Design and Analysis of an Integrated Renewable Hydrogen Production and Storage System for Hydrogen Refueling Station in a Sustainable Community

This research designs a conceptual system where both solar and biomass energy subsystems are uniquely integrated to turn wastewater into useful outputs, such as hydrogen, fresh water and heat to achieve sustainable communities where renewable energy is utilized with the wastewater treated effectively. The system integrates several subsystems, including a reheat Rankine cycle, an organic Rankine cycle, a multi-stage flash desalination system, and a biohydrogen production unit employing a microbial electrolysis process. In order to study a potential application of this conceptually developed system, the city of Oshawa in Ontario, Canada is identified with its wastewater treatment facility which is designed to produce clean biohydrogen that is liquefied and stored for distribution to refueling stations for hydrogen-based transportation. In this regard, thermodynamic analysis and assessment studies are conducted using the Engineering Equation Solver and demonstrating that the system achieves the overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of 34.94% and 32.84%, respectively. Furthermore, the system produces freshwater at a rate of 5.36 kg/s and biohydrogen at 0.03 kg/s, contributing to environmental sustainability and efficient resource utilization in addition to the heat recovered and used in the community as a useful output. This research highlights the potential of the system to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions while promoting sustainable energy and transportation developments in Oshawa and similar regions.