Two-objective optimization of a hybrid solar-geothermal system with thermal energy storage for power, hydrogen and freshwater production based on transcritical CO2 cycle

Abstract In the light of increasing negative impacts on environment of fossil fuels, development of renewable energy utilization is a high priority. In this regard, hybridization of geothermal and solar energies (as two types of abundant renewable resources) has been proved to be a promising combination for renewable-based power generation systems. For power generation from low-grade renewable resources, the transcritical CO2 (TRCC) power cycle has been considered as an ambitious competitor against ORC and Kalina cycle. This paper aims at development and proposal of a novel efficient trigeneration system based on TRCC cycle for production of power, hydrogen, and freshwater driven by hybrid solar-geothermal energies. In proposed system, thermoelectric generators and HDH desalination unit are employed for waste heat utilization of TRCC cycle. Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic analyses and two-objective optimization are conducted and monthly performance of the system is estimated for real environmental data. Results showed that, the system yields highest values of power, hydrogen and freshwater in May, respectively as 1286 kW, 1.989 kg/h, and 13.38 m3/day. Under the optimized conditions, the system yields energy efficiency of 23.35% with a unit product cost of 17.07 $/GJ. Also, the results revealed efficiency improvement via increasing the solar energy share. In addition it is shown that, developed system in this work can yield higher efficiency compared to a similar trigeneration system based on the Kalina cycle.