Optimization of a Hybrid Solar Tower System for Power, Hydrogen, and Superheated Water Production

This research explores the incorporation of solar tower systems with a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system in a hybrid setup that includes the supercritical S-CO₂ Brayton cycle, the heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) and the Copper-Chlorine (Cu-Cl) cycle for producing hydrogen and superheated steam. Energy, exergy, and thermoeconomic examines are conducted to evaluate the functionality of each subsystem. TES helps mitigate fluctuations in solar radiation by storing thermal energy for periods of lower solar input, and each proposed component is individually modeled by utilizing Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software. In the base case, The exergy destruction rates are 9930 kW for the solar tower, 7111 kW for the S-CO₂ cycle, and 9735 kW for the Cu-Cl cycle. The base system generates \(\:4226\) kW of power, 2679 kW of heating, and \(\:0.04971\) kg.s ^− 1 of hydrogen, with energy and exergy efficiencies of 17.48% and 18.72%. The costs of electricity, heat, and hydrogen production in this case are 0.2917, 0.1061, and 0.02632 $/s, with a total production cost of 0.00003568 $/kJ.s. After optimization, the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system are 19.93% and 21.35%, respectively, producing 5943 kW of power, 3268 kW of heat, and 0.06675 kg.s ^− 1 of hydrogen. In the optimized case, the production costs of electricity, heat, and hydrogen are 0.03193, 0.1222, and 0.03337 $/s, with the total production cost reduced to 0.00003193 $/kJ.s. These results highlight the system's potential for efficiency improvement, indicating notable economic and operational benefits in renewable energy applications.