This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier.

The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elseviers archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright

Author's personal copy

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

Available at www.sciencedirect.com

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he

Hydrogen energy system analysis for residential applications in the southern region of Algeria
Wahiba Bendaikha a, Salah Larbi b,*, Bouziane Mahmah a
Center of Development of Renewable Energy (CDER), B.P. 62, Route de lObservatoire, 16340 Bouzareah, Algiers, Algeria LGMD-Department of Mechanical Engineering, Polytechnic National School of Algiers, 10 Avenue Hassen Badi, B.P. 182, 16200 El-Harrach, Algiers, Algeria
b a

article info
Article history: Received 31 January 2011 Received in revised form 7 April 2011 Accepted 9 April 2011 Available online 14 May 2011 Keywords: Absorption Thermal storage tank PEMFC Natural gas Gharda a residence

abstract
The purpose of this paper is related to hydrogen energy system analysis for residential applications in Ghardaia (southern region of Algeria). This system is based on proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology, which is supplied by fuel reforming process, for producing hydrogen fuel starting from natural gas. The exhaust heat is recovered by a Thermal Storage Tank (TST), which is used in an absorption sub-system as a generator for residential cooling system. The feasibility analysis of an absorption cooling device, using thermal energy of PEMFC sub-system, for a residence application located at the unit of applied research in renewable energy in Ghardaia has been studied and performances were analysed. Electrical and thermal powers generated by the PEMFC sub-system with variable electrical loads (Part Load Ratio) have been analysed. The feasibility study shows that using PEMFC for residential cooling in Ghardaia is a promising solution. It is shown that the temperature of the TST is sufcient to supply the absorption sub-system with a coefcient of performance equals to 0.72 and, the efciency of the HES equals to 97%. Copyright 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1.

Introduction

Global warming by greenhouse effect and climate change problems due to the excessive use of fossil energy, the increase of energy demand and rising price of oil barrel can be considered as important raisons for seeking other alternative energy sources. Owing to its energy saving and gas emission reduction by greenhouse effect property, fuel cell technology has gained particular attention as one among the future power generation systems [1e3]. These last decades, automobile manufacturers developed proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells as a propulsion device of electric vehicles. This development was given according to their good start-up performance due to a relatively low operating temperature and high power density [4,5]. PEM fuel cell technology is considered also as a promising

solution for residential applications as cogeneration systems because of its efciency in converting fuel gas into useful energy by recovering the waste heat from the electricity generation, which is used for hot water production and heating [6e14]. In addition, the electric power is generated at home and hence there is no energy losses associated to the central power generation device. In order to integrate a PEMFC sub-system into a residential application, a fuel reformer, a PEMFC stack with appropriate water-air, thermal management subsystems, an inverter, a power conditioner and a battery pack are necessary. Natural gas appears as the best fuel for hydrogen-rich gas production due to its favourable composition from lower molecular weight compounds [15e17]. The main technology for natural gas fuel reforming for PEMFC applications is steam reforming [18]. For

* Corresponding author. Fax: 213 21 52 29 73. E-mail address: larbisalah@yahoo.fr (S. Larbi). 0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.04.068

Author's personal copy

8160
i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

simplicity, the natural gas is represented by pure methane, CH4 [19]. In Algeria, the largest natural gas eld is located in Hassi Rmel region, 450 km south of Algiers and 150 km from Ghardaia. Its reserves represent half of all the Algerian proven reserves [20,21]. In our previous study [22], a simulation of Hydrogen Energy System (HES), composed of a PEMFC sub-system and a heat pump for cooling, using real data of a residence located at the Unit of Applied Research in Renewable Energies in Ghardaia (UARREG) (southern region of Algeria) was done. The simulation results [22] showed that there is a great loss of energy in the system because the heat transferred to the Thermal Storage Tank (TST) has not been used, HES efciency is reduced to 66% and there has been an over sizing of PEMFC (5.3 kW). An important part of electrical energy is consumed by the heat pump in summer to cooling the residence [22]. However, using another cooling system based on a singleeffect H2OeLiBr absorption chiller sub-system can reduce the PEMFC size and improve the HES efciency. The objective of this study is to simulate a single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption sub-system powered by PEMFC subsystem and, supplied by hydrogen produced via steam methane reforming to cool a residence located in UARREG. The effect of the TST temperature variation on the absorption sub-system performance is examined and, the quantity of methane consumed by the PEMFC sub-system is estimated. The residence data used are provided by the solar potential laboratory and meteorological station located in UARREG.

