4-E Evaluation for Parabolic Trough Collector System Producing Hydrogen

Parabolic trough collector (PTC) can supply mediumtemperature heat to organic Rankine cycles (ORCs), enabling electricity generation for alkaline electrolyzers and thereby fully solardriven hydrogen production. This study presents a four-pillar evaluation (energy, exergy, economic, and environmental-4E) of a PTC-HRVG-ORC-electrolyzer system sized and operated under realistic solar and component assumptions. Energy and exergy formulations follow state-point balances for each component, employing the Petela radiation-exergy factor for the solar resource; overall energy and exergy efficiencies aggregate electrical work, useful cooling (when applicable), and hydrogen output versus solar input. The system demonstrates stable performance under varying Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI), with an energy efficiency of 0.04392 and an exergy efficiency of 0.04717. Mass flow rates of heat transfer fluids and hydrogen increase proportionally with DNI, confirming effective solar utilization. Economic analysis shows the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) decreases from $3.45 \text{USD} / \text{kg}$ at $700 \mathrm{W} / \mathrm{m}^{2}$ to 2.76 USD/kg at $1100 \mathrm{W} / \mathrm{m}^{2}$, while environmental assessment indicates an annual hydrogen yield of $11,200-17,900 \text{kg}$, corresponding to $\text{CO}_{2}$ emission reductions of 150-210 tons/year compared to conventional steam methane reforming. The methodology, benchmarked against recent polygeneration studies, confirms the feasibility and robustness of the system. Exergy losses are primarily located in the PTC and HRVG, guiding cost-effective performance improvements. The proposed 4E framework provides a transparent basis to evaluate solar field sizing, ORC conditions, and electrolyzer operation, demonstrating that fully solar-driven hydrogen production can be technically, economically, and environmentally sustainable

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  2025 IEEE DELCON - International Conference on Recent Smart Technologies in Engineering for Sustainable Development

• Publication date

  2025-10-31

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1109/DELCON68055.2025.11400306
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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