Author(s)

Wilson Fidelis Ekpotu¹, Joseph Taiwo Akintola^2*, Martins Chineme Obialor¹, Philemon Chukwuebuka Udom³

¹Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria.
²Department of Research & Development, Vitapur Nigeria Limited, Lagos, Nigeria.
³Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Owerri, Owerri, Nigeria.

Solar system design for green hydrogen production has become the most prominent renewable energy research area, and this has also actively fueled the desire to achieve net-zero emissions. Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier because it possesses more energy capacity than fossil fuels and the abundant nature of renewable energy systems can be utilized for green hydrogen production. However, the design of an optimized electrical energy system required for hydrogen production is crucial. Solar energy is indeed beneficial for green hydrogen production and this research designed, discussed, and provided high-level research on HOMER design for green hydrogen production and deployed the energy requirement with ASPEN Plus to optimize the energy system, while also incorporating fuzzy logic and PID control approaches. In addition, a promising technology with a high potential for renewable hydrogen energy is the proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. Since its cathode (hydrogen electrode) may be operated over a wide range of pressure, a control process must be added to the system in order for it to work dynamically efficiently. This system can be characterized as an analogous circuit that consists of a resistor, capacitor, and reversible voltage. As a result, this research work also explores the Fuzzy-PID control of the PEM electrolysis system. Both the PID and Fuzzy Logic control systems were simulated using the control simulation program Matlab R2018a, which makes use of Matlab script files and the Simulink environment. Based on the circuit diagram, a transfer function that represents the mathematical model of the plant was created, and the PEM electrolysis control system is determined to be highly significant and applicable to the two control systems. The PI controller, however, has a 30.8% overshoot deficit, but when the fuzzy control system is compared to the PID controller, it is found that the fuzzy control system achieves stability more quickly, demonstrating its benefit over PID.

Homer Solar Design, Solar Energy, Renewable Energy, Green Hydrogen Production, Fuzzy Logic, HOMER

Ekpotu, W. , Akintola, J. , Obialor, M. and Udom, P. (2023) A Solar Energy System Design for Green Hydrogen Production in South-Western Nigeria, Lagos State, Using HOMER & ASPEN. Open Journal of Optimization, 12, 72-97. doi: 10.4236/ojop.2023.122006.