2. Thermodynamic hydrogen energy system conguration

Hydrogen Energy System (HES) as shown in Fig. 1 is based on several sub-systems [23] and single-effect H2OeLiBr absorption chiller for cooling.

The PEMFC sub-system is composed by a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a fuel processing, and battery/ power conditioner. The fuel processing device converts natural gas into hydrogen-rich reformate one for providing the required hydrogen fuel. In the reforming process, natural gas is reacted with water steam at high temperature. The fuel processor typically incorporates four separate reaction vessels [15]: the reformer, the high temperature water shift reactor (HTSR), the low temperature water shift reactor, and the preferential oxidation reactor (PROX). Natural gas and water steam pass through high temperature reactor vessel, named reformer, where most of the fuel is converted into a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Some of the carbon monoxide produced in the reformer may react with water to form carbon dioxide. The reformer operating temperature depends on the fuel used, for methane it is over 700  C. The high temperature water shift reactor (HTSR) is used to convert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. This reactor typically operates at temperatures between 260  C and 320  C. The low temperature water shift reactor (LTSR) is used to convert the remaining carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide. This LTSR reactor typically operates at temperatures between 200  C and 260  C. The PEMFC uses a preferential oxidation (PROX) reactor to shift any remaining carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide by introducing a suitable amount of oxygen to the reformatted stream. The amount of carbon monoxide larger than 10 partsper-million is absorbed on the platinum catalyst and then it blocks hydrogen access to the catalyst sites, inducing the reduction of the cell performances. In the PEMFC device, one of the main components is the power conditioner, which converts the direct current to alternative one. Usually, the transient high start-up power demands of appliances are met by electricity stored in a battery pack

Fig. 1 e Schematic description of the simulated hydrogen energy system.

Author's personal copy

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

8161

since it is not economical to size the stack to meet short duration loads. Therefore, carefully sized battery packs are used in the PEMFC sub-system. In the PEMFC technology [24], hydrogen and oxygen gases react to form water, electricity, and thermal energy in the PEMFC stack. The components of the PEMFC stack are the anode, the proton exchange membrane, the cathode, and the gas channels for each electrode. Hydrogen-rich gas (fuel stream) is supplied to the anode side of the stack. At the anode, hydrogen gas reacts to form electrons and protons over noble metal catalysts. The protons diffuse through the membrane while the electrons transfer over an external circuit to the cathode side. The protons and electrons react with the oxygen in the cathode stream to form water which is carried out of the stack in the cathode gas channel (product stream). The PEMFC operates usually within a range of 65e90  C. Electricity for lights, appliances, fan coil and pumps of the absorption subsystem is provided by the PEMFC. The thermal energy from the PEMFC is transferred to the Thermal Storage Tank (TST) as seen in Fig. 1. Water is withdrawn from the tank, pumped through the PEMFC heat exchanger, and returned to the tank at a higher temperature. The role of the thermal storage tank in the HES is to store thermal energy during periods of low thermal energy demand and to supply it during high demand. It is demonstrated that with using TST device, thermal energy can be better explored [25]. As shown in Fig. 1, the absorption system is composed by a generator, a condenser, an evaporator, an absorber and a solution heat exchanger. By supplying heat ow to the generator (point 11), the refrigerant (H2O) is separated from the absorbent (LiBr), it ows from the generator via state points 4, 5 and 6 and back to the absorber as a weak solution where it absorbs the vapour refrigerant coming from the evaporator. LiBr was conveyed to the absorber as a solution with low refrigerant content whilst water liberated from the solution in the generator through evaporation owed to the condenser (point 7) where it was condensed to release heat (point 15, 16). The difference in pressure caused a ow of the refrigerant to the evaporator (point 9) where, at low temperature and low pressure, it evaporated and absorbed heat which subsequently produced chilled water for cooling the residence with a fan coil (point 17, 18). The evaporated refrigerant was attracted by the absorbent in the absorber (point 10), where the refrigerant-rich absorbent solution was formed once more and was conveyed to the generator (point 1, 2, 3) to start the whole cycle again. Eighteen points are used in the absorption sub-system [26,27], and each one has its temperature, pressure, enthalpy and ow rate. The H2OeLiBr absorption chiller sub-system with state points and its four main components are shown in Fig. 1. These components are: generator (g), condenser (c), evaporator (e) and absorber (a). The solution heat exchanger, the solution pump and the throttling valves between absorber/solution heat exchanger and condenser/evaporator are also shown. The internal state points characterize the thermodynamic properties of LiBr/water solution (points 1e6), water vapour (7, 10) and liquid water (8, 9). The external state points characterize the thermodynamic properties of hot water (11, 12), cooling water (13, 14, 15, 16) and chilled water (17, 18) [28].

