Investigating the techno-economic and environmental performance of chemical looping technology for hydrogen production

Abstract

There is limited research assessing the techno-economic feasibility and environmental footprint of direct partial oxidation of methane using chemical looping technology for hydrogen production. The available studies have not investigated essential aspects of the impact of hydrogen storage cost or economies of scale on hydrogen production cost. In this study, process models were developed based on fundamental science for hydrogen production using chemical looping technology. The results show that for a production plant capacity of 607 tonnes/day, the hydrogen cost is $3.66/kg. When the uncertainty in the input parameters is considered, the hydrogen cost ranges from 3.51 to 4.70 $/kg. The parameters that most influence hydrogen cost are discount rate and hydrogen storage. The hydrogen cost versus capacity profile shows that operating chemical looping at a higher capacity is financially beneficial because of economies of scale. The developed scale factor is 0.64. The net energy ratio is 0.84, indicating chemical looping is a better energy producer than the traditional method of hydrogen production, i.e., steam methane reforming. The greenhouse gas emissions are 2.86 kgCO2/kg-H2. The results show that chemical looping partial oxidation of methane provides better energy efficiency and a better environmental footprint than conventional steam methane reforming.