Modeling and simulation of a 100 kW

e
HT-PEMFC subsystem
integrated with an absorption chiller subsystem
Alexandros Arsalis
Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg , Denmark
a r t i c l e i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 May 2012
Received in revised form
16 June 2012
Accepted 26 June 2012
Available online 17 July 2012
Keywords:
Absorption chiller
Cooling
Fuel cell system
Liquid-cooled stack
PBI
a b s t r a c t
A 100 kW
e
liquid-cooled HT-PEMFC subsystem is integrated with an absorption chiller
subsystem to provide electricity and cooling. The system is designed, modeled and
simulated to investigate the potential of this technology for future novel energy system
applications. Liquid-cooling can provide better temperature control and is preferable for
middle-scale transport applications, such as commercial vessels, because stack cooling can
be achieved within smaller volumes. A commercial ship requiring cooling and electricity is
taken as the case study for the application of the proposed system. All system components
are described and analyzed in detail, in terms of modeling assumptions and conguration
topology. The results show the conceptual feasibility of the proposed system conguration,
since high net electrical efciencies are accomplished. The calculated net electrical
efciency is 43.8% for a net electrical power output of 100 kW
e
. The heat exhausted to the
absorption chiller subsystem is 107 kW and can satisfy a cooling duty of up to 128 or
64.5 kW for a LiBrewater double-effect system or a watereNH
3
single-effect system,
respectively. Finally, the projected total cost is comparable to conventional systems,
i.e., diesel engines integrated with vapor-compression chillers, and therefore justies
further development of the proposed system.
Copyright 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
reserved.
1. Introduction
Combined-Heat-and-Power (CHP) is a well-known method of
converting the chemical energy of a fuel into electricity and
useful heating and/or cooling. Fuel cell-based CHP systems
can be employed in large-scale centralized power plants,
e.g., a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell subsystem (SOFC) integrated with
a Gas Turbine (GT) subsystem [1]. Nevertheless, small-scale
systems are also available, typically in decentralized resi-
dential applications [2]. Medium-scale systems, e.g., at
100 kW
e
, can be employed in industrial and building complex
applications to provide electricity, heating and cooling, as
needed [3e5]. Fuel cell-based systems are attracting signi-
cant interest due to the projected high efciencies obtainable
[2], since a highly efcient system can reduce operating costs
and can aid toward a more positive environmental impact.
Absorption cycle refrigeration is based on the principle of
extracting low temperature heat and upgrading it to a high
temperature [6,7]. Compared to a vapor-compression system,
which requires a compressor to increase the pressure of the
refrigerant vapor, the absorption chiller uses heat to compress
the refrigerant vapor, requiring only a solution pump of
almost negligible power input. Therefore, thermally-activated
absorption chillers can increase the overall efciency of the
total energy system, since fuel consumption is reduced. For
the fuel cell under-study, the most appropriate matching
technology is either a double-effect LiBrewater absorption
chiller subsystem, or a single-effect watereNH
3
one [6,7]. In
E-mail address: alexarsalis@gmail.com.
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
j ournal homepage: www. el sevi er. com/ l ocat e/ he
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f hy d r o g e n e ne r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 3 4 8 4 e1 3 4 9 0
0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright 2012, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2012.06.106
this way the hot coolant exiting the fuel cell subsystemcan be
utilized directly in the generator of the absorption chiller,
without any heat processing (direct-red) [7]. A double-effect
LiBrewater absorption cycle has a refrigeration output of
5e10

C (chilled water), while a single-effect watereNH
3
has
a refrigeration output of 60 to 0