PEMFC sub-system operates with approximately 40% of electric efciency. Compared to the peak power operation, low Part Load Ratios (PLR) have slightly higher efciencies [25]. However, at very low PLRs (PLR < 10%) parasitic losses increase signicantly and system performance drops drastically. At all load conditions, waste heat is available from the PEMFC stack. The thermal energy is approximately equals to the electricity production and is available at a temperature close to the stack temperature. Cogeneration efciencies for small-scale PEMFC systems are typically higher than 65% [25]. In analyzing the HES, the PEMFC sub-system is modelled as a sub-system with methane as input parameter and, electricity and thermal energy, as output parameters. Empirical relations will be used to relate the fuel input to the electric and thermal energy outputs. The Part Load Ratio (PLR) is dened as the ratio of electric power load to the maximum of the PEMFC power generation. It varies between 0 and 1 and it is given by [25] PLR _ FC E _ FC;cap E (1)

Where _ FC;cap is the maximum of output electric power of the E PEMFC sub-system. _ FC is the net output electric power of the PEMFC subE system for supplying a part load. It is dened as the sum of the total electrical demand for the residence, and the electric power required running the fan coil and the pump of the absorption cooling sub-system. The thermal to electric output ratios of the fuel cell subsystem which are calculated by the ratio of heat output to the output electric power of the PEMFC sub-system are given by [25,29] rTE 0:6801 for PLR<0.05 and rTE 1:0785:PLR4 1:9739:PLR3 1:5005:PLR2 0:2817:PLR 0:6838 (3) (2)

for PLR>0.05 The reformer heating value efciency at full capacity is 94% [25]. The fuel (natural gas) utilization by the fuel cell stack is 80% and the rest of the fuel is burned to supply heat to the steam reforming process. The fraction of the heating value of the primary fuel that reacts electrochemically in the fuel cell is equal to the product of the heating value efciency and the fuel utilization or 75 percent [25,29]. The complete PEMFC sub-system electric efciency reecting reformer efciency and battery operation is given by [25,29] helectric 0:2716 for PLR<0.05 and helectric 0:9033:PLR5 2:9996:PLR4 3:6503:PLR3 2:0704:PLR2 0:4623:PLR 0:3747 (5) for PLR>0.05 The thermal efciency is given by Gunes [25] as (4)

Author's personal copy

8162
hthermal helectric rTE
i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

(6)

The cogeneration efciency of the PEMFC sub-system is dened as the sum of the electrical and thermal efciency calculated by Equation (4, 5 and 6). Its expression is [29] hcogeneration helectric hthermal helectric 1 rTE (7)

LMTDe

T17 T10 T18 T10   T17 T10 ln T18 T10

(17)

The energy balance for the condenser is Qc LMTDc UAc Where LMTDc T8 T15 T8 T16   T8 T15 ln T8 T16 (19) (18)

The following relation determines the total thermal power or the heat ow rate available from the PEMFC sub-system using in the residence [29] _ FC rTE E _ FC Q (8)

The energy balance for the absorber is Qa LMTDa UAa Where LMTDa T6 T14 T1 T13   T6 T14 ln T1 T13 (21) (20)

