Energy Management of a Smart Multi-Carrier Energy Hub Systems for Low Carbon Emissions with a Carbon Capture Unit

The energy management (EM) of smart multi-carrier energy hub (SMCEH) systems for cost and emission reduction remains a challenging problem due to the diversity of renewable energy resources (RERs), varying load demands, and the stochastic nature of these resources. This paper addresses the EM problem of SMCEHs to minimize operational costs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm. The studied SMCEHs are designed to simultaneously supply electrical, cooling, and thermal demands. The hub system comprises wind turbines (WTs), photovoltaic (PV) panels, gas turbines (GT), electric chillers (EC), gas boilers (GBs), absorption chillers (AC), battery storage systems, and thermal storage units. To assess system performance and the impact of key technologies, three case studies are investigated: (i) EM of SMCEHs without RERs, (ii) EM of SMCEHs with RERs, and (iii) EM of SMCEHs with RERs and an integrated carbon capture unit (CCU). These scenarios enable a systematic evaluation of the role of renewable integration and carbon capture in enhancing system performance. The results demonstrate that incorporating RERs into SMCEHs leads to a substantial reduction in both operational costs and GHG emissions. Furthermore, the integration of a CCU provides additional emission reductions, underscoring its effectiveness in supporting the low-carbon operation of SMCEHs. The obtained results show that integrating RERs into SMCEH decreases the total cost and emissions by 64.12% and 7.95%, respectively, compared to the scenario without RERs. Furthermore, the integration of the CCU into SMCEHs provides a 39.36% reduction in total costs and a 72.57% decrease in CO2 emissions. The suggested energy management solution promotes a sustainable and low-carbon emission system by maximum utilization of the RERs and CCU.