Energy, exergy, and exergoeconomic evaluations of a novel power, steam, and hydrogen system based of molten carbonate fuel cell driver

Considering the importance of using systems with high productivity, in order to reduce fuel consumption and economic savings, multiple production systems can be an attractive option. In this study, a simultaneous production system of power, steam and hydrogen based on molten carbonate fuel cell with methane fuel source is presented. The proposed system consists of four main parts, molten carbonate fuel cell, heat recovery steam generator, proton exchange membrane electrolyzer, and organic Rankine cycle. The system is evaluated from viewpoints of energy, exergy and exergeoeconomics. In the organic Rankine cycle, R141b has the best performance in terms of electricity production, organic fluid consumption, and efficiency among the proposed organic fluids, so that with R141b the efficiency reaches to 18.31%. Also, 68.85% of heat recovery is done by the heat recovery steam generator and the rest is done by the heat recovery vapor generator. The energy, exergy, and electrical efficiencies of the proposed system are 64.29, 63.53, and 39.69%, respectively, which shows a good performance compared to many power plants. The highest exergy destruction occurs in the air heat exchanger with 45673 kW. The operating cost rate of the system is 2.38 $/s and the hydrogen production rate is 3.67 kg/h.