Production & Supply Chain
Experimental Study for Thermal Methane Cracking Reaction to Generate Very Pur Hydrogen in Small or Medium Scales by Using Regenrative Reactor
Sep 2022
Publication
Non-catalytic thermal methane cracking (TMC) is an alternative for hydrogen manufacturing and traditional commercial processes in small-scale hydrogen generation. Supplying the high-level temperatures (850–1800°C) inside the reactors and reactor blockages are two fundamental challenges for developing this technology on an industrial scale (Mahdi Yousefi and Donne 2021). A regenerative reactor could be a part of a solution to overcome these obstacles. This study conducted an experimental study in a regenerative reactor environment between 850 and 1170°C to collect the conversion data and investigate the reactor efficiency for TMC processes. The results revealed that the storage medium was a bed for carbon deposition and successfully supplied the reaction’s heat with more than 99.7% hydrogen yield (at more than 1150°C). Results also indicated that the reaction rate at the beginning of the reactor is much higher and the temperature dependence in the early stages of the reaction is considerably higher. However after reaching a particular concentration of Hydrogen at each temperature the influence of temperature on the reaction rate decreases and is almost constant. The type of produced carbon in the storage medium and its auto-catalytic effect on the reactions were also investigated. Results showed that carbon black had been mostly formed but in different sizes from 100 to 2000 nm. Increasing the reactor temperature decreased the size of the generated carbon. Pre-produced carbon in the reactor did not affect the production rate and is almost negligible at more than 850°C.
System-friendly Process Design: Optimizing Blue Hydrogen Production for Future Energy Systems
Aug 2022
Publication
While the effects of ongoing cost reductions in renewables batteries and electrolyzers on future energy systems have been extensively investigated the effects of significant advances in CO2 capture and storage (CCS) technologies have received much less attention. This research gap is addressed via a long-term (2050) energy system model loosely based on Germany yielding four main findings. First CCS-enabled pathways offer the greatest benefits in the hydrogen sector where hydrogen prices can be reduced by two-thirds relative to a scenario without CCS. Second advanced blue hydrogen technologies can reduce total system costs by 12% and enable negative CO2 emissions due to higher efficiencies and CO2 capture ratios. Third co-gasification of coal and biomass emerged as an important enabler of these promising results allowing efficient exploitation of limited biomass resources to achieve negative emissions and limit the dependence on imported natural gas. Finally CCS decarbonization pathways can practically and economically incorporate substantial shares of renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel dependence. Such diversification of primary energy inputs increases system resilience to the broad range of socio-techno-economic challenges facing the energy transition. In conclusion balanced blue-green pathways offer many benefits and deserve serious consideration in the global decarbonization effort.
Review of Power-to-X Demonstration Projects in Europe
Sep 2020
Publication
At the heart of most Power-to-X (PtX) concepts is the utilization of renewable electricity to produce hydrogen through the electrolysis of water. This hydrogen can be used directly as a final energy carrier or it can be converted into for example methane synthesis gas liquid fuels electricity or chemicals. Technical demonstration and systems integration are of major importance for integrating PtX into energy systems. As of June 2020 a total of 220 PtX research and demonstration projects in Europe have either been realized completed or are currently being planned. The central aim of this review is to identify and assess relevant projects in terms of their year of commissioning location electricity and carbon dioxide sources applied technologies for electrolysis capacity type of hydrogen post-processing and the targeted field of application. The latter aspect has changed over the years. At first the targeted field of application was fuel production for example for hydrogen buses combined heat and power generation and subsequent injection into the natural gas grid. Today alongside fuel production industrial applications are also important. Synthetic gaseous fuels are the focus of fuel production while liquid fuel production is severely under-represented. Solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOECs) represent a very small proportion of projects compared to polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) and alkaline electrolyzers. This is also reflected by the difference in installed capacities. While alkaline electrolyzers are installed with capacities between 50 and 5000 kW (2019/20) and PEM electrolyzers between 100 and 6000 kW SOECs have a capacity of 150 kW. France and Germany are undertaking the biggest efforts to develop PtX technologies compared to other European countries. On the whole however activities have progressed at a considerably faster rate than had been predicted just a couple of years ago.
