Thermo-economic analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell fuelled with methanol and methane

Thermo-economic analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell fuelled with methanol and methane

Type	Journal Article
Author	B. Suleiman
Author	A. S. Abdulkareem
URL	http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0196890416301649
Volume	117
Pages	228-240
Publication	Energy Conversion and Management
Date	June 1, 2016
Abstract	Exergy and economic analysis is often used to find and identify the most efficient process configuration for proton exchange membrane fuel cell from the thermo-economic point of view. Authors provide a detailed account of the synergetic effect of exergetic and economic analysis of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) using methanol and methane as fuel sources. This was conducted through computer simulation using Thermolib simulation toolbox. Data generated from the simulated model were subsequently used for the thermodynamic and economic analysis. Analysis of energy requirement for the two selected processes revealed that the methane fueled system requires the lower amount of energy as compared to the methanol fueled configuration. Energy analysis of both configurations showed that the principle of energy conservation was satisfied while the result of the exergy analysis showed high exergetic efficiency around major equipment of methane fueled configuration. The result of various analysis conducted shows that trade-off between economic, energy and exergetic performance of methane and methanol system favored selection of methane system configuration as the best preferred choice of PEMC configuration.