneration systems offer high efficiency, cheap, clean

Introduction
Energy is one of the most critical subjects of present day. Being
clean, environmental, safe and cheap are important features
of obtaining necessary energy. Beside these features energy
consumption should be decreased by informing people about
energy saving. Due to increasing life standards energy con-
sumption increases sharply. This situation causes global
warming, greenhouse effect, climate change, melting of ice
caps, acid precipitation and ozone depletion. Current energy
infrastructure is unfortunately not sustainable and it should
be renewed in near future. From this perspective, integrated
and sustainable solutions for current problem. Integrated
multigeneration systems produce several outputs such as
power, heating and cooling, hydrogen, some chemicals, hot
water etc. Performance parameter is one of the most impor-
tant factors while implementing a multigeneration system.
Besides performance and efficiency, initial capital and
operating & maintenance cost should be analyzed in order
to conduct an effective and economic multigeneration
system [1].
By using thermodynamic assessment method, the general
characteristics of an energy production system can be drawn,
especially efficiency, environmental impact and economic

E-mail address: yeyuksel@aku.edu.tr.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.09.164
0360-3199/© 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1 5833

terms of energetic and exergetic viewpoint. According to the

Nomenclature results, efficiencies of methanol generation system are quite
close to each other with energy efficiency 39% and exergy ef-
Aa Aperture area
ficiency 41%.
Ar Receiver area
Gao et al. [3] have proposed a poly-generation system using
Cp;c Specific heat of working fluid
coal as a main source producing power and chemicals. They
COP Coefficient of performance
have compared this poly-generation system with an individ-
CST Cold storage tank
ual energy production system in terms of exergy efficiency. As
D membrane thickness
a result, poly-generation system has higher efficiency than
Di;r Receiver inside diameter
the individual one. By integrating chemical production, sys-
Do;r Receiver outside diameter
tem has saved 3.9% energy.
EES Engineering Equation Solver
· In another study, Carvalho et al. [4] have tried to lower total
Ex Exergy rate
annual cost and harmfull emissions of a hospital. To achieve
ex Specific exergy
this, a tri-generation system has been proposed. To meet op-
F Faraday constant
timum criteria, a model has been selected with lower cost and
F' Collector efficiency factor
environmental friendly option. The needs of the hospital such
FR Heat removal factor
as power, cooling and heating have been determined. As a
Gt Total solar radiation
result, they have found that there is an inverse proportion
h Enthalpy
between cost and emissions.
hfi Heat transfer coefficient
Solar energy is one of the most suitable energy source type
HEX Heat Exchanger
for local needs and it is environmental benign. Because of
HST Hot storage tank
that, parabolic trough collector is used in this study to meet
J Current density
the thermal energy need of organic Rankine cycle. Parabolic
k Thermal conductivity
trough collectors is the most used collector technology in the
Lc collector length
world, as seen from Fig. 1 [5].
m Mass
Hydrogen production via solar energy is getting popular
ncp Number of collectors in parallels
because hydrogen is the most promising energy carrier for
ncs Number of collectors in series
near future. Omar and Altinis‚ik [6] have published a study
ORC Organic Rankine Cycle
which comprises of a simulation of hydrogen production
PEM Proton Exchange Membrane
system with hybrid solar collector. They have found the most
PTC Parabolic Trough Collector
suitable city among three by varying pressure and tempera-
R Resistance
ture with constant temperature and pressure, respectively.
RT Rankine turbine
Energetic and exergetic performance with parametric an-
Q Heat
alyses is performed in another study conducted by Joshi et al.
S Absorbed solar radiation
[7]. According to that study, exergy efficiency of system has
SEACS Single Effect Absorption Cooling System
the peak value at 400
C of collector surface temperature.
To Ambient temperature
Khanmojammadi et al. [8] proposed an integrated solar
Tri receiver inlet temperature
based system producing hydrogen and cooling. They have
UL Heat loss coefficient
performed an optimization study based on the outlet tem-
V Potential
_ perature of generator, inlet temperature to ORC turbine, solar
W Work rate
irradiation intensity, collector mass flow rate and flat plate
ar absorptivity of receiver
collector area. Resultingly, they have reported that the exergy
g correction factor for diffuse radiation
efficiency of the system can be improved from 1.72% to 3.2%.
DG Gibb's free energy change
In order to increase the performance of water electrolysis,
Dth total time of changing period
some new methods are being tried. One of them is to use
DT change of temperature
alkaline water electrolysis method by putting 30% potassium
h Energy efficiency
hydroxide in water. Bhattacharyya et al. [9] performed this
J Exergy efficiency
method to produce hydrogen from alkaline water electrolysis
l Water contents
and they have conducted thermodynamic analysis to the
tcover transmissivity of the cover glazing
system. As a result with some varying parameters, energy
tPTC effective transmissivity of the parabolic trough
efficiency of conversion changes between 14 and 16% and
collector
exergy efficiency ranges from 8% to 16%.
Another method for producing hydrogen is methanol
reforming. Real et al. [10] have conducted a solar powered
charge of the system. Energy analysis cannot emphasize the methanol reforming system in order to produce hydrogen.
losses in the process, so it should be supported by exergy The system by means of solar collector having up to 260
C
analysis based on the second law of thermodynamics to temperature, maximum hydrogen production is achieved
highlight where and how irreversibilities occur. Rosen and with 6.62 LSTP min1 m2. According to results, efficiency of
Scott [2] proposed a system producing methanol by using hydrogen production is about 78% and total energetic effi-
natural gas sources. They have investigated the system in ciency of the system is almost 43%.
5834 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1

