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CONVERSION OF WIND POWER TO HYDROGEN FUEL: DESIGN OF AN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SYSTEM FOR AN INJECTION MOLDING FACILITY
Description:
Injection molding plants are large consumers of electricity. At its current level of operations, Harbec Plastics (Ontario, NY) uses about 2,000,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. Based on the US average fuel mix, approximately 1.5 pounds of CO2 is generated for each kilowatt hour of energy produced (source: http://www.harbec.com/pdf/harbecforest.pdf). Producing the power to meet Harbec's needs through conventional means would result in the production of 3,000,000 pounds (1500 tons) of CO2 in addition to other fossil fuel emissions. The objective of this study is to explore the technical, environmental, and financial feasibility of using wind generated electricity to manufacture hydrogen when the facility is consuming less power than the wind turbine generates. Hydrogen produced during these periods could be stored onsite and used in a number of different ways. For instance, the hydrogen could be used to power fuel cells which would generate electricity for the facility, or it could be mixed with the facility's compressed natural gas and used to fuel the microturbines that power the plant. The study will be conducted by a team of students participating in the Multidisciplinary Design Experience at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) and supervised by a faculty advisor and a team of faculty who oversee the entire Design Experience.