Solving this differential equation yields the tank temperature as a function of time [25] TTS;t2 Where _ FC m _ HW CP THW TCW UL AL Tzone a rTE E (10)     a a 3600b t2 t1 TTS;t1 exp b b mTS CP (9)

The coefcient of performance is given by [28,30] COP _ 9 h10 h9 m Qe _ 11 h11 h12 Qg m (22)

b UL A L

(11)

Knowing EFC, the fuel use of the fuel cell sub-system can be calculated for any electric load of the residence with the equation FFC EFC helectrical (12)

Energy balance equations are applied to the evaporator, the absorber, the condenser and the generator. The UA-LMTD method is used and the overall heat transfer coefcient (UA) is relatively constant throughout each heat exchanger. The input parameters of the model are given in the Table 1. The solution heat exchanger effectiveness is dened as Eff hx T4 T5 T4 T2 (13)

The numerical simulation of the HES shown in Fig. 1 is based on data related to 60 m2 residence area. The calculation of lighting use in a dwelling is based on the proportion of xed low-energy lighting outlets installed, and on the contribution of daylight. Cold water and ambient temperature data are those of 27 August 2007 day measured on the UARREG site, this data are used to avoid the system over sizing.

3.

Technical data presentation

The energy balance for the generator is _ 11h11 h12 Qg DTLMg UAg m Where LMTDg T11 T4 T12 T7   T11 T4 ln T12 T7 (15) (14)

The energy balance for the evaporator is Qe LMTDe UAe Where (16)

Residences in Ghardaia city, located in the southern region of Algeria (Latitude 32.5, Longitude 3.5) have a very huge problem of cooling following to hot summers in this city for a large part of the year [31]. The ambient temperature and cold water inlet temperature measured during 27 August 2007 in UARREG are shown in Fig. 2. As can be seen, the ambient temperature increases appreciably from 9:00 am until 8:00 pm and the cold domestic water inlet temperature begins to increase from 9.00 am to stabilize slightly at the end of the day. Fig. 3 shows the electrical loads variation and the Part Load Ratio (PLR) according to the time. The electrical loads variation shows that the pick demand on electrical energy is from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm that corresponds to the high values of the ambient temperature in this time (see Fig. 2). Fig. 4 shows that the average temperature is between 9 and 15  C for the winter period and from 19 to 28  C for periods of

Table 1 e Data used for the study case. Eff_hx

0.64

_ 1 m kg/s
0.05

UAa kW/K
1.8

UAc kW/K
1.2

UAg kW/K
1

UAe kW/K
2.25

T(13)  C
25

_ 13 m kg/s
0.28

T(15)  C
27

_ 15 m kg/s
0.28

_ 11 m kg/s
1

_ 17 m kg/s
0.4

T(17)  C
10

Author's personal copy

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

8163

Fig. 4 e Monthly average temperatures of Ghardaia. Fig. 2 e Ambient and inlet domestic water temperature evolution versus time. thermal energy delivered by the PEMFC sub-system are shown in Fig. 9. The electrical energy delivered by the PEMFC is 82% proportional to the heat generated. It is necessary to take the load uctuations of electricity demand (PLR) into consideration. As it is demonstrated in the reference [33], when the uctuations in the electricity demand are large, the heat supplied by the PEMFC differs from the case where there is no change in electricity demand. This result is conrmed by our study and shown in Fig. 8. When the PEMFCs operates at the full load (1.6 kW), the heat transfer rate from the PEMFCs which is the thermal energy generated by this device is as important as the electrical power generated. Fig. 5 shows the TST and the PEMFC sub-system temperature evolution versus time. As it can be seen, when the electrical consumption increases (Fig. 3), the PEMFC subsystem temperature decreases from 74.5 to 71.6  C because of the heat transferred to the TST where its temperature increases from 70.3 to 74.5  C. The coefcient of performance (COP) is calculated for the cooling absorption sub-system with generator (desorber)

autumn and spring. By the summer, the outside temperature is between 30 and 36  C. Thus, the latter leads us to predict cooling.

4.

