Modelling and Optimization of Hydrogen Production in an Industrial Cluster Accounting for Economic Cost and Environmental Impact

Abstract

According to the Paris agreement and under emissions reduction protocols, the global energy sector is expected to abide by the established restrictions to target zero-carbon resources by 2050. Hydrogen has been known as one of the most plentiful elements in the universe, yet it solely appears as combined with other elements. Therefore, hydrogen production itself is an energy-intensive process and thus could generate significant amounts of CO2. Nevertheless, green hydrogen (produced from renewable resources) rapidly gaining interest as a key material in the decarbonisation of the energy sector and one of the promising solutions to tackle the global warming challenge. This work presents a framework for hydrogen and CO2 utilisation strategies in an industrial park while identifying optimum decisions related to the allocation of the feedstock through possible technologies to produce sustainable and low-cost hydrogen. A techno-economic optimization model based on a superstructure approach has been developed to identify the best possible hydrogen network configurations from a number of technologies, which is achieved by a combination of many possible hydrogen and CO2 utilisation scenarios. A case study that resembles Qatar’s industrial economy is set out to investigate the application of the proposed approach.