TITLE:
A Solar Energy System Design for Green Hydrogen Production in South-Western Nigeria, Lagos State, Using HOMER & ASPEN
AUTHORS:
Wilson Fidelis Ekpotu, Joseph Taiwo Akintola, Martins Chineme Obialor, Philemon Chukwuebuka Udom
KEYWORDS:
Homer Solar Design, Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Green Hydrogen Production, Fuzzy Logic, HOMER
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Optimization,
Vol.12 No.2,
June
30,
2023
ABSTRACT: Solar system design for green hydrogen production has become the most
prominent renewable energy research area, and this has also actively fueled the
desire to achieve net-zero emissions. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier
because it possesses more energy capacity than fossil fuels and the abundant
nature of renewable energy systems can be utilized for green hydrogen
production. However, the design of an optimized electrical energy system
required for hydrogen production is crucial. Solar energy is indeed beneficial
for green hydrogen production and this research designed, discussed, and
provided high-level research on HOMER design for green hydrogen production and
deployed the energy requirement with ASPEN Plus to optimize the energy system,
while also incorporating fuzzy logic and PID control approaches. In addition, a
promising technology with a high potential for renewable hydrogen energy is the
proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. Since its cathode (hydrogen
electrode) may be operated over a wide range of pressure, a control process
must be added to the system in order for it to work dynamically efficiently.
This system can be characterized as an analogous circuit that consists of a
resistor, capacitor, and reversible voltage. As a result, this research work
also explores the Fuzzy-PID control of the PEM electrolysis system. Both the
PID and Fuzzy Logic control systems were simulated using the control simulation
program Matlab R2018a, which makes use of Matlab script files and the Simulink
environment. Based on the circuit diagram, a transfer function that represents
the mathematical model of the plant was created, and the PEM electrolysis
control system is determined to be highly significant and applicable to the two
control systems. The PI controller, however, has a 30.8% overshoot deficit, but
when the fuzzy control system is compared to the PID controller, it is found
that the fuzzy control system achieves stability more quickly, demonstrating
its benefit over PID.