Fig. 1 e Percentage of different solar thermal power technologies [5].

Lastly in order to boost up commercialization of hydrogen

usage, solar powered hydrogen fuel station is builded and its
test results have been reported by Dispenza et al. [11]. The
station can produce 8.5 kg H2 at 350 bar in 630 min.
The main objective of this paper is to perform a thermo-
dynamic analysis to a novel integrated system producing
electricity and hydrogen and define the parameters affecting
system performance.

System description

The sub-systems of the integrated system analyzed in this

study are a parabolic trough collector, a modified ORC, a single
effect absorption cooling system and a PEM electrolyzer as
seen from Fig. 2. Targeted outputs of the integrated system are
electricity, cooling and hydrogen. The role of PTC in the sys-
tem is to produce high temperature water by converting solar
energy to heat energy. Water at point 1 enters the PTC and
gains heat energy up to 400
C then leaves PTC at point 2. High
temperature fluid at point 2 enters hot storage tank. After that,
the fluid enters the evaporator of the modified ORC at point 3.
In ORC, the fluid exiting evaporator enters the turbine and
it produces electricity. Generated electricity is then sent to the Fig. 2 e Schematic diagram of integrated system.
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1 5835

PEM electrolyzer. Fluid leaving turbine enters the heat absorbed solar radiation by the collector can be calculated as
exchanger at point 11 then goes through condenser at point 12 follows [13]:
and condensed fluid is pumped at point 13. Some part of the
S ¼ Gt tcover tPTC ar g (5)
fluid leaving turbine at point 8 enters feed water heater and
mixes with the fluid coming from HEX. The fluid goes back to where Gt is the total solar radiation, tcover is the transmissivity
the evaporator at point 15 by going through pump at point 14. of the cover glazing, tPTC is the effective transmissivity of the
ORC cycle provides electricity by using heat energy coming parabolic trough collector, ar is the absorptivity of receiver and
from sunlight. g is the correction factor for diffuse radiation. The aperture
In single effect absorption cooling system (SEACS) LiBr- area can be calculated as follows:
water mixture is preferred as working fluid because it is the
most common mixture used in the SEACS. The fluid exiting Aa ¼ ðw  Do;r ÞLc (6)
from evaporator at point 4 enters the generator of SEACS. Heat where w is the collector width and Lc is the collector length. An
energy is used to evaporate the refrigerant in the generator energy balance equation of the pump-I can be written as:
and the fluid goes to condenser at point 16. Condenser pro-
· · ·
vides cooling and the fluid leaving condenser enters the m6 h6 þ WpI ¼ m1 h1 (7)
evaporator-II then goes to absorber. The fluid at point 23 en- ·
where WpI is the work done by pump-I.
ters the HEX-II. Using HEX improves the system performance.
Lastly, fluid exiting from generator enters the water pre-
heater of the PEM electrolyzer subsystem. Heat energy is
Storage sub-system
Energy balance equations of the hot and warm storage tanks
transferred to the water to be heated up to 80
C. In PEM
are analyzed for charging, storing and discharging periods
electrolyzer water is split up to the hydrogen and oxygen.
based on the literature [14].
Hydrogen is then compressed and stored. It is sent to the PEM
fuel cell in order to be used when necessary.
 Hot storage tank for charging period

