Multi-objective optimization of a cogeneration system based on solar energy for clean hydrogen, cooling, and electricity production

In an effort to encourage industries to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy resources for supplying their energy demands, the exergy and financial aspects of a thermodynamic energy generation system were studied. The suggested system was modeled by MATLAB commercial software to assess the decision -making parameters affecting power generation, cooling capacity, and to produce hydrogen. The objective functions of this study were exergy efficiency and cost rate, while the temperatures at the inlet of the turbine and the evaporator, irradiated solar energy, mass flow rate, and surface area of the collector were the decision -making variables. The model was optimized via MOPSO and its results were compared with two widely utilized algorithms, namely NSGA-II and SPEA-II. The comparison results indicated that MOPSO surpassed other two optimization algorithm resulting in exergy efficiency and cost rate of 2.11 % and 21.14 $/h, respectively. According to this method, the optimum generated power was equal to 21.01 kW. Eventually, this system was utilized and evaluated in the city of Semnan, Iran. The performance results of the system in Semnan showed that the annual power output, taking into account the changes in radiation and ambient temperature, is between 316667.4 and 428080.5 kW. Also, the amount of hydrogen production is between 1503.66 and 1534.997 kg.