10/23/2024
By Danielle Fretwell

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, invites you to attend a Doctoral Dissertation Proposal defense by Jack Cimorelli on: Hydrogen Integration in Designing Resilient Renewable Energy Microgrid Systems.

Candidate Name: Jack Cimorelli
Degree: Doctoral
Defense Date: Tuesday, November 5, 2024
Time: 2- 4 p.m.
Location: Southwick 240

Committee:
Advisor: Christopher Niezrecki, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Lowell
Co-Advisor: Xinfang Jin, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UT Dallas

Committee Members
1. David Willis, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Lowell
2. Hunter Mack, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Lowell
3. Jie Zhang, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, UT Dallas

Brief Abstract:
The role of hydrogen produced by renewables within microgrid systems has recently gained interest as a zero-carbon option for energy storage. Many microgrids do not have access to a utility electrical grid, therefore renewables along with energy storage systems must provide continuous power to support the load at an affordable cost. Diesel generators are often used as the primary solution for power generation; however, this becomes costly at current fuel prices and does not contribute towards decarbonization efforts. Renewables paired with energy storage can increase the resiliency and sustainability of a microgrid system while performing equally well to diesel counterparts. For a renewable-hydrogen hybrid system using compressed hydrogen gas, the key components include the renewable energy source, electrolyzer and fuel cell, and hydrogen tanks. Other important components required for a complete analysis include the electrical equipment along with hydrogen drying, compression, and tank defueling. All these components must be properly sized to optimize the design for a given location based on resource and demand data. Current modeling techniques and available modeling tools have laid the foundation for renewable microgrid analysis, but often do not offer detailed component configuration options or a comprehensive hydrogen library. This proposed work looks to build upon the current knowledge of hybrid microgrid systems by 1) developing a modeling tool with a full hydrogen infrastructure library to analyze system performance and cost, 2) compare different energy storage technologies and determine under what operating conditions is wind or solar energy more appropriate, and 3) benchmark current diesel systems to a renewable-hydrogen system by comparing both cost and carbon footprint.