Results and discussion

Hydrogen Energy System (HES) integrating PEMFC sub-system with the absorption cooling one has been simulated. In this design, thermal energy is used for space cooling Producing cold with hot. For cooling hours, heat is removed from the house by the absorption sub-system. Absorption cooling subsystem based on H2OeLiBr cycle is suitable for residential applications and they can be operated with thermal energy at temperatures as low as 80  C [32]. For most domestic PEMFC systems, water is the ideal material to store thermal energy. The net electric power provided by the PEMFC sub-system must be sufcient to meet the maximum hourly average demand as predicted by the HES model. The electrical and

Fig. 3 e Electrical loads and PLR variation versus time.

Fig. 5 e Evolution of the TST and PEMFC sub-system temperatures according to time.

Author's personal copy

8164
i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

Fig. 6 e Absorption system performance according to the generator temperatures.

Fig. 8 e Absorption cycle temperatures evolution versus TST temperature.

temperatures from 50 to 120  C while values of other operating parameters are kept constant as shown in Table 1. Hot water inlet temperature effect on COP is shown in Fig. 6. As it can be observed, the COP increases while increasing the generation temperature, reaching a maximum value of 0.72 between 70 and 85  C and later on it falls. The maximum value for the COP (0.72) corresponds to a generation temperature of 70  C. The minimum value of 0.53 corresponds to a generation temperature of 50.5  C. It has a low coefcient of performance. However, it can substantially reduce the operating costs because it is powered by low-grade waste heat. When the generators temperature is between 60 and 85  C, which is the temperature of the subcooled heated water at atmospheric pressure, as expected, the cycle COP increases as the generator temperature (TTST) increases according to Carnot principle [34]. However, this increase differs from one refrigerant to another.

As shown in Fig. 7, the cooling power increases with an increase in the generation temperature. For the generation temperature value of 70  C, the cooling power value (Qe) is 4.86 kW. It can be seen that, increasing the TST temperature from 65 to 80  C, the evaporator heat transfer rate (Qe) increases from 4.1 to 6.69 kW and the generator heat transfer rate (Qg) increases from 5.57 to 9.26 kW (18%), so reducing the alimentation power to 18% the cooling power is reduced to 12%. This shows the feasibility to use the PEMFC as power sources. The evolution of the outlet absorber temperature T(1), the outlet generator temperature T(4) and the temperature between evaporator and absorber T(10) versus TST temperature is shown in Fig. 8. It shows that T(4) is proportional to TST temperature, T(1) is not varying according TST temperature and T(10) is lower in higher TST temperature. This is similar to a H2OeLiBr absorption cycle [35]. Fig. 10 shows the CH4 quantity consumed by the PEMFC to meet the loads of the residence. Methane consumption

Fig. 7 e Cooling and desorber power according to the TST temperature.

Fig. 9 e Electrical and dissipated thermal power in the PEMFC sub-system.

Author's personal copy

i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

8165

obtained in our previous study [22] (0.64e0.66), there is a great improvement of HES efciency.

5.

Conclusion

Fig. 10 e Quantity of fuel consumed according to the time.

increases with the increase of the electrical loads of the residence. At maximum power of 1.58 kW; methane consumption is about 0.0017 m3. Fig. 10 shows the PEMFC sub-system electrical and cogeneration efciencies and the HES efciency. As can be seen, the cogeneration PEMFC sub-system efciency does not exceed 0.7, in Ref. [36] it is found 82%, because of difculties in the recovery of the low temperature heat produced by the PEMFC due to the low operating temperature of PEMFC limits the amount of heat that can be effectively utilized in combined heat and power applications (Fig. 11). Electrical PEMFC sub-system efciency does not exceed 0.4, when the part load rises the electrical efciency decreases, due to the higher ohmic losses, which is similar to the Mihai Radulescu results [37], and in Ref. [38] electrical efciency is found between 0.45 and 0.35 according to PLR variation between (0.25 and 1). The simulation results show that the HES efciency varies within the interval 0.79e0.97. Compared to the results

