Techno-economic assessment and smart management of an integrated fuel cell-based energy system with absorption chiller for power, hydrogen, heating, and cooling in an electrified railway network

Nowadays, the transportation sector occupies a vital role in current society. However, this sector is the second-highest greenhouse gas emitter worldwide due to fossil fuel combustion. Transitioning from conventional to renewable energy propulsion is a promising alternative to climate change mitigation. This study proposes a smart decision-making approach of an integrated system assisted with renewable energy sources to satisfy the dynamic railway electrification demand. The proposed energy system consists of a proton-exchange membrane electrolyzer, solid-oxide fuel cell, and lithium-bromide absorption chiller assisted with solar radiation and wind turbine to simultaneously generate power, hydrogen, cooling, and heating loads. A novel approach consists of power-pinch analysis and multi criteria decision-making (MCDM) to determine the optimal sizing of renewable resources considering the system's thermodynamic, economic, and exergy performance. A total of five optimal scenarios with different renewable sources share were obtained. Accordingly, the scenario with a share of 70/30 of solar and wind energy showed the highest competitiveness based on the MCDM. This scenario showed an energetic and exergetic efficiency of 49% and 34%, respectively. Furthermore, it yielded acceptable subproducts generation, including the production of 312.25 kg H-2/day, in an economical budget with a levelized cost of energy (LCOE) value of 0.079 $/kWh. (C) 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study proposes a smart decision-making approach of an integrated system assisted with renewable energy sources to meet the dynamic railway electrification demand. Power-pinch analysis and multi criteria decision-making are employed to determine the optimal sizing of renewable resources, resulting in five optimal scenarios, with a scenario of 70/30 solar and wind energy showing the highest competitiveness.