C (brine or glycol water) [7].
1.1. Literature review: fuel cells integrated with
absorption chillers
Several studies onfuel cell systems integratedwithabsorption
chillers have been reported in the recent literature. The
proposed novel system congurations involve either a low
temperature (LT)-PEMFC or a SOFC prime mover driving
absorptionrefrigerationcycles for medium-scale residential or
industrial applications. Weber et al. [5] have proposed
a decentralizedenergy systemutilizing a SOFCintegratedwith
a double-effect LiBrewater absorption chiller/heater for an
ofce building in Tokyo. The study concluded that the
proposed system could reduce CO
2
emissions by 30%, but on
the expense of a 70% cost increase, as compared to a conven-
tional electric chiller/heater system purchasing electricity
from a centralized electric grid. Zink et al. [3] have proposed
a natural gas-fueled SOFC stack integrated with a LiBrewater
absorption heat pump cycle total energy system capable of
providing cooling, heating and electricity in a residential
complex. The results indicated signicant benets in terms of
technical and environmental aspects, with total system ef-
cienciesreaching87%for different selectedoperational modes.
Calise [8] has investigated the integration of an ambient
pressure SOFC system integrated with a LiBrewater double-
effect absorption cycle and coupled with concentrating para-
bolic through solar thermal collectors. The novel polygenera-
tion system provides space heating/cooling, hot water and
electricity for a university building in Naples, Italy. The zero-
dimensional transient model was developed using TRNSYS
software to analyze the results at different operational times.
Finally a thermoeconomic optimization scheme is used to
determine the optimal set of system design parameters. In
a similar study, withthe same case study as above, Calise et al.
[9] have investigated a transient simulation model utilizing
a LT-PEMFC stack integrated with a single-effect LiBrewater
absorption cycle and coupled with solar thermal collectors.
Darwish[4] has proposedacommerciallyavailablenatural gas-
fueled 200 kW
e
Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) stack inte-
grated with a combined refrigeration cycle consisting of
a vapor-compression and LiBrewater absorption chiller
utilizing the exhaust gas from the fuel cell and electric power
output to operate air conditioning systems in large ofce
applications in Kuwait. The total system can recover a total
205 kW
th
useful heat in the form of hot water at two different
temperatures: 105 kW
th
at 120

C for driving the absorption
chiller and 100 kW
th
at 60

Cfor producing domestic hot water.

It is calculated that the maximum economically justiable
threshold point is a fuel cell cost of 2000 US$ per kW
e
.
1.2. Research study objectives
The current research study investigates the integration of
a 100 kW
e
HT-PEMFC subsystem with an absorption chiller
subsystem. The main motivations for design and modeling
the proposed energy system are the following: (i) high net
electrical efciency, (ii) recovery of the hot fuel cell cooling
loop in an integrated absorption chiller subsystemto generate
cooling, (iii) environmentally friendly operation (generation of
zero emissions), (iv) quiet operation (no moving parts in both
the fuel cell subsystem and the absorption chiller subsystem).
Two study cases are considered: (a) system integration with
a LiBrewater absorption chiller to generate chilled water
(5e10

