An AURAK researcher, one of the six co-authors of the study, says the proposed hybrid plant is both technically robust and commercially viable
In a ground-breaking study, six researchers from universities from five countries, including one from the American University of Ras Al Khaimah (AURAK), have demonstrated that through a hybrid plant design gas turbine power plants can significantly reduce CO₂ emissions, as well as trigger higher efficiency and lower costs.
Gas turbine power plants are a cornerstone of global energy production, responsible for generating nearly half of the world’s electricity; however, they have an adverse environmental impact, contributing 15% of all energy-related CO₂ emissions.
In the new study, the researchers propose a hybrid plant design that delivers an 18% reduction in hourly operating costs and a 1.2-year payback, making retrofits to existing gas-turbine facilities financially compelling, as well as a 27% drop in CO₂ emissions.
Notably, this system surpasses traditional waste heat recovery by utilizing a Rankine cycle for enhanced power generation. It leverages previously unexplored techniques for further efficiency gains by utilizing the remaining heat to power an absorption chiller and capturing condenser heat loss through a thermoelectric generator. This multi-stage heat recovery approach enables the system to deliver triple benefits, including electricity, cooling, and hydrogen production. Additionally, a portion of the generated electricity is employed for seawater desalination using a reverse osmosis (RO) method.
Dr. David A. Schmidt, President of AURAK, said: “It is a matter of great pride to see one of our researchers contributing to this important study that has the potential to help reduce global warming. It is an endorsement of the high level of research work being conducted at AURAK as part of our focus on pursuing research that leads to practical solutions. Such activity will serve to inspire our young graduates to develop actionable insights as they carry on their academic work.”
Dr. Uday Kumar Nutakki, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and Chief Sustainability Officer, at AURAK, said: “The proposed hybrid gas turbine plant is not merely theoretical, it’s actionable. Each subsystem was validated against industry benchmarks, with deviations of less than 1.5%, demonstrating model accuracy. By leveraging off-the-shelf technologies at realistic operating conditions, the design aligns with current manufacturing capabilities.”
The interdisciplinary study was conducted by researchers working from their respective universities. Researchers from the Yantai Institute of Technology (China) led the AI-based multi-objective optimization using genetic algorithms and the LINMAP decision-making method.
Dr. Uday Kumar, as co-author from AURAK designed and integrated the reverse-osmosis desalination subsystem. Tashkent State Pedagogical University (Uzbekistan) researcher handled the baseline gas-turbine and Rankine-cycle thermodynamic modelling. Research collaborator from King Saud University (Saudi Arabia) developed and economically evaluated the PEM-electrolyzer unit. And, researcher at the Islamic University of Najaf (Iraq) contributed design of the absorption-chiller and low-temperature tri-generation loop.
Each team built and validated their module, then collaborated through shared repositories and regular virtual meetings to deliver a fully integrated thermodynamic-economic framework.
According to Dr. Uday Kumar, the research consortium will continue to advance this breakthrough by collaboratively iterating on the integrated design, leveraging regular optimization cycles with genetic-algorithm and LINMAP methods, refining control strategies through AI-driven load and maintenance forecasting, and validating performance in a pilot-scale implementation. By maintaining a shared codebase for real-time integration and incorporating feedback from industry stakeholders, the team will ensure that each enhancement aligns with both commercial and environmental goals, progressing from recommendations in the study towards a field-ready system.
The research findings were published in Process Safety and Environmental Protection (IF: 7.8), Vol. 189 (2024), pp. 204–218. The manuscript was received in March 2024 and accepted in June 2024.
Full citation: Li, Shuguang, Yuchi Leng, Tirumala Uday Nutakki, Sherzod Abdullaev, Yasser Fouad, and Merwa Alhadrawi. “Intelligent Optimization of Eco-Friendly H₂/Freshwater Production and CO₂ Reduction Layout Integrating GT/Rankine Cycle/Absorption Chiller/TEG Unit/PEM Electrolyzer/RO Section.” Process Safety and Environmental Protection 189 (September 2024): 204–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2024.06.062.