Conceptual design and analysis of a novel system coupling hydrogen liquefaction with multi-energy liquid air energy storage

This study proposed a novel coupling hydrogen liquefaction - multi-energy liquid air energy storage (M-LAES) system, aiming to reduce the energy consumption of hydrogen liquefaction while realizing the cascade utilization of cold energy in M-LAES. In the proposed coupling system, the M- LAES characterizes the delivery of the cold capacity by methanol and propane, pre-cooling hydrogen to 100 K in hydrogen liquefaction instead of conventional liquid nitrogen. A transient thermodynamic model is built to investigate the operating characteristics of the proposed system. Considering the specific energy consumption (SEC) as the objective function, the optimum flow rate and thermodynamic parameters can be determined. Compared with traditional hydrogen liquefier, the proposed system shows better performance for its lower SEC and higher exergy efficiency, about 8.745 and 32.18%, respectively. The exergy analysis shows the coupling system increases the energy efficiency of both M-LAES and hydrogen liquefaction. The proposed system outperformed the conventional LAES operation on flexibility. Energy input into M-LAES can be transformed into liquid hydrogen, instead of only electricity, opening up further possibilities for fuel cells, long-distance transport, and future clean energy management net options.