C) and (b) system integration with a watereNH
3
for
freezing purposes (<0

C). The proposed conguration is then
compared with conventional electricity and cooling genera-
tion engines. These comparisons are performed with respect
to technical and economic aspects to allow an overall basis of
analysis and further development.
Apossibleareaof applicationof theproposedsystemisinthe
shipping industry. It has the potential of becoming a replace-
ment of less efcient and polluting diesel generators driving
electric chillers in a supply ship. Conventional ships have
a signicant contribution in global greenhouse emissions (3%),
in the form of carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides
and soot [10]. Apart from the obvious environmental benets,
there are also economic benets, in the form of fuel consump-
tion reduction and elimination of NO
x
emissions taxations.
2. System description
The basic conguration of the proposed total energy system is
shown in Fig. 1. The HT-PEMFC subsystem is fueled with
hydrogen, to generate electricity, while fuel cell exhaust heat is
generated as a by-product of the fuel cell reaction. The thermal
management of the fuel cell subsystem is fullled by liquid-
cooling using coolant oil. The hot coolant oil is fed to the
absorption chiller for heat recovery and eventually to generate
cooling. The cooled coolant exiting the generator is fed back to
the fuel cell to repeat the process. The main components in the
absorption chiller refrigeration cycle are the following: gener-
ator, absorber, condenser and evaporator. In the generator, the
incoming heat causes desorption of the refrigerant from the
absorbent. The refrigerant vaporizes and ows to the
condenser, where heat is rejected to form a pressurized liquid.
The liquid is throttled by means of an expansion valve to
depressurize and ow to the evaporator. The refrigerant
evaporates by absorbing heat producing useful cooling. In the
generator, the remaining liquid absorbent ows through
a bypass valve to depressurize and recombine with the low-
pressure refrigerant vapor exiting the evaporator. The absorp-
tion refrigeration cycle can be repeated continuously, provided
enough exhaust heat is fed to the generator. The model is
simulated in the commercially available software Engineering
EquationSolver (EES), whichis selectedas the modeling tool for
this research study since it includes many built-in mathe-
matical and thermo-physical property functions.
3. System modeling
In this section, the modeling assumptions for the main
components of the proposed system are explained and
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l o f hy d r og e n e ne r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 3 4 8 4 e1 3 4 9 0 13485
analyzed. In general, the modeling characteristics are derived
from theoretical, empirical, and experimental considerations
to reect a realistic system model. Overall, energy and mass
balances are utilized in the system modeling to assess the
system performance.
3.1. Fuel cell model
The fuel cell operating temperature is an important factor,
regarding efciency and fuel cell membrane degradation. A
high operating temperature contributes to the reduction of
cooling requirements, simplify water management and
minimize contamination problems. Compared to Naon
PEMFCs, PBI technology has slower start-up times. This effect
is a signicant disadvantage for vehicular applications, but in
the case of stationary or larger scale applications this is of
trivial importance, since these systems are operated in
a systematic way by use of xed time schedules. Additionally
the high CO tolerance of this technology allows smaller and
simpler fuel processors to be integrated when hydrogen is not
used. Nevertheless improvements are needed in terms of
thermal and chemical stability of the polymer activity and
stability of the catalyst and its support, as well as the elec-
trodeemembrane interface [11]. A high temperature PEMFC
utilizes a PBI (Polybenzimidazole) membrane, operating at
temperatures between 140 and 160

C. Therefore this fuel cell
type can be coupled effectively with an absorption chiller,
because waste heat can be recovered, and lower quality
reformed hydrogen may be used as fuel [12]. The model
considers only the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen, while all
other species are considered inactive. The ohmic resistance
(R
ohmic
) and the diffusion resistance (R
diff
) are based on linear
regressions evaluated experimentally by Korsgaard et al. in
[13]. The anode and cathode overpotentials are given by the
following expressions, respectively,
h
a

RT
cell
a
anode
F
sinh
1

i
2k
eh
q
H
2

(1)
h
c

RT
cell
4a
cathode
F
ln

i
0
i
i
0

R
diff

i
l
air
1

(2)
where a
i
is the charge transfer coefcient, l
air
is the cathode
air stoichiometric ratio, k
eh
is the electro-oxidation rate of
hydrogen, q
H
2
is the surface coverage of hydrogen, i is the
current density [A/cm
2
], i
0
is the exchange current density
[A/cm
2
], and T
cell
is the fuel cell operating temperature [

C].
The ohmic losses are given by,
h
ohmic
iR
ohmic
(3)
Therefore, the total cell voltage can be formulated as,
V
cell
V
ocv
h
a
h
c
h
ohmic
(4)
where V
ocv
is the open circuit voltage [V].
3.2. Thermal management
HT-PEMFC stacks require cooling, which is typically accom-
plished by blowing excess air through the cathode. This is the
simplest stack-cooling method, since no additional cooling
medium is required [14]. Liquid-cooled HT-PEMFC stacks
require the use of liquid coolants such as mineral thermo-oils,
or other special cooling media [14]. The stack cooling medium
has to withstand temperatures up to the fuel cell operating
temperature (160