The entering heat rate to the hot storage tank can be

Thermodynamic analysis and modelling
written as:
Energy analysis · · ·
Qhst;e ¼ m2 h2  Qhst;l (8)
·
Parabolic trough collector where Q hst;l is the lost heat from the hot storage tank during
The energy balance equation of the parabolic trough collector charging period, and can be calculated as follows:
for the case study can be expressed as follows:
·

·
Qhst;l;c ¼ Uhst Ahst ðThst  To Þ (9)
· ·
m1 h1 þ Qu ¼ m2 h2 (1)
·
where Uhst , Ahst and Thst are the total heat transfer coefficient,
where Q u is the useful produced energy from the parabolic area and temperature of the hot storage tank, respectively.
trough collector sub-system, and can be given as follows [12]: The overall amount of heat storing in the heat storage tank
·
can be calculated using:
Qu ¼ ncp ncs FR ½SAa  Ar UL ðTri  To Þ (2)
X ·
Qhst;e ¼ Qhst;e Dth (10)
where ncs and ncp are the number of collectors in series and
parallels, respectively, FR is the heat removal factor, S is the where Dth is the total time of changing period.
absorbed solar radiation, Aa and Ar are the aperture and
receiver area of the collector, respectively, UL is the collector  Hot storage tank for storing period
heat loss coefficient, Tri and To are the receiver inlet temper-
ature and ambient temperature, respectively. FR is given as The overall heat loss from the hot storage tank during
follows: storing period can be given as follows:
· " !#
mc Cp;c UL F0 Ar Qhst;l;s ¼ Mhst Cp;hst DThst (11)
FR ¼ 1  exp  · (3)
A r UL mc Cp;c where Mhst is the total working fluid mass in the hot storage
where m_ c is the mass flow rate in the collector, Cp;c is the tank, Cp;hst is the specific heat of the hot storage tank and DThst
specific heat of the working fluid and F0 is the collector effi- is the change of temperature in the hot storage tank.
ciency factor, and can be calculated as follows:
 Hot storage tank for charging period
1=UL
F0 ¼   (4)
1
UL
þ hfi Di;r þ D2ko;r ln DDo;r
Do;r
i ;r The total heat at charging period can be calculated as
follows:
where Di;r is the receiver inside diameter, Do;r is the receiver
X
outside diameter, hfi is the heat transfer coefficient inside the Q3 ¼ Qhst;e  Qhst;l;s (12)
receiver, and k is the thermal conductivity of the receiver. An
5836 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1