Opportunities for Flexible Electricity Loads such as Hydrogen Production from Curtailed Generation
Jun 2021
Publication
Variable low-cost low-carbon electricity that would otherwise be curtailed may provide a substantial economic opportunity for entities that can flexibly adapt their electricity consumption. We used historical hourly weather data over the contiguous U.S. to model the characteristics of least-cost electricity systems dominated by variable renewable generation that powered firm and flexible electricity demands (loads). Scenarios evaluated included variable wind and solar power battery storage and dispatchable natural gas with carbon capture and storage with electrolytic hydrogen representing a prototypical flexible load. When flexible loads were small excess generation capacity was available during most hours allowing flexible loads to operate at high capacity factors. Expanding the flexible loads allowed the least-cost systems to more fully utilize the generation capacity built to supply firm loads and thus reduced the average cost of delivered electricity. The macro-scale energy model indicated that variable renewable electricity systems optimized to supply firm loads at current costs could supply 25% or more additional flexible load with minimal capacity expansion while resulting in reduced average electricity costs (10% or less capacity expansion and 10% to 20% reduction in costs in our modeled scenarios). These results indicate that adding flexible loads to electricity systems will likely allow more full utilization of generation assets across a wide range of system architectures thus providing new energy services with infrastructure that is already needed to supply firm electricity loads.
Solar Energy: Applications, Trends Analysis, Bibliometric Analysis and Research Contribution to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Jan 2023
Publication
Over the past decade energy demand has witnessed a drastic increase mainly due to huge development in the industry sector and growing populations. This has led to the global utilization of renewable energy resources and technologies to meet this high demand as fossil fuels are bound to end and are causing harm to the environment. Solar PV (photovoltaic) systems are a renewable energy technology that allows the utilization of solar energy directly from the sun to meet electricity demands. Solar PV has the potential to create a reliable clean and stable energy systems for the future. This paper discusses the different types and generations of solar PV technologies available as well as several important applications of solar PV systems which are “Large-Scale Solar PV” “Residential Solar PV” “Green Hydrogen” “Water Desalination” and “Transportation”. This paper also provides research on the number of solar papers and their applications that relate to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the years between 2011 and 2021. A total of 126513 papers were analyzed. The results show that 72% of these papers are within SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. This shows that there is a lack of research in solar energy regarding the SDGs especially SDG 1: No Poverty SDG 4: Quality Education SDG 5: Gender Equality SDG 9: Industry Innovation and Infrastructure SDG 10: Reduced Inequality and SDG 16: Peace Justice and Strong Institutions. More research is needed in these fields to create a sustainable world with solar PV technologies.
Modelling and Experimental Analysis of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis Cell at Different Operating Temperatures
Nov 2018
Publication
In this paper a simplified model of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell is presented and compared with experimental data at 60 ◦C and 80 ◦C. The model utilizes the same modelling approach used in previous work where the electrolyzer cell is divided in four subsections: cathode anode membrane and voltage. The model of the electrodes includes key electrochemical reactions and gas transport mechanism (i.e. H2 O2 and H2O) whereas the model of the membrane includes physical mechanisms such as water diffusion electro osmotic drag and hydraulic pressure. Voltage was modelled including main overpotentials (i.e. activation ohmic concentration). First and second law efficiencies were defined. Key empirical parameters depending on temperature were identified in the activation and ohmic overpotentials. The electrodes reference exchange current densities and change transfer coefficients were related to activation overpotentials whereas hydrogen ion diffusion to Ohmic overvoltages. These model parameters were empirically fitted so that polarization curve obtained by the model predicted well the voltage at different current found by the experimental results. Finally from the efficiency calculation it was shown that at low current densities the electrolyzer cell absorbs heat from the surroundings. The model is not able to describe the transients involved during the cell electrochemical reactions however these processes are assumed relatively fast. For this reason the model can be implemented in system dynamic modelling for hydrogen production and storage where components dynamic is generally slower compared to the cell electrochemical reactions dynamics.