Producing heat, power, and hydrogen using metal fuels : research on a synergistic thermal-electricity-hydrogen system based on EBSILON® Professional — focusing on hydrogen production and energy recovery from iron-based metal fuels in a fluidized bed reactor
Liang, Zichong (2026)
Kandidaatintutkielma
2026
School of Energy Systems, Energiatekniikka
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2026051949747
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2026051949747
Tiivistelmä
This thesis investigates an iron-based metal fuel system for the combined production of heat, power and hydrogen. The study is based on a system-level thermodynamic model developed in EBSILON® Professional. The purpose of the thesis is to analyse how reaction heat release, steam power generation, hydrogen separation and solid-phase circulation can be integrated within one unified process boundary.
The study does not attempt to model particle-scale fluidization behaviour or local gas–solid dynamics inside a fluidized bed reactor. Instead, the focus is placed on system reconstruction, functional subsystem classification and design-point thermodynamic interpretation. The model consists of a reaction zone, selective separation units, a heat-recovery and steam-generation network, a steam turbine–generator subsystem, a condenser, and a condensate and feedwater return circuit. This structure makes it possible to examine the model as a coupled heat–power–hydrogen process rather than as an isolated reactor or a conventional steam power cycle.
At the design point, the reactor temperature is 625 °C and the reaction heat scale is approximately 34.25 MW. The explicitly visible heat recovery through the heat-exchanger and evaporator network is approximately 3.27 MW. The main steam state reaches approximately 48 bar and 600 °C, and the gross electrical output is approximately 1.2236 MW. In addition, the model includes a separately identifiable hydrogen product stream downstream of the selective hydrogen separation unit. The hydrogen stream is represented in the model with defined pressure, temperature, enthalpy, mass flow rate and composition information.
The results show that the developed model provides a coherent engineering basis for analysing iron-based metal fuels as part of an integrated heat, power and hydrogen system. The main value of the model is that reaction, separation, heat recovery, steam power generation and hydrogen production are connected in a single design-point process. However, the present work remains limited to system-level design-point analysis. Multi-condition optimisation, net power analysis, experimental validation and detailed fluidized-bed reactor modelling are recommended for future work.
The study does not attempt to model particle-scale fluidization behaviour or local gas–solid dynamics inside a fluidized bed reactor. Instead, the focus is placed on system reconstruction, functional subsystem classification and design-point thermodynamic interpretation. The model consists of a reaction zone, selective separation units, a heat-recovery and steam-generation network, a steam turbine–generator subsystem, a condenser, and a condensate and feedwater return circuit. This structure makes it possible to examine the model as a coupled heat–power–hydrogen process rather than as an isolated reactor or a conventional steam power cycle.
At the design point, the reactor temperature is 625 °C and the reaction heat scale is approximately 34.25 MW. The explicitly visible heat recovery through the heat-exchanger and evaporator network is approximately 3.27 MW. The main steam state reaches approximately 48 bar and 600 °C, and the gross electrical output is approximately 1.2236 MW. In addition, the model includes a separately identifiable hydrogen product stream downstream of the selective hydrogen separation unit. The hydrogen stream is represented in the model with defined pressure, temperature, enthalpy, mass flow rate and composition information.
The results show that the developed model provides a coherent engineering basis for analysing iron-based metal fuels as part of an integrated heat, power and hydrogen system. The main value of the model is that reaction, separation, heat recovery, steam power generation and hydrogen production are connected in a single design-point process. However, the present work remains limited to system-level design-point analysis. Multi-condition optimisation, net power analysis, experimental validation and detailed fluidized-bed reactor modelling are recommended for future work.