Techno-economic Analysis of Distributed Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas

It is well established that hydrogen has the potential to make a significant contribution to the world energy production. In U.S., majority of hydrogen production plants implement steam methane reforming （SMR） for centralized hydrogen production. However, there is a wide lack of agreement on the nas...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Chinese journal of chemical engineering 2012-06, Vol.20 (3), p.489-496
Main Authors: LUK, Ho Ting, LEI, Ho Man, NG, Wai Yee, JU, Yihan, LAM, Koon Fung
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ammonia cracking
cost analysis
Economic analysis
gas station
Hydrogen production
Hydrogen storage
Methyl alcohol
Natural gas
Raw materials
Reforming
Steam electric power generation
steam reforming
分布式
制氢
原料价格
天然气
技术经济分析
投资回报
汽车行业
蒸汽重整
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Summary:It is well established that hydrogen has the potential to make a significant contribution to the world energy production. In U.S., majority of hydrogen production plants implement steam methane reforming （SMR） for centralized hydrogen production. However, there is a wide lack of agreement on the nascent stage of using hydro- gen as fuel in vehicles industry because of the difficulty in delivery and storage. By performing technological and economic analysis, this work aims to establish the most feasible hydrogen production pathway for automotives in near future. From the evaluation, processes such as thermal cracking of ammonia and centralized hydrogen production followed by bulk delivery are eliminated while on-site steam reforming of methanol and natural gas are the most technologically feasible options. These two processes are further evaluated by comprehensive economic analysis. The results showed that the steam reforming （SR） of natural gas has a shorter payback time and a higher return on investment （ROI） and internal rate of return （IRR）. Sensitivity analysis has also been constructed to evaluate the impact of variables like NG feedstock price, capital of investment and operating capacity factor on the overall production cost of hydrogen. Based on this study, natural gas is prompted to be the most economically and technologically available raw material for short-term hydrogen production before the transition to renewable energy source such as solar energy, biomass and wind power.
ISSN:1004-9541
2210-321X
DOI:10.1016/S1004-9541(11)60210-3