 Cold storage tank for storing period

h16 ¼ hðP23 ; x ¼ 1Þ (22)
The overall amount of heat storing in the cold storage tank
where h16 is the enthalpy content of the working fluid at point
can be calculated using:
16.
Qcst;tlost ¼ Mcst Cp;cst DTcst (13) Absorber: The energy balance equation for the absorber
component can be defined as follows:
where Mcst is the total working fluid mass in the cold storage
tank, Cp;cst is the specific heat of the cold storage tank and DTcst · · · ·
Qabs ¼ m19 h19 þ m25 h25  m20 h20 (23)
is the change of temperature in the cold storage tank.
Condenser-II: The energy balance equations for the
 Cold storage tank for discharging period condenser-II component can be given as follows:
· · ·
The heat rate discharges period from the cold storage tank QcondII ¼ m16 h16  m17 h17 (24)
can be given as follows: Evaporator-II: The energy balance equation for the
X evaporator-II unit is expressed as follows.
Q6 ¼ Qcst  Qcst;tlost (14)
· · ·
QevaII ¼ m18 h18  m19 h19 (25)
Rankine cycle
HEX: The energy balance equation for the HEX as an evapo-
h19 ¼ hðTeva ; x ¼ 1Þ (26)
rator of the Rankine cycle is used for determining the tem-
perature and enthalpy for the Rankine HEX, and is given as where h19 is the enthalpy content of the working fluid at outlet
follows: point of the evaporator.
· · · ·
m9 h9 þ m13 h13 ¼ m10 h10 þ m11 h11 (15) PEM electrolyzer
A pinch point temperature ðTpp Þ in the HEX is used to In this paper, a part of electricity from Rankine turbine and
investigate the outlet working fluid temperature leaving the heat energy from the water preheater are both provided to the
HEX, and can be given as follows: electrolyzer to enhance the electrochemical reactions.
Hydrogen is generated at the electrolyzer cathode and then
Tpp ¼ T10  T9 (16) cooled to the reference temperature. The produced hydrogen
is stored in a hydrogen store tank for later usage. Leaving the
Rankine turbine: The energy balance and energy efficiency
anode site, oxygen gas is separated from the water and oxygen
equation of the Rankine turbine can be written as follows:
mixture and then cooled to the ambient conditions. The en-
· · · · ergy demand for electrolyzer is calculated as:
m7 h7 ¼ WRT þ m8 h8 þ m9 h9 (17)
DG ¼ DH  Tr DS (27)
·
WRT;a
hRT ¼ · (18) where DG is the Gibb's free energy change, DH is the enthalpy
WRT;i change, Tr is the reaction temperature, and DS is the entropy
· ·
where WRT;a and WRT;i are the actual and isentropic Rankine change. Also, TDS gives the heat energy demand for electro-
turbine power outlets. lyzer. The hydrogen mass flow rate is calculated as [15]:
Condenser: The energy balance equation of the condenser · J ·
as the Rankine condenser can be given as follows: NH2 ;out ¼ ¼ NH2 O;reacted (28)
2F
· · · where J is the current density and F is the Faraday constant.
m11 h11 ¼ m12 h12 þ QRC (19)
An electrolysis voltage of electrolyzer is calculated as follows:
Pump: The work equation of the pump as given:
V ¼ Vo þ Vact;a þ Vact;c þ Vohm (29)
· · ·
WP ¼ m12 h12  m13 h13 (20) where Vo is the reversible potential, Vact;a is the anode activa-
tion overpotential, Vact;c is the cathode activation over-
Absorption cooling system
potential, and Vohm is the electrolyte ohmic overpotential. The
Absorption refrigeration processes different than more con-
reversible potential is concerning with the difference in free
ventional vapor compression refrigeration process use ther-
energy between reactants and products. This potential can be
mal energy to compress vapor instead of electricity. The waste
calculated by using the Nernst equation as given below:
heat from the boiler can be used for cooling, by driving the
absorption chiller. Vo ¼ 1:229  8:5x104 ðTPe  298Þ (30)
Generator: The energy balance equation for the generator-I
where TPe is the electrolyzer temperature. The ohmic over-
or high-temperature generator can be written as follows for
potential is caused by the resistance of the electrolyzer to the
investigating of the inlet and outlet conditions:
hydrogen ion transported through membrane. The humidifi-
 · ·
 · · · cation degree, thickness and temperature of a PEM have an
m4 h4  m26 h26 þ m22 h22 ¼ m16 h16 þ m23 h23 (21)
important effect on the ionic resistance of electorlyzer. The
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1 5837

electrolyzer ionic conductivity sðxÞ based on the distance into where hact ; hohmic and hcon are the activation, ohmic and con-
membrane measured from the cathode and membrane centration over potentials, respectively. hact is related with the
interface x can be calculated as [16]: catalyst layers in the PEM fuel cell, and can be calculated as
   follows:
1 1
sPEM ½lðxÞ ¼ ½0:5139lðxÞ  0:326exp 1268  (31)
303 T hact ¼ haact þ hcact (40)
where lðxÞ is the water content at a location x in membrane, where and haact hcact
are the activation over potentials for the
and expressed in terms of water content at the PEM electrode anode and cathode catalysts layers in the PEM fuel cell,
edges: respectively. hohmic is explained by using the electron and
proton migrations in the electrode backing and polymer
la  lc
lðxÞ ¼ x þ lc (32) electrolyte, respectively. Ohmic over potential can be calcu-
D
lated as follows:
where D is the membrane thickness, la is the water contents
at the anode mebrane interface and lc is the water contents at hohmic ¼ habp þ hcbp þ hae þ hce þ hm (41)
the cathode mebrane interface. The PEM electorlyzer overall
where habp and hcbp are the ohmic losses from the anode and
ohmic resistance can be given as follows [16]:
cathode site of the PEM fuel cell, respectively, hae and hce are the
ZD ohmic losses from the anode and cathode backing sides,
dx
RPEM ¼ (33) respectively, and hm is the over potential associated with the
sPEM ½lðxÞ
0 PEM membrane. hcon is related with the critical mass transfer
restriction at higher current density, and can be calculated as:
The PEM ohmic overpotential can be expressed using by
the Ohm's law as given below: hcon ¼ hacon þ hccon (42)

