Hydrogen production through parabolic trough power plant based on the Organic Rankine Cycle implemented in the Algerian Sahara

This paper investigates overall performance of a small-scale electrolytic hydrogen production, using an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) driven by a parabolic trough collector (PTC) plant, under the Algerian Sahara climate. The evaluations of PTC plant and the thermodynamic analysis of the ORC are performed by SAM and EES software, respectively. These results are then used for hydrogen production calculations. Among three southern cities investigated, Ghardaia is most favorable site to implement the proposed system. For the ORC plant, eight alternative working fluids (butane, n-pentane, isopentane, benzene, toluene, R245fa, R123 and water), are considered for comparison. As results, the highest output power and plant efficiency are achieved with benzene during May to August with maximum power of 8.74 kW and cycle efficiency of 21.65% during July. The highest hydrogen production rate is achieved in July with 847 Nm3 using the high temperature water vapor electrolyzer and benzene as working fluid.