A study of renewable energy internal combustion engine system using TRNSYS

For remote stand alone applications, a Renewable Energy Internal Combustion Engine (REICE) power system consisting of photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, internal combustion engine electrical generator, electrolyzer and battery is being developed by a research team lead by the Desert Research Institute, Reno, Nevada. The engine can operate on either propane or hydrogen fuel. This thesis supports the REICE development by developing a computer simulation model of the system using the well known TRNSYS software code. The objective of this study is not only to develop and verify the REICE simulation model but also to determine the best system configuration that utilizes maximum available renewable energy available and minimizes the propane consumption. The basic logic is to produce hydrogen from the electrolyzer whenever excess renewable power is available. The hydrogen is essentially an energy storage strategy. After the TRNSYS model was validated using experimental performance data from the REICE system, it was used to predict annual system performance for a variety of system design configurations. The major conclusions from this study include: (1) REICE system performance and efficiency can be increased if proper logic is applied on a system consisting of PV panels, wind turbine and Internal Combustion engine. (2) There exists an optimal wind/PV/IC-system design that consumes minimum propane and utilizes maximum available renewable energy possible. (3) REICE operational costs are mainly related to propane fuel costs for IC engine.