Publications

Low carbon hydrogen can be produced by a variety of processes that require substantial quantities of water. Several major hydrogen projects are proposed in Scotland; as an energy storage medium allowing new renewable power capacity to operate and as a direct alternative to displace natural gas as a primary fuel source. The additional water consumption associated with these hydrogen projects presents an infrastructure challenge.

The aims of the study are to evaluate the water requirements of new hydrogen production facilities and the associated implications for water infrastructure and to develop a strategic framework for assessing these aspects of hydrogen projects throughout the UK. The initial focus of the study is on Scotland; however the methodology developed in the project will be used throughout the UK

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Low carbon hydrogen can be produced by a variety of processes all of which require substantial quantities of water. Several major hydrogen projects are proposed in Scotland; both as an energy storage medium allowing new renewable power capacity (particularly wind) to operate and as a direct alternative to displace natural gas as a primary fuel source. The additional water consumption associated with these hydrogen projects presents an infrastructure challenge e.g. the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) recently highlighted Scotland’s vulnerability to dry weather and climate-induced changes in the availability and functioning of water resources.

The project in partnership with Ramboll will look to deliver a technical assessment and feasibility study into water requirements for hydrogen production in Scotland. The aims of the study are to evaluate the water requirements of new hydrogen production facilities and the associated implications for water infrastructure and to develop a strategic framework for assessing these aspects of hydrogen projects throughout the UK. The initial focus of the study is on Scotland; however the methodology developed in the project will be used throughout the UK.

The research paper can be found on their website.

This study assessed the feasibility of integrating a green hydrogen value chain into the local industry examining two case studies by comparing four scenarios. The optimization focused on generating electricity from stationary renewable sources such as solar or through Power Purchase Agreements to produce sufficient hydrogen in electrolyzers. Current demand profiles renewable participation targets electricity supply sources levelized costs of energy and hydrogen and technology options were considered. The most cost-effective scenario showed a levelized cost of energy of 0.032 and 0.05 US$/kWh and a hydrogen cost below 1.0 US$/kgH2 for cases 1 and 2 respectively. A sensitivity analysis highlighted the critical influence of fuel cell technology on cost modification underscoring the importance of focusing cost reduction strategies on these technologies to enhance the economic viability of the green hydrogen value chain. Specifically a high sensitivity towards reducing the levelized costs of energy and hydrogen in the port sector with adjustments in fuel cell technology costs was identified indicating the need for specific policies and supports to facilitate their adoption.

Hydrogen fuel cell tractors are emerging as a new power source for tractors. Currently there is no mature energy management control method available. Existing methods mostly rely on engineers’ experience to determine the output power of the fuel cell and the power battery resulting in relatively low energy utilization efficiency of the energy system. To address the aforementioned problems a power optimization method for the energy system of hydrogen fuel cell wheel-driven electric tractor was proposed. A dynamic model of tractor ploughing conditions was established based on the system dynamics theory. From this based on the equivalent hydrogen consumption theory the charging and discharging of the power battery were equivalent to the fuel consumption of the hydrogen fuel cell forming an equivalent hydrogen consumption model for the tractor. Using the state of charge (SOC) of the power battery as a constraint and with the minimum equivalent hydrogen consumption as the objective function an instantaneously optimized power allocation method based on load demand in the energy system is proposed by using a traversal algorithm. The optimization method was simulated and tested based on the MATLAB simulation platform and the results showed under ploughing conditions compared with the rule-based control strategy the proposed energy system power optimization method optimized the power output of hydrogen fuel cells and power batteries allowing the energy system to work in a high-efficiency range reducing the equivalent hydrogen consumption of the tractor by 7.79% and solving the energy system power distribution problem.

After the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015 many countries worldwide focused on the hydrogen economy aiming for eco-friendly and renewable energy by moving away from the existing carbon economy which has been the primary source of global warming. Hydrogen is the most common element on Earth. As a light substance hydrogen can diffuse quickly; however it also has a small risk of explosion. Representative explosion accidents have included the Muskingum River Power Plant Vapor Cloud Explosion accident in 2007 and the Silver Eagle Refinery Vapor Cloud Explosion accident in 2009. In addition there was an explosion in a hydrogen tank in Gangneung Korea in May 2019 and a hydrogen refueling station (HRS) in Norway exploded in 2018. Despite this risk Korea is promoting the establishment of HRSs in major urban centers including downtown areas and public buildings by using the Regulatory Sandbox to install HRSs. This paper employed the Hydrogen Risk Assessment Model (HyRAM) of Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) a quantitative risk assessment (QRA) program specialized in hydrogen energy for HRSs installed in major urban hubs. A feasibility evaluation of the site conditions of an HRS was conducted using the French land use planning method based on the results obtained through evaluation using the HyRAM and the overpressure results of PHAST 8.0. After a risk assessment we confirmed that an HRS would be considered safe even if it was installed in the city center within a radius of influence of jet fires and overpressure.

This paper investigates a multi-objective optimal energy planning strategy for a hub incorporating renewable and non-renewable resources like PV tidal turbine fuel-cell CHP boiler micro-turbine reactor reformer electrolyzer and energy storage by utilizing the time of use program (TOU). In this strategy tidal turbine fuel-cell and reformer technologies are considered novel technologies that simultaneously reduce the proposed hub’s cost and pollution. The hub’s total cost and pollution are considered objective functions. To make the results more realistic characteristics of the tidal turbine are investigated by utilizing the manufactory’s company information. The problem is then modeled as real mixed integer programming (RMIP) and is solved in GAMS software using a CPLEX solver. Epsilon constraints method and fuzzy satisfying approach are used to select the optimal solution based on the proposed model. Finally a sensitivity analysis is performed to assess the effective parameters that affect the planning’s results. The results show that the overall pollution is reduced by about 9% by assuming the proposed planning and the total profit is increased by about 30%.