C). A liquid-cooled High Temperature-
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (HT-PEMFC) stack
cannot utilize water as coolant, since the operating tempera-
ture is above the boiling point (unless at an elevated pressure,
which is not acceptable for PEMFC stacks). In terms of heat
transfer, the fuel cell stack is assumed to operate as a heat
exchanger transferring heating/cooling between the
Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) and the cooling uid,
which is assumed to be Paratherm LR [15]. The amount of
heat removal from the fuel cell can be calculated by means of
a total energy balance as follows,
DE
FCS

_
E
in

_
E
out
P
stack
(5)
where P
stack
is the amount of electricity generated by the fuel
cell. The input energy and output energy in the fuel cell are
dened as follows,
_
E
total;in

_
E
fuel;in

_
E
air;in

_
Q
c;in
(6)
_
E
total;out

_
E
exh

_
Q
c;out
(7)
where
_
E
fuel;in
is the hydrogen input to the anode.
_
E
air;in
is the
input air to the cathode, while
_
E
exh
is the total fuel cell exhaust
mixture in the cathode exit. Finally
_
Q
c;in
and
_
Q
c;out
are the total
amounts of cooling rate ingoing and outgoing the fuel cell,
respectively.
Fig. 1 e Schematic diagram of the basic conguration of the proposed total energy system.
i nt e r na t i ona l j o ur na l o f hy d r o g e n e ne r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 3 4 8 4 e1 3 4 9 0 13486
3.3. Absorption chiller model
In this research study two types of absorption refrigeration
cycle congurations are considered. The two congurations
differ in terms of absorbent working mediumand they are the
following: (a) double-effect LiBrewater, (b) single-effect
watereNH
3
. Each type has a different purpose (cooling duty),
since cooling temperatures are of the order of 5e10

C (chilled
water), and <0

C (brine or glycol water) for each type,
respectively [7]. The double-effect LiBrewater absorption
chiller, shown in Fig. 2, includes the following components:
high generator, low generator, absorber, high condenser, low
condenser, evaporator, two solution heat exchangers, four
expansion valves and two solution pumps. The heat of
condensation from the rst effect is used as heat input for the
second stage, which eventually increases the cooling output
in the evaporator.
The single-effect watereNH
3
absorption chiller, shown in
Fig. 3, includes the following components: generator,
absorber, condenser, evaporator, rectier, two solution heat
exchangers, two expansion valves and solution pump. The
purpose of the rectier is to purify the ammonia. If a rectier is
omitted from the conguration the ammonia vapor would
mix with the water content and condense, causing blocking,
due to freezing, in the inlet of the expansion valve [7]. This
conguration includes condensate pre-cooling, solution
recirculation in the absorber and preheating of the rich solu-
tion in the rectier to improve the COP of the absorption
refrigeration cycle [6].
Simple mass and energy balances can be applied for each
heat exchanger component, assuming steady-state operation.
The COP of the absorption chiller subsystem is dened as the
ratio of cooling rate output (
_
Q
ev
) from the evaporator and the
heat input to the generator (
_
Q
gen
) plus the power input to the
solution pump (P
pump
), as follows:
COP
_
Q
ev
_
Q
gen
P
pump
(8)
4. Results and discussion
This section summarizes the results extracted from the
simulation of the fuel cell subsystemand the two case studies.
The discussion is concluded with an economic analysis
comparing the proposed conguration with conventional
electricity and cooling systems. The fuel cell model has been
validated in [2]. In terms of total systemvalidation, the system
model matches well with similar publications found in the
literature [3,4].
4.1. Simulation of the fuel cell subsystem
The input (xed) values in the fuel cell model are shown in
Table 1. The fuel cell stack temperature and pressure are xed
as dened by the manufacturer [16]. The active fuel cell area is
605 cm
2
, which is appropriate for this application [17], while
ten stacks with 75 cells are utilized to accommodate
a compact design. The fuel cell stack coolant [15], has
a specic heat of 2500 J/kg-

