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Synergistic geothermal energy and ammonia fuel cell utilization towards sustainable power, cooling, and freshwater production; An exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, and technoeconomic analysis

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  • Tang, Tao
  • Li, Baixue
  • Lu, Meng
  • Feng, Yin
  • Wang, Jinwei

Abstract

The rising adoption of renewable energy due to its environmental benefits paves the way for introducing strategies to elevate efficiency. This paper suggests a new design configuration that integrates a geothermal source with an ammonia-powered solid oxide fuel cell for power and cooling generation, and freshwater production. The configuration comprises organic Rankine and flash cycles, ejector refrigeration unit, and solar still desalination subsystem, along with the ammonia-powered solid oxide fuel cell to improve power generation. Furthermore, ammonia production is facilitated by utilizing a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer and an ammonia reactor, which form an efficient energy-conversion structure. Performance examinations cover thermodynamic, exergoeconomic, technoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental evaluations. Among the tested working fluids, R245fa outlines the maximum energy and exergy efficiencies with reportage of net power, cooling capacity, freshwater output, and exergy efficiencies as 276.40 kW, 293.40 kW, 5.18 kg/h, and 32.82 %, respectively. Conversely, n-Pentane exhibits more desired exergoeconomic and environmental functions, which yield a 3.56 $/h product cost rate and a 13.72 mPts/h product exergoenvironmental impact rate. Hence, the technoeconomic investigation reveals that R245fa brings out a shorter payback period and higher net present values approximately 4.17 years and 1.365 $M, in comparison with n-Pentane's 5.46 years and 0.779 $M reports. This geothermal source and ammonia-fueled fuel cell technology integration emphasizes reliable efficiency and sustainability achievements and underscores the requirements to balance technoeconomic regards with energy and environmental operations in the design and examination of advanced renewable energy units.

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  • Tang, Tao & Li, Baixue & Lu, Meng & Feng, Yin & Wang, Jinwei, 2025. "Synergistic geothermal energy and ammonia fuel cell utilization towards sustainable power, cooling, and freshwater production; An exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental, and technoeconomic analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:241:y:2025:i:c:s0960148124023127
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.122244
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