Abstract
Fermentative hydrogen production from molasses—a renewable by-product of beet-sugar processing—was considered. Technical and economic evaluations were performed of a stand-alone production plant employing a two-step fermentation process (dark thermophilic fermentation and photofermentation) followed by an adsorption-based upgrading of the produced hydrogen gas. Using a state-of-the-art knowledge base and a mathematical model composed of mass and energy balances, as well as economic relationships, the process was simulated and equipment data were estimated, the hydrogen cost was calculated and a sensibility analysis was carried out. Due to high capital, operating and labor costs, hydrogen production cost was estimated at a rather high level of 32.68 EUR/kg, while the energy output in produced hydrogen was determined as 68% more than the combined input of the thermal and electric energy needed for plant operation. As the room for improvement of plant performance is limited, a perspective on the cost competitiveness of large-scale hydrogen production from fossil sources is unclear.
Highlights
On a global scale at present, fossil fuels constitute the main energy source [1,2]
The use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier has been considered as an alternative to fossil-fuel-based energy supply that is inevitably accompanied by carbon dioxide emissions [5]
Growing interest in hydrogen fuel is in contrast to the fact that, at present, most of the hydrogen produced worldwide comes from thermo-chemical processing of fossil fuels and, is concurrent with the liberation of carbon compounds [6]
Summary
On a global scale at present, fossil fuels constitute the main energy source [1,2]. In view of the increasing energy demand, growing greenhouse-gas emissions that contribute to climate changes and dwindling fuel reserves, new and cleaner energy technologies need to be developed [3,4]. The use of hydrogen as a clean energy carrier has been considered as an alternative to fossil-fuel-based energy supply that is inevitably accompanied by carbon dioxide emissions [5]. A renewable by-product of sugar manufacturing from sugar beet or sugar cane, was identified as a suitable feedstock for hydrogen fermentation already a decade ago [11]. This was followed by an evaluation of its suitability for industrial application, using a simplified economic model and cost data from the period before 2013 [12]. Research on fermentative hydrogen production from molasses was later continued dealing separately with dark
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