Integrated hydrogen liquefaction process with a dual-pressure organic Rankine cycle-assisted LNG regasification system: Design, comparison, and analysis

Improving the efficiency and reducing the cost of hydrogen liquefaction systems have become a subject of importance nowadays. Through the comparison and analysis of existing processes, a hydrogen liquefaction system that can enhance the utilization efficiency of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cold energy is developed. The system includes a dual-pressure organic Rankine cycle (DORC)-assisted LNG regasification process and improved cascade Joule-Brayton refrigeration cycles. To assess the performance of the proposed process, two forms of ORC and three Brayton refrigeration cycles are compared, respectively. The genetic algorithm is applied to optimize the proposed process. The coefficient of performance, exergy efficiency, and specific energy consumption of the proposed process is 0.20, 46.9%, and 6.61 kWh/kgLH2, respectively. Owing to the efficient utilization of LNG cold energy, the power output of the DORC is 16.2% higher than that of a regular ORC. Furthermore, the improved cryo-cooling process exhibits a significant performance enhancement. Compared to two existing processes, the UA value of the heat exchangers in the proposed cryo-cooling process is reduced by 47.6% and 8.3%, respectively, and the required mass flow rate of helium is reduced by 45.3% and 8.6%, respectively. Moreover, the exergy analysis performed on the system indicates that the exergy utilization rate of the hydrogen pre-cooling process is 80.2%, while that of the cryo-cooling process is only 48.7%.