C and a density of 665 kg/m

3
(at the
fuel cell operating conditions).
The system design can be analyzed in terms of electricity
and cooling output. The ratio between the heat available for
the absorption chiller subsystem(
_
Q
AbsCh
) and the net electrical
power output (P
el,net
) is dened as follows:
4
CE

_
Q
AbsCh
P
el;net
(9)
The net electrical efciency (based on the lower heating
value of hydrogen) is dened as the ratio between the net
electrical power output of the system,
_
W
el;net
and the chemical
energy of hydrogen fuel, P
H
2
, as follows:
h
el;net

_
W
el;net
P
H
2
(10)
The aforementioned system parameters 4
CE
and h
el,net
can
be affected signicantly, if different fuel cell stack air
Fig. 2 e Schematic diagram of the double-effect LiBrewater
absorption chiller.
Fig. 3 e Schematic diagram of the single-effect watereNH
3
absorption chiller.
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l o f hy d r og e n e ne r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 3 4 8 4 e1 3 4 9 0 13487
stoichiometry and/or current density are utilized. The
response of these parameters with varying l
air
and i is shown
in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, respectively. From an observation on Fig. 4,
it can be concluded that although h
el,net
slightly increases with
increasing l
air
values, 4
CE
shows a rapid decrease for higher
l
air
values. This is because the mass ow rate in the fuel cell
stack cathode increases signicantly, while the coolant mass
ow rate is decreasing, allowing less exhaust heat for the
absorption chiller subsystem. Therefore for the system
application under study, it is necessary to utilize a low l
air
value to maintain a high
_
Q
AbsCh
value. Fig. 5 shows that more
heat will be available at higher i values, but on the other hand,
h
el,net
drops signicantly at those values. Lower current
densities can improve efciency, although it should be limited
at a reasonable value, since the current density is directly
related to the fuel cell stack volume. Therefore the fuel cell
stack should not be designed for very low i values (below 0.4)
to restrict the fuel cell volume within reasonable dimensions.
On the other hand, to allow the proposed system to be
competitive in terms of performance characteristics, a high
h
el,net
value must be maintained. Therefore the system is
chosen to have a base value of l
air
2 and i 0.4.
Based on the aforementioned input values, the system
performs at h
el,net
0.438 and 4
CE
1.07. The key thermody-
namic properties (temperature, mass ow rate and mole
fraction) for every node shown in Fig. 1, are given in Table 2.
The temperature gradient between the incoming and the
outgoing temperature of the coolant, used to cool the stack,
must be maintained at a reasonable level (10

C), to avoid
malfunction of the fuel cell, which could lead to reduced
performance behavior and also permanent damage due to
rapid degradation of the MEA structure. The exhaust heat
from the fuel cell available for heat recovery and eventually
generation of cooling is 107 kW. Moreover it should be noted
that the exhaust mixture from the cathode of the fuel cell can
be recovered up to 19.4 kW, although this may not be practical,
or necessary, in a realistic system, due to the requirement of
additional heat exchanger equipment.
4.2. System integration with the absorption chiller
subsystem
The rst case study considers the integration of the HT-PEMFC
subsystem with a double-effect water-LiBr absorption chiller
subsystem (COP 1.2). The total energy system can satisfy
a commercial facility requiring 100 kW
e
of electricity and
a cooling load, in the form of chilled water at 5e10

C, of
128.2 kW. The second case study considers the integration of
the fuel cell subsystem with a single-effect NH
3
-water
absorption chiller subsystem (COP 0.6). In this case, the
system can satisfy a commercial facility requiring 100 kW
e
of
electricity and a cooling load, in the form of brine or glycol
water at 60 to 0

C, of 64.5 kW. The performance calculations
for the total energy system are shown in Tables 3 and 4.
Table 1 e Fixed parameters in the fuel cell subsystem
model.
Variable Description [unit] Value
T
cell
Fuel cell stack operating
temperature [

