Techno-economical analysis on the production of hydrogen
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Abstract
Hydrogen is an interesting and promising alternative for fuels. Currently, most hydrogen is produced via a process called steam reforming, where a reaction between methane and water occurs, with carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide as waste products and released in the atmosphere. This work presents a study on the sustainable production of hydrogen. A pool of six hydrogen processes were chosen; three based on electrolysis, two based on fermentation and one based on electrolysis combined with a microbial community. On these six methods an early stage analysis was applied, screening for economics, environmental impacts and processrelated costs and impacts. Two electrolysis methods were selected for a conceptual design; alkaline electrolysis (AE) and polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) electrolysis, both for an annual production of 1 million kg hydrogen. The fixed capital was established $86.8M for AE and $62.3M for PEM. After the design, a techno-economic analysis was performed, providing the total production cost (TPC) and the minimum fuel selling price (MFSP). For the AE, the MFSP resulted in being $21.46/kg hydrogen and an TPC of $17.16/kg hydrogen. The biggest contribution to the MFSP was the depreciation, being $10.19/kg hydrogen. The PEM electrolysis had a MFSP of $17.56/kg hydrogen and an TPC of $14.05/kg hydrogen. Also for PEM electrolysis, the biggest contribution to the MFSP was the depreciation, which was $7.32/kg. A sensitivity analysis was performed and showed the biggest uncertainty in the equipment cost and the interest rate. The MFSP for AE changes ± $3.79/kg hydrogen by a change in equipment cost of 30% and ± $3.27 - $3.72 by a 5 percentage point change of the interest rate. The MFSP for PEM changes ± $2.73/kg hydrogen by a change in equipment cost of 30% and ± $2.36 - $2.73 by a 5 percentage point change of the interest rate. Based on the results from the techno-economic analysis and sensitivity analysis, PEM electrolysis was identified as the superior method.