Integration between energy and exergy analyses to assess the performance of furnace regenerative and ammonia decomposition systems

Energy and exergy analyses were performed on a glass furnace regenerator and hydrogen production via thermal catalytic ammonia decomposition. A novel integration between energy and exergy analyses was suggested to predict the performance of thermodynamic and hydrogen production systems. It was found that the heat recovered by the combustion air of the south side regenerator was higher than that on the north side because of the fouling effect of the deposit materials and the heat lost through the regenerator walls. The maximum energy and exergy efficiencies of the south side regenerator were 98% and 93%, respectively, while those of the north regenerator side were 96.3% and 80%, respectively. The integration between energy and exergy analyses was also applied to investigate the performance of H2 production from the catalytic NH3 decomposition system. The conversion rate results proved that an increase in the ammonia feeding pressure was unfavorable. Moreover, the maximum energy and exergy efficiencies of the NH3 thermal decomposition system were 73.5% and 13.34% at a feeding pressure of 100 kPa, respectively. Furthermore, the non-equilibrium of the system is identified from the integrated effectiveness and entropy generation number.