C]
160
p
cell
Fuel cell stack operating
pressure [bar]
1.013
n
FC
Number of cells in a fuel
cell stack
75
n
FCS
Number of stacks 10
A
cell
Active fuel cell area [cm
2
] 605
c
p,F
Specic heat of the fuel cell
stack coolant [J/kg-

C]
2500
r
F
Density of the fuel cell
stack coolant [kg/m
3
]
665
Fig. 4 e Variation of h
el,net
and 4
CE
for varying l
air
.
Fig. 5 e Variation of h
el,net
and 4
CE
for varying i.
Table 2 eThermodynamic parameters at each state point
of the HT-PEMFC subsystem.
Node T [

C] m [kg/s] y
H2
y
H2O
y
O2
y
N2
y
F
1 15 0.1304 0.00 0.00 0.21 0.79 0.00
2 15 0.0019 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
3 160 0.1323 0.00 0.19 0.17 0.64 0.00
4 30 0.1323 0.00 0.19 0.17 0.64 0.00
5 15 0.2305 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
6 60 0.2305 0.00 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
7 155 4.2735 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00
8 155 4.2735 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00
9 145 4.2735 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.00
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4.3. Comparison with conventional systems
When the proposed system is compared to a diesel generator,
its main advantages include the following: (i) quiet operation
(no moving parts), (ii) higher projected overall efciencies,
(iii) zero emissions. The latter advantage can be of tremen-
dous importance if the proposed system is utilized in a vessel,
since port regulations disallow the operation of diesel gener-
ators when the ship is anchored at port, because of emissions
generation [18].
The main disadvantage of the proposed system is the high
capital (investment) cost of HT-PEMFC technology. This is
mainly because this technology has not been commercialized
yet. A preliminary cost analysis is given to analyze the
commercialization prospects of the proposed system, and to
allow a more comprehensive overview of the viability of the
proposed system. Therefore, the total cost of the proposed
system is calculated and compared to the total cost of
a conventional electricity and cooling power generation
system, i.e. a diesel generator coupled with a vapor-
compression chiller. Since the vapor-compression chiller is
electrically-driven, the diesel generator must be sized at
a higher electrical power output than the fuel cell subsystem,
to be able to match the net power output of the proposed
system plus the power input required by the electric chiller.
Therefore, assuming a typical COP value of 2.5 for the electric
chiller, the diesel generator must provide a total of 151 kW
e
.
The projected cost of a PEMFC is projected to drop at
1000 US$/kW
e
in the near future [19]. In this research study
a more conservative value of 2000 US$/kW
e
is used to account
for a more realistic cost comparison and additionally to
include the costs of auxiliary equipment, such as electrical
converters and transformers, by-pass valves, and fuel
reforming equipment. The cost of the absorption chiller is
assumed to be comparable to the one of a vapor-compression
chiller, and therefore it is not included in the analysis. The
cost of a 151 kW
e
diesel generator is assumed to be at 700 US$/
kW
e
with an electrical efciency of 0.40 [20]. Therefore the
investment costs for the HT-PEMFC subsystem and the diesel
generator are US$200,000 and US$105,700, respectively. The
cost of hydrogen fuel (produced frommethanol) is assumed to
be at a price of 3.46 US$/kg [21], while the price of diesel fuel is
1.03 US$/m
3
[22]. A lifetime of 40,000 h is assumed for both the
fuel cell subsystem and the diesel generator. Therefore the
system is assumed to operate for 5 years (8000 h/year), with
a Capital Recovery Factor (CRF) of 0.33 yr
1
at a discount rate of
0.2. The cost of electricity [US$/kWh] for a prime mover i can
be dened as follows [23]:
C
el;i

