“Dynamic Scheduling of Wind Energy for Hydrogen Production by Electrolysis”
Salehfar
Associate Prof./ Dr. & Chair of CE Dept. UND, Prof./Dr. of EE Dept. UND Power Engineering Society General Meeting, 2006. IEEE
18-22 June 2006
Author Qualifications (AQ):
Dr. Hossein Salehfar: BSEE University of Texas, MS and PhD in EE from Texas A & M. Professor of Electrical Engineering at UND. Senior member, IEEE, ASEE. Published research work in journals, conferences and books. Reviewer of proposals and manuscripts for the NSF, IEEE, and the Power Electronics Specialists Conference. Primary areas of interest include: alternative and renewable energy systems, fuel cell technology, power electronics and electric drives. The authors of this paper have been supported and funded in part by the Department of Energy. The author information is from: Power Engineering Society Meeting, 2006. IEEE, June 18-22. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota, 2006. 1-5.
Summary (S):
Turning wind energy to power and the support of hydrogen technology is a new wind to hydrogen system. In North Dakota this system is going to be developed at wind farms in various locations around the state. Researchers will be researching and learning about the pros and cons of getting wind power from different locations to power a hydrogen production facility. The facility will be used to fuel vehicles from the amount of hydrogen it produces. There are three wind farms in North Dakota operated by Basin Electric Power Cooperative that has a combination of sixty two wind turbines that are powering the facility, which are dispersed throughout North Dakota. The first wind farm produces a maximum of 2.6 MW nameplate capacity, the second wind farm produces 40 MW nameplate capacity, and the third wind farm produces 49.5 MW nameplate capacity. The supervisory control and data acquisition system gathers all information of the sixty two turbines and sets the production rate of hydrogen in the facility. There will be four control modes that analyze the electrolyzer. Mode 4 has the least variation of hydrogen production levels and the maximum yield, as well as the stage that will be used when the project is started. Mode 4 utilizes the addition of low cost off peak power in order to supplement the wind power to operate the electrolyzer. Any excess power generated is diverted to the power grid. Estimates from the Minot 2.6 MW wind farm in Mode 4, an energy input to the electrolyzer of 1, 043,730 KWH/yr, will produce an estimated annual hydrogen production of 18,640 Kg. Estimates from the Edgeley 40 MW wind farm in Mode 4, an energy input to the electrolyzer of 1, 216,620 KWH/yr, will produce an estimated annual hydrogen production of 21,730 Kg. Estimated costs of hydrogen production based on the Edgeley wind farm output using Mode 4 operating system for a ten year service life is $9.81 per Kg of hydrogen produced. A twenty year service life is $6.89 per Kg of hydrogen produced. Mode 1 is where the hydrogen production is very relative to the power output of the wind farms. This is the most inefficient mode because the hydrogen production is scaled directly proportional to the wind farm output, which helps for transmission of wind power to electrolyzer outputs. Mode 2 is a variation of mode 1 to include the utilization of lower cost off peak power, to supplement wind generated power for increased power production. Mode 3 is completely different because it sends excess wind generated electricity to the power grid once the electrolyzer is running at full capacity. This increases more hydrogen over modes 1 or 2, and is more practical for improved utilization of the electrolyzer. If the electrolyzer dropped below twenty five percent, no hydrogen would be produced, and the system would go into a standby mode. The production and cost estimates by modes are Mode 1 produces the least hydrogen and is the most expensive to produce. Mode 4 yields the most hydrogen and was found to be the most cost effective. The wind and hydrogen power is necessary equipment to reduce our country’s dependence on foreign oil. These processes help clean up the environment and are very cost efficient energy solutions. This will supply our country with a cleaner source of power for our future transportation needs. The Modes of 3 and 4 are very efficient for hydrogen production. Prospects of larger scale wind to hydrogen technology look very positive for the future, even though viability of the concepts has to be proven.
Critique (C):
In my opinion the authors were writing for researchers in the United States Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The authors were including information for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for possible alternative production of hydrogen. Additionally, the research presented in this paper intended for readers could be targeting the automotive engineers developing future automotive power plants and propulsion systems. This method of hydrogen production presented by the authors of this research could also be of interest to the NASA space program, the United States Department of Defense, and possibly the construction industry and the mass transit industry. In my opinion the reader needs at least a college level education to fully understand the concept and processes of hydrogen production, as well as the cost effectiveness of this process. A background in mechanical, electrical, chemical, and energy engineering may be necessary to comprehend the statistics and data presented by the authors. In my opinion the reader should posses knowledge in the storage and distribution of the hydrogen produced by the process proposed in this research paper.
This paper was based on research of prior work in the field of wind farm power production. There were three references connected with the research of this paper. The references were from outside sources spanning the time frame of April 2000 to November 2005. The time span of the sources illustrates that extensive research has been conducted over an extended period of time. The references utilized for this research paper are from quality sources. The references listed in this research paper are from varied types of reports which include Congress and Archer Energy Systems, Inc. These references originate from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Electric Transmission and Distribution, United States Department of Energy.
The source quality of the publication this paper is from is a legitimate source. The source is from the IEEE (the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). This paper was presented as part of the IEEE and IET (Institute of Engineering Technology) conferences at the Power Engineering Society General Meeting, held on June 18 – 22, 2006. In my research of the IEEE, I found that this paper was peer reviewed through an extensive process to ensure the high quality of its technical material. The IEEE has strict policies and procedures through which all communications and scientific papers published in IEEE periodicals are reviewed by no less than two members, who have experience in the area and are competent in the subject matter of the paper. Based on my findings, I feel that the IEEE is a quality source of information on the subject of wind power for the production of electricity. This electricity is used to operate the electrolyzer, which produces hydrogen. This research was supported in part by the United States Department of Energy under Grant number DE-FC36-04GO14264.
My father is a General Motors product trainer and is provided with new innovations and product information associated with the training of GM sales people. We have discussed pre-production vehicle information. He was telling me about how Chevrolet is starting to deploy one hundred Equinox fuel cell vehicles in New York, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles for the purpose of testing the fuel cell technology in real world driving situations. It was interesting reading this research paper because it allowed me to understand what my father was explaining to me about these new fuel cell vehicles. I was excited that the DOE was providing the equipment to go ahead with the implementation of the wind farm hydrogen production. A fuel cell converts hydrogen and oxygen into water and in the process it produces electricity. My father was explaining to me that the Equinox has a current range of approximately two hundred miles with a fuel capacity of 4.2 Kg. The exciting benefit about wind producing hydrogen for fuel cell technology is that this is a no cost way to produce hydrogen. My father told me that GM is excited about this technology and the use of wind power because fuel cell vehicles are zero emission vehicles, which do not pollute the atmosphere.
Works Cited
Peters, R.R., B. Stevens, M.D. Mann, and H. Salehfar. “Dynamic Scheduling of Wind Energy for Hydrogen production by Electrolysis”. Power Engineering Society General Meeting, 2006.
IEEE, June 18-22. Grand Forks: University of North Dakota, 2006. 1-5.
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