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: ITM Power
Sep 2019
Publication
On this weeks show we discuss with Graham Cooley the CEO of ITM Power how his company has expanded from a research company on AIM in the early 2000’s to one of the largest electrolyser manufacturers in the world. On the show we also ask Graham to talk about how the hydrogen market has evolved where he sees the potential growth trajectory for the industry and how ITM sees its role within this space.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Techno-Economic Evaluation of Hydrogen Production via Gasification of Vacuum Residue Integrated with Dry Methane Reforming
Dec 2021
Publication
The continuous rise of global carbon emissions demands the utilization of fossil fuels in a sustainable way. Owing to various forms of emissions our environment conditions might be affected necessitating more focus of scientists and researchers to upgrade oil processing to more efficient manner. Gasification is a potential technology that can convert fossil fuels to produce clean and environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel in an economical manner. Therefore this study analyzed and examined it critically. In this study two different routes for the production of high-purity hydrogen from vacuum residue while minimizing the carbon emissions were proposed. The first route (Case I) studied the gasification of heavy vacuum residue (VR) in series with dry methane reforming (DMR). The second route studied the gasification of VR in parallel integration with DMR (Case II). After investigating both processes a brief comparison was made between the two routes of hydrogen production in terms of their CO2 emissions energy efficiency energy consumption and environmental and economic impacts. In this study the two vacuum-residue-to-hydrogen (VRTH) processes were simulated using Aspen Plus for a hydrogen production capacity of 50 t/h with 99.9 wt.% purity. The results showed that Case II offered a process energy efficiency of 57.8% which was slightly higher than that of Case I. The unit cost of the hydrogen product for Case II was USD 15.95 per metric ton of hydrogen which was almost 9% lower than that of Case I. In terms of the environmental analysis both cases had comparably low carbon emissions of around 8.3 kg of CO2/kg of hydrogen produced; with such high purity the hydrogen could be used for production of other products further downstream or for industrial applications.
On the Climate Impacts of Blue Hydrogen Production
Nov 2021
Publication
Natural gas based hydrogen production with carbon capture and storage is referred to as blue hydrogen. If substantial amounts of CO2 from natural gas reforming are captured and permanently stored such hydrogen could be a low-carbon energy carrier. However recent research raises questions about the effective climate impacts of blue hydrogen from a life cycle perspective. Our analysis sheds light on the relevant issues and provides a balanced perspective on the impacts on climate change associated with blue hydrogen. We show that such impacts may indeed vary over large ranges and depend on only a few key parameters: the methane emission rate of the natural gas supply chain the CO2 removal rate at the hydrogen production plant and the global warming metric applied. State-of-the-art reforming with high CO2 capture rates combined with natural gas supply featuring low methane emissions does indeed allow for substantial reduction of greenhouse gas emissions compared to both conventional natural gas reforming and direct combustion of natural gas. Under such conditions blue hydrogen is compatible with low-carbon economies and exhibits climate change impacts at the upper end of the range of those caused by hydrogen production from renewable-based electricity. However neither current blue nor green hydrogen production pathways render fully “net-zero” hydrogen without additional CO2 removal.
