Thermodynamic and economic analysis of new coupling processes with large-scale hydrogen liquefaction process and liquid air energy storage

Liquid hydrogen serves as an environmentally friendly energy carrier, playing a crucial role in alleviating greenhouse effects. In order to tackle the challenges concerning energy consumption and economic costs, it becomes imperative to develop an efficient and cost-effective large-scale hydrogen liquefaction process (LHLS). This study integrates of LHLS with liquefied air energy storage (LAES) and introduces three liquefaction pro-cesses to reduce the economic cost associated with hydrogen liquefaction. By coupling LAES, electricity gener-ated during off-peak hours can be stored and subsequently utilized in LHLS operations during peak hours, leading to a reduction in electricity costs. Furthermore, utilizing the surplus cooling capacity of LAES can enhance the efficiency of LHLS. A genetic algorithm is used to optimize the coupling processes. The calculated total annual cost (TAC) of the most economically viable coupling process amounts to 12271.8 k$/year, representing in a 20.91 % reduction compared to the independent LHLS. This indicate a clear economic advantage with the coupling process. The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) and the payback period (PBP) for this particular coupling process are 2.523 $/kg and 4.56 years, respectively. A sensitivity analysis reveals that the economic benefits of the coupling processes escalate with higher electricity prices and greater liquefaction capacity.