Vohm;PEM ¼ JRPEM (34) where and hacon hccon

are the concentration over potentials of the
anode and cathode electrodes, respectively. By using the
The electrolyzer activation overpotential ðVact Þ can be
procedure given above, the produced electricity from the one
calculated based on the deflection of current from its equi-
PEM fuel cell is evaluated as given below:
librium and electron transfer reaction.
·
 
RT J Wcell ¼ VðIÞxIxAcell (43)
Vact;i ¼ sinh1 ; i ¼ a; c (35)
F 2Jo;i
where I is the current density and Acell is the PEM fuel cell area.
where Jo is the exchange current density. Also, Jo is significant The stack electricity of the PEM fuel cell sub-system can be
indicator in determining the activation over potential, and evaluated as follows:
defines the electrode's capabilities in the electrolyzer electro- · ·
WPEMfc ¼ nfc xWcell (44)
chemical reaction. The high exchange current density values
suggested the high reactivities of the PEM electrodes, which where nfc is the number of the cells in the PEM fuel cell sub-
create the lower over potential. The exchange current density system.
of the PEM electrolyzer can be calculated as [15]:
  Exergy analysis
ref Vact;i
J0;i ¼ Ji exp  ; i ¼ a; c (36)
RT
For the steady-state condition, the exergy balance equation of
ref
where Ji is the pre-exponential factor, Vact;i is the activation the integrated system and its components can be expressed as
energy for the anode and cathode sites, subscripts a and c are follows;
the anode and cathode, respectively. X· · X· · ·
mi exi þ ExQ ¼ me exe þ ExW þ ExD (45)
i e
PEM fuel cell ·
The output voltage of a PEM fuel cell stack for electricity where Ex is the exergy rate, subscripts Q and W represent heat
generation can be given as follows [12]: and work, respectively, ex is the specific exergy of the process
and these are as follows;
VðIÞ ¼ Vr  Vir (37)
 
· To ·
where VðIÞ, Vr and Vir are the output voltage, reversible voltage ExQ ¼ 1 Qi (46)
Ti
of the fuel cell stack and irreversible cell voltage, respectively.
These variables can be calculated as follows: where Ti is the temperature in the ith given state.
· ·
Vr ¼ 1:229 þ 0:85x103 ðTCell  295:15Þ ExW ¼ W (47)
"  1 #
CH2 CO2 2 (38) Exergy is generally consisted of four parts which are physical
þ 4:31x105 TCell ln
22:22 7:033 exergy, (exph), chemical exergy (exch), kinetic exergy (exke), and
potential exergy (expe). The specific exergy is given as follows;
Vir ¼ hact þ hohmic þ hcon (39)
ex ¼ exke þ expe þ exph þ exch (48)
5838 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1