Techno-economic Assessment of a Chemical Looping Splitting System for H2 and CO Co-generation
Feb 2022
Publication
The natural gas (NG) reforming is currently one of the low-cost methods for hydrogen production. However the mixture of H2 and CO2 in the produced gas inevitably includes CO2 and necessitates the costly CO2 separation. In this work a novel double chemical looping involving both combustion (CLC) and sorption-enhanced reforming (SE-CLR) was proposed towards the co-production of H2 and CO (CLC-SECLRHC) in two separated streams. CLC provides reactant CO2 and energy to feed SECLRHC which generates hydrogen in a higher purity as well as the calcium cycle to generate CO in a higher purity. Techno-economic assessment of the proposed system was conducted to evaluate its efficiency and economic competitiveness. Studies revealed that the optimal molar ratios of oxygen carrier (OC)/NG and steam/NG for reforming were recommended to be 1.7 and 1.0 respectively. The heat integration within CLC and SECLRHC units can be achieved by circulating hot OCs. The desired temperatures of fuel reactor (FR) and reforming reactor (RR) should be 850 °C and 600 °C respectively. The heat coupling between CLC and SECLRHC units can be realized via a jacket-type reactor and the NG split ratio for reforming and combustion was 0.53:0.47. Under the optimal conditions the H2 purity the H2 yield and the CH4 conversion efficiency were 98.76% 2.31 mol mol-1 and 97.96% respectively. The carbon and hydrogen utilization efficiency respectively were 58.60% and 72.45% in terms of the total hydrogen in both steam and NG. The exergy efficiency of the overall process reached 70.28%. In terms of the conventional plant capacity (75×103 t y-1 ) and current raw materials price (2500 $ t-1 ) the payback period can be 6.2 years and the IRR would be 11.5 demonstrating an economically feasible and risk resistant capability.
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Scaling Clean Hydrogen Production
Dec 2021
Publication
Today we are joined by our good friends from Enapter. The company is a leader in the clean hydrogen sector focused on AEM electrolyzer technology and innovative software solutions that make it possible to rapidly deploy and scale hydrogen production assets. For those who follow the hydrogen sector regularly it’s been hard not to hear Enapter-related news in 2021 and its impressive trajectory as they have gone public announced the plans for a brand new production facility in Germany (on which they have now begun construction) and most recently the announcement that Enapter was selected as the winner of the prestigious Earthshot prize. To do that we are absolutely delighted to have with us all the way from his home base in Thailand Thomas Chrometzka Chief Strategy Officer at Enapter and one of the people that we enjoy having on the show so much that we have brought him back again to fill us in on what he and Enapter are up to and what they have planned for the future of hydrogen.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Analysis of Control-System Strategy and Design of a Small Modular Reactor with Different Working Fluids for Electricity and Hydrogen Production as Part of a Decentralised Mini Grid
Mar 2022
Publication
Hydrogen is increasingly being viewed as a significant fuel for future industrial processes as it offers pathways to zero emission. The UK sees hydrogen as one of a handful of low-carbon solutions for transition to net zero. Currently most hydrogen production is from steam reforming of natural gas or coal gasification both of which involve the release of carbon dioxide. Hydrogen production from mini decentralised grids via a thermochemical process coupled with electricity production could offer favourable economics for small modular reactors (SMRs) whereby demand or grid management as a solution would include redirecting the power for hydrogen production when electricity demand is low. It also offers a clean-energy alternative to the aforementioned means. SMRs could offer favourable economics due to their flexible power system as part of the dual-output function. This study objective is to investigate the critical performance parameters associated with the nuclear power plant (NPP) the cycle working fluids and control-system design for switching between electricity and hydrogen demand to support delivery as part of a mini grid system for a reactor power delivering up to approximately 600 MWth power. The novelty of the work is in the holistic parametric analysis undertaken using a novel in-house tool which analyses the NPP using different working fluids with a control function bolt-on at the offtake for hydrogen production. The results indicate that the flow conditions at the offtake can be maintained. The choice of working fluids affects the pressure component. However the recuperator and heat-exchanger effectiveness are considered as efficiency-limiting factors for hydrogen production and electricity generation. As such the benefit of high-technology heat exchangers cannot be underestimated. This is also true when deciding on the thermochemical process to bolt onto the plant. The temperature of the gas at the end of the pipeline should also be considered to ensure that the minimum temperature-requirement status for hydrogen production is me
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Hydrogen: The Next Generation
May 2021
Publication
This is the inaugural episode of the EAH: Deep Dive podcast mini-series! Our first episode features the co-founders of Enapter Vaitea Cowan and Jan Justus-Schmidt. Enapter is a young company that has made a big splash in the hydrogen space with their modular scalable AEM electrolyzer technology. Last year they made headlines with their successful public offering on the DAX and the company is expected to be a the forefront of the hydrogen sector again in 2021 as they begin construction of their mass production facility in Germany and announce the upcoming Generation Hydrogen event on May 19 2021.