In this paper, hydrogen energy system integrating the PEMFC sub-system and the absorption sub-system has been simulated by using UARREG residence data. Given operating conditions of PEMFC, the single-effect absorption chiller system LiBreH2O is the most adequate to operate at generation temperatures between 70 and 85  C. Obtained results show that the best COP of absorption subsystem is about 0.72 which corresponds to a generation temperature of 70  C and a maximum cooling power of 4.86 kW. At maximum PEMFC sub-system electrical power (1.58 kW), the methane consumption is about 0.0017 m3 and, the simulation results showed that the PEMFC sub-system cogeneration efciency is about 70% while the electrical PEMFC sub-system efciency does not exceed 40%. Compared to the results presented in our previous study, the HES efciency is improved by approximately 23e46%. Using HES based on the PEMFC sub-system and a singleeffect H2OeLiBr absorption chiller sub-system, present an interesting and efcient system to cool residences located in the southern region of Algeria. In addition, the PEMFC size can be reduced inducing a reduction in cost.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Sa d Diaf for his helpful comments while preparing the manuscript.

Nomenclature

COP LiBr LMTD A E _ E Eff h _ m PLR Q _ Q rTE T U x a c CW d e

Fig. 11 e Efciencies evolution versus time.

Coefcient of performance Lithium bromide Log mean temperature difference Area, m2 Energy, kWh Electrical power, kW Efciency Enthalpy, kJ/kg K Mass ow rate, kg/s Part load ratio Heat ow, kWh Heat ow rate, kW Thermal to electric output ratio of the PEMFC subsystem Temperature,  C Overall heat transfer coefcient, kW/m2 K Concentration of LiBr Absorber Condenser Cold water from the city water line Desorber Evaporator

Author's personal copy

8166
i n t e r n a t i o n a l j o u r n a l o f h y d r o g e n e n e r g y 3 6 ( 2 0 1 1 ) 8 1 5 9 e8 1 6 6

FC g hx HW L TS zone

PEMFC Generator Heat exchanger Hot water Loss Thermal storage Controlled zone

references

[1] Hwang JJ, Lai DY. Detailed characteristic comparison between planar and MOLB-type SOFCs. J Power Sources 2005; 143:75e83. [2] Hwang JJ, Wu SD, Lai LK. Effect of breathing-hole size on the electrochemical species in a free-breathing cathode of a DMFC. J Power Sources 2006;161:240e9. [3] Hwang JJ, Chen CK, Lai DY. Computational analysis of species transport and electrochemical characteristics of a MOLB-type SOFC. J Power Sources 2005;140:235e42. [4] Hwang JJ, Wang DY, Shih NC. Development of a lightweight PEMFC vehicle. J Power Sources 2005;141:108e15. [5] Hwang JJ, Chang WR, Su A. Development of a small vehicular PEM fuel cell system. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2008;33:3801e7. [6] Gigliucci G, Petruzzi L, Cerelli E, Garzisi A, La Mendola A. Demonstration of a residential CHP system based on PEM fuel cells. J Power Source 2004;131:62e8. [7] Wang C, Mao Z, Bao F, Li X, Xie X. Development and performance of 5 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell stationary power system. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2005;30:1031e4. [8] Van den Oosterkamp PF. Critical issues in heat transfer for fuel cell systems. J Energy Convers Manage 2006;47:3552e61. [9] Corbo P, Migliardini F, Veneri O. Experimental analysis and management issues of a hydrogen fuel cell system for stationary and mobile application. J Energy Convers Manage 2007;48:2365e74. [10] Hwang JJ, Lai LK, Wu W, Chang WR. Dynamic modeling of a photovoltaic hydrogen fuel cell hybrid system. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2009;34:9531e42. [11] Hawkes AD, Leach MA. The capacity credit of microcombined heat and power. Energy Policy 2008;36:1457e69. [12] Korsgaard AR, Nielsen MP, Kr SRK. Part one: a novel model of HTPEM-based micro-combined heat and power fuel cell system. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2008;33:1909e20. [13] Kuby M, Lines L, Schultz R, Xie Z, Kim JM, Lim S. Optimization of hydrogen stations in Florida using the ow-refueling location model. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2009;34:6045e64. [14] Ren H, Gao W, Ruan Y. Optimal sizing for residential CHP system. Appl Therm Eng 2008;28:514e23. [15] Erso z A. Investigation of hydrocarbon reforming processes for micro-cogeneration systems. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2008; 33:7084e94. [16] Ersoz A, Olgun H, Ozdogan S. Reforming options for hydrogen production from fossil fuels for PEM fuel cells. J Power Sources 2006;154:67e73. [17] Lattner JR, Harold MP. Comparison of conventional and membrane reactor fuel processors for hydrocarbon based PEM fuel cell systems. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2004;29:393e9. [18] Radulescu M, Ayel V, Lottin O, Feidt M, Antoine B, Moyne C, et al. Natural gas electric generator powered by polymer exchange membrane fuel cell: numerical model and experimental results. Energy Convers Manage 2008;49:326e35.