This paper explores the potential for hydrogen energy to become a future trend in Saudi Arabia energy industry. With the emergence of hydrogen as a promising clean energy source there has been growing interest and investment in this area globally. This study investigated whether the country is likely to pursue this trend given its current energy mix and policies. A study was conducted to provide an overview of the global trends and best practices in hydrogen energy adoption and investment. The outcomes of the analysis show that the country current energy mix has the potential to produce green hydrogen energy. The evaluation of its readiness and potential obstacles for hydrogen energy adoption has been drowned and there are several challenges that need to be addressed. The study outcomes also conclude with policy implications and recommendations for the country energy industry.

Hydrogen combustion engine vehicles have the potential to rapidly enter the market and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to conventional engines. The ability to provide a rapid market deployment is linked to the fact that the industry would take advantage of the existing internal combustion engine production chain. The aim of this paper is twofold. First it aims to develop a methodology for applying life-cycle assessment (LCA) to internal combustion engines to estimate their life-cycle GHG emissions. Also it aims to investigate the decarbonization potential of hydrogen engines produced by exploiting existing diesel engine technology and assuming diverse hydrogen production routes. The boundary of the LCA is cradle-to-grave and the assessment is entirely based on primary data. The products under study are two monofuel engines: a hydrogen engine and a diesel engine. The hydrogen engine has been redesigned using the diesel engine as a base. The engines being studied are versatile and can be used for a wide range of uses such as automotive cogeneration maritime off-road and railway; however this study focuses on their application in pickup trucks. As part of the redesign process certain subsystems (e.g. combustion injection ignition exhaust gas recirculation and exhaust gas aftertreatment) have been modified to make the engine run on hydrogen. Results revealed that employing a hydrogen engine using green hydrogen (i.e. generated from water electrolysis using wind-based electricity) might reduce GHG emission by over 90% compared to the diesel engine This study showed that the benefits of the new hydrogen engine solution outweigh the increase of emissions related to the redesign process making it a potentially beneficial solution also for reconditioning current and used internal combustion engines.

Due to having zero carbon emissions and renewable advantages hydrogen has great prospects as a renewable form of alternate energy. Engine load and hydrogen substitution rate have a considerable influence on a hydrogen–diesel dual-fuel engine’s efficiency. This experiment’s objective is to study the influence of hydrogen substitution rate on engine combustion and emission under different loads and to study the impact of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) technology or main injection timing on the engine’s capability under high load and high hydrogen substitution rate. The range of the maximum hydrogen substitution rate was determined under different loads (30%~90%) at 1800 rpm and then the effects of the EGR rate (0%~15%) and main injection timing (−8 ◦CA ATDC~0 ◦CA ATDC) on the engine performance under 90% high load were studied. The research results show that the larger the load the smaller the maximum hydrogen substitution rate that can be added to the dual-fuel engine. Under each load with the increase of the hydrogen substitution rate the cylinder pressure and the peak heat release rate (HRR) increase the equivalent brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFCequ) decreases the thermal efficiency increases the maximum thermal efficiency is 43.1% the carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emission is effectively reduced by 35.2% and the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission decreases at medium and low loads and the maximum increase rate is 20.1% at 90% load. Under high load with the increase of EGR rate or the delay of main injection timing the problem of NOx emission increases after hydrogen doping can be effectively solved. As the EGR rate rises from 0% to 15% the maximum reduction of NOx is 63.1% and with the delay of main injection timing from −8 ◦CA ATDC to 0 ◦CA ATDC the maximum reduction of NOx is 44.5%.

Within the European Green Deal the European industry is summoned to transform towards a green and circular economy to reduce CO2-emissions and reach climate goals. Special focus is on the chemical industry to boost recycling processes for plastics exploit resource efficiency potentials and switch to a completely renewable feedstock (defossilization). Despite common understanding that drastic changes have to take place it is yet unknown how the industrial transformation should be accomplished. This work explains how a cost-optimal defossilization of the chemical industry in the context of national greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies look like. The central part of this investigation is based on a national energy system model to optimize the future energy system design of Germany as a case study for a highly industrialized country. A replacement of fossil-based feedstocks by renewable feedstocks leads to a significant increase in hydrogen demand by þ40% compared to a reference scenario. The resulting demand of hydrogen-based energy carriers including the demand for renewable raw materials must be produced domestically or imported. This leads to cumulative additional costs of the transformation that are 32% higher than those of a reference scenario without defossilization of the industry. Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and the methanol-to-olefins route can be identified as key technologies for the defossilization of the chemical industry.

Hydrogen could gradually replace fossil fuels mitigating the human impact on the environment. However equipment exposed to hydrogen is subjected to damaging effects due to H2 absorption and permeation through metals. Hence inspection activities are necessary to preserve the physical integrity of the containment systems and the risk-based (RBI) methodology is considered the most beneficial approach. This review aims to provide relevant information regarding hydrogen embrittlement its effect on materials’ properties and the synergistic interplay of the factors influencing its occurrence. Moreover an overview of predictive maintenance strategies is presented focusing on the RBI methodology. A systematic review was carried out to identify examples of the application of RBI to equipment exposed to hydrogenated environments and to identify the most active research groups. In conclusion a significant lack of knowledge has been highlighted along with difficulties in applying the RBI methodology for equipment operating in a pure hydrogen environment.