The podcast can be found on their website
The podcast can be found on their website
Everything About Hydrogen Podcast: Building an Integrated Clean Hydrogen Infrastructure from the Ground Up
Nov 2021
Publication
On this episode of EAH we are joined by Andrew Clennett Co-Founder and CEO of Hiringa Energy. Hiringa is headquartered in New Zealand where they are building clean hydrogen production projects using renewable energy to displace the use of fossil fuels for transport and industrial feedstock across New Zealand. We are delighted to have Andrew with us today to speak about how Hiringa are using hydrogen to change the energy and carbon landscape of New Zealand.
This podcast can be found on their website
This podcast can be found on their website
A Review of the Use of Electrolytic Cells for Energy and Environmental Applications
Feb 2023
Publication
There is a significant push to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and develop low-cost fuels from renewable sources to replace fossil fuels in applications such as energy production. As a result CO2 conversion has gained widespread attention as it can reduce the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and produce fuels and valuable industrial chemicals including carbon monoxide alcohols and hydrocarbons. At the same time finding ways to store energy in batteries or energy carriers such as hydrogen (H2) is essential. Water electrolysis is a powerful technology for producing high-purity H2 with negligible emission of greenhouse gases and compatibility with renewable energy sources. Additionally the electrolysis of organic compounds such as lignin is a promising method for localised H2 production as it requires lower cell voltages than conventional water electrolysis. Industrial wastewater can be employed in those organic electrolysis systems due to their high organic content decreasing industrial pollution through wastewater disposal. Electrocoagulation indirect electrochemical oxidation anodic oxidation and electro-Fenton are effective electrochemical methods for treating industrial wastewater. Furthermore bioenergy technology possesses a remarkable potential for producing H2 and other value-added chemicals (e.g. methane formic acid hydrogen peroxide) along with wastewater treatment. This paper comprehensively reviews these approaches by analysing the literature in the period 2012–2022 pointing out the high potential of using electrolytic cells for energy and environmental applications.
Exergetic Sustainability Comparison of Turquoise Hydrogen Conversion to Low-carbon Fuels
Nov 2022
Publication
Turquoise hydrogen is produced from methane cracking a cleaner alternative to steam methane reforming. This study looks at two proposed systems based on solar methane cracking for low-carbon fuel production. The systems utilize different pathways to convert the hydrogen into a suitable form for transportation and utilize the carbon solid by-product. A direct carbon fuel cell is integrated to utilize the carbon and capture the CO2 emissions. The CO2 generated is utilized for fuel production using CO2 hydrogenation or co-electrolysis. An advanced exergetic analysis is conducted on these systems using Aspen plus simulations of the process. The exergetic efficiency waste exergy ratio exergy destruction ratio exergy recoverability ratio environmental effect factor and the exergetic sustainability index were determined for each system and the subsystems. Solar methane cracking was found to have an environmental effect factor of 0.08 and an exergetic sustainability index of 12.27.
