A super-efficient method for hydrogen production from seawater

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy 2022-07, Vol.47 (62), p.26135-26155
• Main Authors: Saeedi Zadegan, Mohammad, Zamani Pedram, Mona, Sohani, Ali, Hoseinzadeh, Siamak
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Cu–Cl cycle; Desalination technology; Hydrogen production; Process optimization; Solar energy
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.04.122

A hybrid system to produce hydrogen from the seawater is proposed and the best condition of that to have the highest efficiency is found here. The hybrid system consists of parabolic trough collectors, reverse osmosis (RO) desalination system, and a thermochemical water decomposition unit with heat dissipation system by cooling towers. The main process is based on the cuprous chloride (five-step) cycle that is optimized compared to previous research works. The RO and Cu–Cl processes are simulated by ROZA and Aspen HYSYS software programs, respectively, which are linked to the developed MATLAB codes for other components. The optimum area of the parabolic trough collectors is found 2964.6 m2. Furthermore, the foremost dimensions for two cooling towers are 40 and 20 m height, and 50 and 35 m base diameter, respectively. Additionally, according to the results, the proposed hybrid system enjoys a high level of both energy and exergy efficiency values at the same time. The total energy efficiency of the hybrid H2 production system is 18%, while it has the exergy efficiency of 30%. •A new solar-assisted H2 and freshwater production system is proposed and optimized.•The optimum area of parabolic trough solar collectors is 2964.6 m2.•The best geometry of cooling towers has 40 and 20 m diameter, 50 and 35 m height.•The proposed design has the overall energy and exergy efficiencies of 18 and 30%.•The optimum system produces 20.2 and 13.0 kg H2 and desalinated water per hour.