C
inv;i
P
i
CRF
AEP
i

C
fuel;i
h
el;i
(11)
C
inv,i
, P
i
, AEP
i
, C
fuel,i
, h
el,i
are dened as the investment cost
[US$/kW
e
], net electrical power output [kW
e
], annual elec-
tricity produced [kWh], cost of fuel per kWh [US$/kWh] and
net electrical efciency for a prime mover i. The cost of elec-
tricity for the HT-PEMFC subsystemis 0.32 US$/kWh, while for
the diesel generator is 0.24 US$/kWh. The total cost, including
investment and operating costs, is therefore US$1,274,491 and
US$1,466,830, for the HT-PEMFC-based system and the diesel
generator system, respectively. Therefore the projected
preliminary cost analysis justies further analysis and
possibly commercialization of the proposed system.
5. Conclusions
In this research study an energy system, including a HT-
PEMFC subsystem integrated with an absorption chiller
subsystem, for electricity and cooling purposes is proposed as
a possible candidate for the replacement of conventional
energy systems. The proposed system is capable of achieving
a high net electrical efciency (43.8%), while the available
cooling duty is 128.2 or 64.5 kW, depending on the integrated
absorption chiller subsystem type. Therefore in terms of
technical feasibility the system is highly promising, when
compared to conventional power and cooling generators.
In terms of conguration topology, the system is simulta-
neously very simple, requiring no additional heat exchanging
equipment, since the thermal management of the fuel cell is
directly related to the absorption chiller subsystem. Therefore
the generator in the absorption chiller subsystem can be used
Table 3 e Overall performance of the proposed system.
Variable Description [unit] Value
P
H2
Chemical energy of input fuel
(H
2
, based on LHV) [kW]
228.3
_
W
el;net
Net electrical power output [kW] 99.9
_
W
tot;pump
Total pump power input [kW] 0.1
h
el,net
Net electrical efciency 0.438
_
Q
cool;1
Available cooling duty for
case study 1 [kW]
128.2
_
Q
cool;2
Available cooling duty for
case study 2 [kW]
64.5
Table 4 e Cost analysis of the proposed system.
Variable Description [unit] Value
c
fc
Cost of HT-PEMFC subsystem
per kW [US$/kW]
2000
c
dg
Cost of diesel generator
per kW [US$/kW]
700
C
inv,fc
Investment cost for the HT-PEMFC
subsystem [US$]
200,000
C
inv,dg
Investment cost for the diesel
generator [US$]
105,700
C
H2
Cost of hydrogen fuel
(produced from methanol) [US$/kg]
3.46
c
diesel
Cost of diesel fuel [US$/m
3
] 1.03
L Lifetime of the prime mover [yr] 5
CRF Capital Recovery Factor [yr
1
] 0.33
C
el,fc
Cost of electricity for HT-PEMFC
subsystem [US$/kWh]
0.32
C
el,dg
Cost of electricity for diesel
generator [US$/kWh]
0.24
C
tot,fc
Total cost for HT-PEMFC-based
system [US$]
1,274,491
C
tot,dg
Total cost for diesel generator-based
system [US$]
1,466,830
i nt e r na t i o na l j our na l o f hy d r og e n e ne r g y 3 7 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 1 3 4 8 4 e1 3 4 9 0 13489
for heat recovery (and eventually production of cooling), and
also to reduce the coolant temperature in order to be fed back
to the fuel cell subsystem (for stack cooling). This design
simplication is very important for the realization of the
system, in terms of controlling the systemoperation, and also
to reduce the overall cost of the proposed system. Related to
this operational assumption, it should be noted that a disad-
vantage of the proposed system could be its inability to
operate at off-design conditions. But on the other hand, the
electrical power output can be utilized in many different
ways, e.g., production of additional cooling, or heating, by
integration of a vapor-compression electrically-driven refrig-
eration system. Therefore a level of exibility is still available
with the proposed system conguration.
Finally, in terms of economic performance, the calculated
costs deem the proposed system as acceptable for further
development. The proposed system will become even more
attractive in the future, provided the PEMFC cost continues to
decrease as the present trends have suggested, but also
provided hydrogen fuel (incl. methanol fuel reforming
processors) will become more affordable. Additionally, from
an environmental perspective, the proposed system can
reduce greenhouse gases, and especially CO
2
emissions,
compared to conventional combustion-based prime movers.
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