·
In this study kinetic, potential and chemical exergy are ExH2
neglected because in the processes elevation difference is low, Jhydrogen ¼ · · (60)
ExGen þ WTurbine
speeds are negligible and there is no chemical reaction. The
physical exergy rate of any flow is written as follows; · · ·
WORC þ ExH2 þ Excooling
Jsystem ¼ · (61)
exph ¼ ðhi  ho Þ  To ðsi  so Þ (49) ExPTC
The exergy rate of the ith material flow can be calculated as The exergy performance, useful indicator for thermody-
follows; namic assessment of the absorption system, can be written in
· · rate forms of the exergetic coefficient of performance (COPex):
Exi ¼ mexi (50)
·
Excooling
Energy efficiency COPex ¼ · · (62)
Wpump þ Exgen
The energy efficiency is described as the ratio of useful energy,
such as power, hydrogen, cooling, heating and hot water etc.,
Results and discussion
generated via the process to the input energy to the process. In
this paper, the energy efficiency equations for sub-systems,
Thermodynamic analyses of integrated multigeneration sys-
such as PTC, storage sub-system, hydrogen production,
tem are performed for better understanding the multi-
modified ORC, single effect absorption cooling sub-system,
generation energy production system. Design parameters of
and also whole system are written as follows:
PTC sub-system are given in Table 1. In addition, a parametric
· ·
study explaining how reference temperature changes affect
Q2  Q1
hPTC ¼ · (51) system performance is investigated and results of this para-
Qsolar
metric study are presented in figures. Thermodynamic prop-
·
erties of the working fluids of the integrated system
Wnet;ORC considered in this study are determined by means of Engi-
hORC ¼ · (52)
Q eva neering Equation Solver (EES) software [17]. In order to
perform thermodynamic analyses some assumptions have
· been accepted in this study as follows:
Qstorage
hstorage ¼ · (53)
QPTC  Kinetic and potential energy and exergy changes are
neglected.
·
mH2 LHVH2  There are no pressure losses in flow paths.
hhydrogen ¼ · · (54)
QGen þ WTurbine  The environmental temperature and pressure are accepted
as constant.
· · ·  Each component in the system is in the steady-state
WORC þ mH2 LHVH2 þ Qcooling
hsystem ¼ · (55) conditions.
Q PTC  Pumps, HEXs and ORC turbine are assumed as adiabatic.
The energetic coefficient of performance (COPen) is the  Isentropic efficiencies of turbines and pumps are 70% and
measure of the single effect absorption cooling system per- 85%, respectively.
formance, and can be written as follows:
Coefficient of performance (COP) is key indicator for eval-
·
Qcooling uating the effectiveness of the absorption cooling systems. As
COPen ¼ · · (56)
Wpump þ Qgen

