Abstract:
This study presents an evaluation of the energy exergy and thermo-economics of a hybrid power generation
system that simultaneously produces power, heat, and hydrogen using solar and biomass energy. The system
employs a polymer membrane electrolyzer for hydrogen production, with heat exchangers utilized to attain the
desired water temperature instead of conventional heaters. The steam turbine section is heated using exhaust gas
from the combustion chamber and heated water from the condenser. Simulation of the system’s thermodynamic,
exergy, and exergy-economic analyses was conducted using the ESS tool. Analytical assessments were performed
based on the provided data. The system achieves a power output of 25 MW, marking the highest level for solarbased systems. The results showed that the cost of the solar section, which constitutes around 68 % of the overall
cost, rises with the number of mirrors. The exergy destruction rate of the entire system decreases from 25.71 MW
to 24.95 MW. The total cost of operating the system increases by 175.5 dollars per hour at the highest temperature and decreases by 173 dollars per hour at the lowest temperature. The power consumption of electrolyzers directly affects the overall cost of the system, with a range of 0.05 to 0.07 MW resulting in total cost
changes of 1.52 USD per hour. The transition to the work requiring the most energy by the electrolyzer causes a
loss of 0.27 MW of exergy.
