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Exergy analysis of an integrated solid oxide electrolysis cell-methanation reactor for renewable energy storage

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  • Luo, Yu
  • Wu, Xiao-yu
  • Shi, Yixiang
  • Ghoniem, Ahmed F.
  • Cai, Ningsheng

Abstract

Renewable power intermittency requires storage for load matching. A system combining a solid oxide electrolysis cell (SOEC) and a methanation reactor (MR) could be an efficient way to convert excess electricity into methane, which can be integrated with the existing natural-gas network. In this paper, a comprehensive exergy analysis is performed for three methane production systems: (i) water electrolysis + Sabatier reactor (SR, CO2 MR), (ii) H2O/CO2 co-electrolysis + MR, and (iii) a single SOEC-MR reactor, is performed. First, we find that in the case of the water electrolysis + SR system, upon replacing the low-temperature electrolysis cell with SOEC, the exergy efficiency is dramatically increased by 11% points of percentage at current densities higher that 8000 A m−2, owing to lower electricity consumption. Second, the type of SOEC, operating mode, and operating conditions are optimized for this system. Results show that H2O/CO2 co-electrolysis + MR performs more efficiently than water electrolysis + SR at high current density, especially when using an intermediate-temperature SOEC. The optimal H/C ratio and temperature are found to be 10.54 and 650 °C, respectively. A pressurized intermediate-temperature SOEC enables the system to achieve better thermal integration and improves the exergy efficiency to over 77.43% at 6 bar. Finally, the single SOEC-MR reactor with a spatial temperature gradient has the potential to improve the exergy efficiency to 81.34% while utilizing a compact system.

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  • Luo, Yu & Wu, Xiao-yu & Shi, Yixiang & Ghoniem, Ahmed F. & Cai, Ningsheng, 2018. "Exergy analysis of an integrated solid oxide electrolysis cell-methanation reactor for renewable energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 371-383.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:215:y:2018:i:c:p:371-383
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.02.022
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