Abstract
Hydrogen used as an energy carrier can provide an important route to the decarbonization of energy supplies, but realizing this opportunity will require both significantly increased production and transportation capacity. One route to increased transportation capacity is the shipping of liquid hydrogen, but this requires an energy-intensive liquefaction step. Recent study work has shown that the energy required in this process can be reduced through the implementation of new and improved process designs, but since all low-temperature processes are affected by the available heat-sink temperature, local ambient conditions will also have an impact. The objective of this work is to identify how the energy consumption associated with hydrogen liquefaction varies with heat-sink temperature through the optimization of design parameters for a next-generation mixed refrigerant based hydrogen liquefaction process. The results show that energy consumption increases by around 20% across the cooling temperature range 5 to 50 °C. Considering just the range 20 to 30 °C, there is a 5% increase, illustrating the significant impact ambient temperature can have on energy consumption. The implications of this work are that the modelling of different liquified hydrogen based energy supply chains should take the impact of ambient temperature into account.
Highlights
Hydrogen used as a fuel, as an energy source for industrial processes or for generating electrical power can provide an important route to the decarbonization of energy supplies and the integration of renewable energy systems
The validation process highlighted the significant impact that different properties models can have on model predictions, the validation results indicate that the present model is suitable for the study of the impact of ambient temperature on process performance
A set of optimization parameters were selected, and an optimization method developed that was shown to be suitable for the study of process performance across a range of process cooling temperatures through the consistency of the results obtained
Summary
Hydrogen used as a fuel, as an energy source for industrial processes or for generating electrical power can provide an important route to the decarbonization of energy supplies and the integration of renewable energy systems. 50% of [EU] energy demand in transport in 2050” [3] This positive view of the role that hydrogen could play in future low-carbon development is reflected in political intent via the EU hydrogen strategy [4]. Reflecting this political support, research related to hydrogen energy has increased over recent years [5]. Important research topics include energy demand and supply modelling [2,3], the novel integration of renewable energy sources such as solar power [6], the development of enhanced electrolysis based production methods [7], the development of new applications such as use a reductant in steel manufacturing [8] and the assessment of alternative sources such as methanol [9]
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