Colombia
Economic Evaluation and Technoeconomic Resilience Analysis of Two Routes for Hydrogen Production via Indirect Gasification in North Colombia
Nov 2023
Publication
Hydrogen has become a prospective energy carrier for a cleaner more sustainable economy offering carbon-free energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and address climate change challenges. However hydrogen production faces significant technological and economic hurdles that must be overcome to reveal its highest potential. This study focused on evaluating the economics and technoeconomic resilience of two large-scale hydrogen production routes from African palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) by indirect gasification. Computer-aided process engineering (CAPE) assessed multiple scenarios to identify bottlenecks and optimize economic performance indicators like gross profits including depreciation after-tax profitability payback period and net present value. Resilience for each route was also assessed considering raw material costs and the market price of hydrogen in relation to gross profits and after-tax profitability. Route 1 achieved a gross profit (DGP) of USD 47.12 million and a profit after taxes (PAT) of USD 28.74 million while Route 2 achieved a DGP of USD 46.53 million and a PAT of USD 28.38 million. The results indicated that Route 2 involving hydrogen production through an indirect gasification reactor with a Selexol solvent unit for carbon dioxide removal demonstrated greater resilience in terms of raw material costs and product selling price.
Entropy Production and Filling Time in Hydrogen Refueling Stations: An Economic Assessment
Aug 2024
Publication
A multi-objective optimization is performed to obtain fueling conditions in hydrogen stations leading to improved filling times and thermodynamic efficiency (entropy production) of the de facto standard of operation which is defined by the protocol SAE J2601. After finding the Pareto frontier between filling time and total entropy production it was found that SAE J2601 is suboptimal in terms of these process variables. Specifically reductions of filling time from 47 to 77% are possible in the analyzed range of ambient temperatures (from 10 to 40 °C) with higher saving potential the hotter the weather conditions. Maximum entropy production savings with respect to SAE J2601 (7% for 10 °C 1% for 40 °C) demand a longer filling time that increases with ambient temperature (264% for 10 °C 350% for 40 °C). Considering average electricity prices in California USA the operating cost of the filling process can be reduced between 8 and 28% without increasing the expected filling time.
Hydrogen Combustion in Micromix Burners: Present Stages, Opportunities, and Challenges
Nov 2024
Publication
Due to its low NOx emission index the micromix burner technology is a promising alternative for using hydrogen in combustion. Various universities and research centers in Germany England and Spain have documented and studied this technology. However the number of studies on micromix burners is limited which hinders their implementation on an industrial scale. The present study aims to review developed works focused on micromix combustion technologies to identify the main gaps and research needs. A sample of 76 articles from 2008 was selected using the PRISMA methodology which was categorized based on the study methodology simulation software and fuels used. An experimental gap has been identified in the combustion of hydrogen and methane in the selected article sample. This gap is a critical research need due to the opportunity to implement this tech nology in existing natural gas networks facilitating the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner combustion processes.
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