Design and Analysis of a New Renewable-Nuclear Hybrid Energy System for Production of Hydrogen, Fresh Water and Power
Nov 2021
Publication
This paper investigates an integrated system where solar energy system (with 75MWp bifacial PV arrays) and nuclear power plant (with 2×10MWt HTR-10 type pebble bed reactors) are hybridized and integrated with a 72MWe capacity high-temperature solid oxide electrolysis (SOE) unit to produce hydrogen fresh water and electrical power. Bifacial PV plant is integrated to system for supplying electricity with a low LCOE and zero-carbon system. A Rankine cycle is integrated to generate power from the steam that generated from nuclear heat. According to the available irradiance; the steam is diverted between steam turbine and high-temperature electrolyzer for hydrogen and power generation. Multi-effect desalination unit is integrated to exploit the excess heat to generate fresh water. A system performance assessment is carried out by energy and exergy efficiencies thermodynamically. The bifacial PV plant is analyzed in six selected latitudes in order to assess the feasibility and applicability of the system. Numerous time-dependent analyses are carried out to study the effects of varying inputs such as solar radiation intensity. For 20MWt nuclear 75MWp solar capacity; hydrogen productions are found to be between 0.036 and 0.562kg/s. Among the Northern Hemisphere latitudes the peak daily hydrogen production rate is expected to reach 25.9 tons of hydrogen per day for the 75 °N case mostly with the influence of low temperature and high albedo. The pitch distance change is increased the hydrogen production rate by 28% between 3 m and 7 m tracker spacing. The overall system energy efficiency is obtained between 21.8% and 24.2% where the overall system exergy efficiency is found between 18.6% and 21.1% under dynamic conditions for the 45°N latitude case.
Hydrogen Production: State of Technology
May 2020
Publication
Presently hydrogen is for ~50% produced by steam reforming of natural gas – a process leading to significant emissions of greenhouse gas (GHG). About 30% is produced from oil/naphtha reforming and from refinery/chemical industry off-gases. The remaining capacity is covered for 18% from coal gasification 3.9% from water electrolysis and 0.1% from other sources. In the foreseen future hydrogen economy green hydrogen production methods will need to supply hydrogen to be used directly as fuel or to generate synthetic fuels to produce ammonia and other fertilizers (viz. urea) to upgrade heavy oils (like oil sands) and to produce other chemicals. There are several ways to produce H2 each with limitations and potential such as steam reforming electrolysis thermal and thermo-chemical water splitting dark and photonic fermentation; gasification and catalytic decomposition of methanol. The paper reviews the fundamentals and potential of these alternative process routes. Both thermo-chemical water splitting and fermentation are marked as having a long term but high "green" potential.
Catalytic Hydrogen Production from Methane: A Review on Recent Progress and Prospect
Aug 2020
Publication
Natural gas (Methane) is currently the primary source of catalytic hydrogen production accounting for three quarters of the annual global dedicated hydrogen production (about 70 M tons). Steam–methane reforming (SMR) is the currently used industrial process for hydrogen production. However the SMR process suffers with insufficient catalytic activity low long-term stability and excessive energy input mostly due to the handling of large amount of CO2 coproduced. With the demand for anticipated hydrogen production to reach 122.5 M tons in 2024 novel and upgraded catalytic processes are desired for more effective utilization of precious natural resources. In this review we summarized the major descriptors of catalyst and reaction engineering of the SMR process and compared the SMR process with its derivative technologies such as dry reforming with CO2 (DRM) partial oxidation with O2 autothermal reforming with H2O and O2. Finally we discussed the new progresses of methane conversion: direct decomposition to hydrogen and solid carbon and selective oxidation in mild conditions to hydrogen containing liquid organics (i.e. methanol formic acid and acetic acid) which serve as alternative hydrogen carriers. We hope this review will help to achieve a whole picture of catalytic hydrogen production from methane.
Green Hydrogen Production by Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis: Status and Future Perspectives
Jan 2023
Publication
Green hydrogen production i.e. produced on a CO2 -neutral basis through the electrolysis of water employing renewable electricity has attracted increasing attention. The electricity required is generated from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) for example wind energy hydropower or solar energy. Since neither the process of production nor the end products of H2 and O2 are harmful to the environment green hydrogen is climate neutral. Developing electrolysis technology is therefore a research topic to follow. Anion Exchange Membrane (AEM) Water Electrolysis (WE) is an innovative technology that couples the advantages of the more mature technologies of Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) and conventional alkaline electrolysis with the potential to eliminate the drawbacks of both. AEMWE technology is in an evolutionary stage and involves more investigation on several research topics such as membrane and catalyst development and stability as well as alternative feeding solutions that do not compromise the availability of fresh water. These topics are addressed in this paper mentioning the state-of-the-art materials new promising ones and providing future research directions to improve AEMWE towards a most mature technology.
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