Exergy Analysis of an Alkaline Water Electrolysis System

Abstract

Life on Earth is being affected daily by the enormous amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, due to the utilization of fossil fuels to produce energy for almost everything. Many researchers have been working for the development of new clean and sustainable energy sources such as solar and wind energies. Hydrogen, being a clean fuel having very high calorific value, can be used as a storage medium for these renewable energy sources and can be used efficiently in fuel cells, as well as in combustion engines. This research is focused on the investigation of hydrogen production through the electrolysis of water. An Aspen Plus-based model for the electrolysis process has been designed and validated and its exergy analysis has been conducted. Also, the improvement potential of all the equipment has been reported.

Keywords

• hydrogen
• electrolysis
• exergy analysis
• exergy efficiency