Exergy efficiency
Table 1 e Design parameters of PTC sub-system.
Specific heat of the working fluid ðCp;c Þ 2314 J/kg
C
Exergy efficiencies of sub-systems of the integrated system
Receiver outside diameter ðDo;r Þ 0.07 m
presented in Fig. 1 can be written as follow:
Receiver inside diameter ðDi;r Þ 0.066 m
· · Collector heat loss coefficient ðUL Þ 3.82 W/m2
C
Ex2  Ex1 Receiver inlet temperature ðTri Þ 300
C
JPTC ¼ · (57)
Exsolar Heat transfer coefficient inside the receiver ðhfi Þ 300 W/m2
C
Thermal conductivity of the receiver ðkÞ 16 W/m
C
· Total solar radiation ðGt Þ 850 W/m2
Wnet;ORC Transmissivity of the cover glazing ðtcover Þ 0.90
JORC ¼ · (58)
Exeva Effective transmissivity of PTC ðtPDC Þ 0.94
Absorptivity of receiver ðar Þ 0.87
· Correction factor for diffuse radiation ðgÞ 0.95
Exstorage Single collector width ðwÞ 5.76 m
Jstorage ¼ · (59)
ExPTC Single collector length ðLc Þ 15 m
 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1
3 6
COPen
COPex
2,75
COPen
2,5
2,25
2 1
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
o
Reference temperature ( C)
Fig. 3 e Effects of reference on energetic (COPen) and
exergetic coefficient of performance (COPex).
reference temperature is one of the important factors
affecting energy production systems' performance, Fig. 3 in-
dicates the effect of reference temperature on absorption
cooling systems energetic and exergetic coefficient of perfor-
mance. According to Fig. 3, as reference temperature in-
creases from 5
C to 40
C, energetic COP does not change.
Since heat losses are neglected when analysing energetic COP.
On the other hand, exergetic COP of single effect absorption
cooling system increases from 2.15 to about 2.85. The reason
for this result is that when reference temperature increases,
the difference between environment and the system de-
creases. This situation increases the exergetic performance of
the cooling system.
Fig. 4 represents the effects of the reference temperature
on energy efficiencies of whole system and sub-systems. As
seen from this figure, as reference temperature increases
5
Ce40
C, energy efficiency of the storage system increases
too. The increment in reference temperature decreases the
losses from storage sub-system to the environment. While
energy efficiencies of absorption cooling system and hydrogen
production system remain nearly the same, energy effi-
ciencies of ORC and whole system decrease. As energy effi-
ciency analyses do not give enough information about the
system performance, exergy analyses are more informative
Fig. 4 e Effects of reference temperature on energy
efficiencies.
5839
5
4
COPex
2
40
Fig. 5 e Effects of reference temperature on exergy
efficiencies.
about the system performance. Also, exergy analyses show
where and how losses occur in the system. Fig. 5 shows the
effect of reference temperature on exergy efficiencies of whole
system and subsystems. As seen from Fig. 5, exergy efficiency
of hydrogen production system does not change with chang-
ing reference temperature. Changing of temperature from 5
C
to 40
C decreases the exergetic performance of ORC and ab-
sorption sub-systems. However, exergy efficiency of storage
sub-system and whole system increase with this reference
temperature range.
In Fig. 6, four different scenarios (single generation,
cogeneration, trigeneration and multigeneration) are evalu-
ated with respect to varying ORC inlet pressure. The increase
in ORC inlet pressure has positive effect on exergy efficiencies
of four different energy production systems. Fig. 6 also in-
dicates that the highest exergy efficiency (~46%) is possible in
multigeneration energy production system among them.
The only source of the integrated system considered in this
paper is the sun. Therefore one of the most important factors
affecting the system performance is solar radiation. Fig. 7
shows how energy and exergy efficiencies of PTC and whole
system change with respect to solar radiation. As seen from
the figure, while solar radiation varies from 400 W/m2 to
1000 W/m2, energy efficiency of PTC increases from 31% to
47% and exergy efficiency of PTC increases from 32% to 37%.
The higher solar radiation has positive effect both on
Fig. 6 e Effects of ORC inlet pressure on exergy efficiencies.
5840 i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 4 3 ( 2 0 1 8 ) 5 8 3 2 e5 8 4 1
Fig. 7 e Effects of solar radiation on energy and exergy
efficiencies of PTC and whole system.
Fig. 8 e Effects of solar radiation on hot water, heating,
cooling and power generation rate.
efficiencies of PTC and whole system. Because the only source
of this integrated system is solar radiation, the increment in
efficiency of PTC increases the efficiency of whole system too.
Fig. 8 indicates the effects of solar radiation on hot water,
heating, cooling and power generation rate. As solar radiation
increases from 400 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2, all these variables
increase. The most remarkable increase occurs in total power
generation rate.
The effects of solar radiation on exergy destruction rate
and hydrogen production rate are shown in Fig. 9. Exergy
Fig. 9 e Effects of solar radiation on exergy destruction rate
and hydrogen production rate.
destruction rate increases from 7000 kW to nearly 11000 kW
and hydrogen production rate increases from 0.1016 kg/h to
0.1028 kg/h as solar radiation varies from 400 W/m2 to 1000 W/
m2.
Conclusion
In this paper, a comprehensive thermodynamic assessment,
energy and exergy analyses of the integrated multigeneration
system are presented. Multigeneration system suggested in
this study produces electricity, cooling and hydrogen. Produced
hydrogen can be stored in hydrogen storage unit and can be
used later in PEM fuel cell. Multigeneration systems offer higher
efficiency than conventional energy production systems,
because of the ability that utilizing the waste heat of the system.
Results show that increase in reference temperature has posi-
tive effect on exergy efficiency of the system and COPex of the
cooling system. Also, because the only source of the integrated
system analyzed in this paper is sun, solar radiation is the key
factor affecting system performance and hydrogen production
rate. Concluding remarks of this study can be listed as follow:
 As reference temperature increases from 5
C to 40
C,
exergetic COP of single effect absorption cooling system
increases from 2.15 to about 2.85.
 Energy efficiency of the storage system increases nearly 8%
with increasing reference temperature.
 Changing of reference temperature from 5
C to 40
C
slightly increases the exergy efficiency of the system about
3%.
 As solar radiation increases from 400 W/m2 to 1000 W/m2,
exergy efficiency of the whole system increases from 58%
to 64%.
 Hydrogen production rate increases from 0.1016 kg/h to
0.1028 kg/h as solar radiation varies from 400 W/m2 to
1000 W/m2.
Acknowledgment
This study is supported by Afyon Kocatepe University Scien-
tific Researches Project Commission. Project number:
_
16.KARIYER.156.
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