Energy, exergy, environmental and economic performance analysis and optimization of a novel CCHP system integrated with ammonia driven MCFC and solar energy

Due to its easy decomposition into H2 and the ability to be produced on a large scale through chemical means, NH3 has great potential as a substitute for fossil fuels. In this research, a novel combined cooling, heating, and power system integrated with ammonia driven molten carbonate fuel cell and solar energy is proposed. The molten carbonate fuel cell with NH3 as fuel is used as the prime mover, and the trough solar collector is used to replace part of the heating load of the first-stage high-pressure economizer, the second-stage high-pressure economizer and the high-pressure boiler drum in heat recovery steam generator. An analysis of the proposed system’s energy, exergy, environmental and economic performance is done, comprehensively analyzing its power generation capacity and economic benefits. In order to better balance the relationship between costeffectiveness and energy efficiency, multi-objective optimization of the system’s critical variables is completed. The findings indicate that the system’s energy efficiency and exergy efficiency are 57.85 % and 60.22 %, respectively. The specific CO2 emission is 0.37 t/GJ electricity, and the system’s levelized cost of energy is 207.54 $/MWh. The system’s proportion of solar power generation is 1.27 %. Compared with the similar system in literature, the novel system has a higher productivity and economic performance