Analysis of the seasonal energy storage of hydrogen in liquid organic hydrides

This analysis considers the techno-economic potential of the seasonal storage of electricity with chemically bound hydrogen in liquid organic hydrocarbons in the methylcyclohexane-toluene-hydrogen (MTH) system. It is shown that the efficiency of the electric power plant is the most important system parameter in the complete MTH system. The heat integration and efficiency of the re-electrification were estimated with energy and exergy analyses. A more accurate analysis by simulation and thermodynamic calculations of parts of the MTH system allows a considerable improvement in the cost estimation. Sensitivity analyses show the parameters which strongly influence the costs. From these analyses it follows that the costs of winter electricity amount ft, $0.23/kWh at a total efficiency of 0.39 for the overall system. (C) 1997 International Association for Hydrogen Energy.