zgu nsan ZI, Avci AK. Design of a methane [19] O r T, Mas alac E, O processing system producing high-purity hydrogen. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2008;33:5516e26. [20] Boudries R, Dizene R. Potentialities of hydrogen production in Algeria. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2008;33:4476e87. [21] Mahmah B, Harouadi F, Benmoussa H, Chader S, Belhamel M, MRaoui A, et al. MedHySol: future federator project of massive production of solar hydrogen. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2009;34:4922e33. [22] Bendaikha W. Thermal study and conception of energy system based on PEMFC for residential application. Algiers: Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Polytechnic National School; 2005. [23] Kandlikar SG, Zijie L. Thermal management issues in a PEMFC stack e a brief review of current status. Appl Therm Eng 2009; 29:276e80. [24] Gil-yong L, Min-kyung J, Sung-nam R, Myung-seok P, Samchul H, Sunhoe K. Development of cost innovative BPs for a PEMFC stack for a 1 kW-class residential power generator (RPG) system. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2011;35:13131e6. [25] Gunes MB. Investigation of a fuel cell based total energy system for residential applications. Blacksburg, Virginia: Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering; 2001. [26] Radermacher R, Klein SA, Didion DA. Investigation of the part-load performance of an absorption chiller. ASHRAE Trans 1983;89:205e14. [27] Chaouachi B, Gabsi S. Design and simulation of an absorption diffusion solar refrigeration unit. Am J Appl Sci 2007;4:85e8. [28] Muhumuza R. Modelling, implementation and simulation of a single-effect absorption chiller in MERIT. Scotland: Master of Science in Renewable Energy Systems and the Environment. University of Strathclyde Engineering; 2010. [29] Bendaikha W, Larbi S, Mahmah B. Feasibility study of hybrid fuel cell and geothermal heat pump used for air conditioning in Algeria. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2011;36:4253e61. ttir U. Use of geothermal energy for cooling, thesis [30] Bjo rnsdo for the degree of magister. Faculty of Engineering, University of Iceland, 2004. [31] Bendaikha W, Larbi S. Conception and simulation of cooling system for residential application in the south of Algeria. Jordan: Glob Conf Renewable Energy Approaches for Desert Regions; 2006. [32] Wallmark C. Design and evaluation of stationary polymer electrolyte fuel cell systems, KTH. Ph.D thesis, Royal Inst itute of Technology, Sweden, 2004. [33] Obara S. Effective-use method of exhaust heat for distributed fuel cells. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2006;31:981e93. [34] El Masry O. Performance of waste heat absorption refrigeration system. 6th Saudi Engineering conference. Kfupm, Dhahran, December 2002, vol. 5, pp 531. [35] ASHRAE. Handbooks. Refrigeration. Atlanta: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc; 2006. [36] Hwang JJ, Zou ML, Chang WR, Su A, Weng FB, Wu W. Implementation of a heat recovery unit in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell system. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2010;35: 8644e53. [37] Radulescu M. Combined heat and power systems using proton exchange membrane fuel cells or solid oxide fuel cells and an external steam-reformer. Ph.D thesis, Henri Poincare University, Nancy, 2006. [38] Cozzolino R, Cicconardi SP, Galloni E, Minutillo M, Perna M. Theoretical and experimental investigations on thermal management of a PEMFC stack. Int J Hydrogen Energy, 2011, article in press.