Parametric Study for Thermal and Catalytic Methane Pyrolysis for Hydrogen Production: Techno-Economic and Scenario Analysis

Seunghyun Cheon,Manhee Byun,Hankwon Lim,Dongjun Lim,Hyunjun Lee

doi:10.3390/en14196102

Abstract

As many countries have tried to construct a hydrogen (H2) society to escape the conventional energy paradigm by using fossil fuels, methane pyrolysis (MP) has received a lot of attention owing to its ability to produce H2 with no CO2 emission. In this study, a techno-economic analysis including a process simulation, itemized cost estimation, and sensitivity and scenario analysis was conducted for the system of thermal-based and catalyst-based MP (TMP-S1 and CMP-S2), and the system with the additional H2 production processes of carbon (C) gasification and water–gas shift (WGS) reaction (TMPG-S3 and CMPG-S4). Based on the technical performance expressed by H2 and C production rate, the ratio of H2 combusted to supply the heat required and the ratio of reactants for the gasifier (C, Air, and water (H2O)), unit H2 production costs of USD 2.14, 3.66, 3.53, and 3.82 kgH2−1 from TMP-S1, CMP-S2, TMPG-S3, and CMPG-S4, respectively, were obtained at 40% H2 combusted and a reactants ratio for C-Air-H2O of 1:1:2. Moreover, trends of unit H2 production cost were obtained and key economic parameters of the MP reactor, reactant, and C selling price were represented by sensitivity analysis. In particular, economic competitiveness compared with commercialized H2 production methods was reported in the scenario analysis for the H2 production scale and C selling price.

Highlights

Many countries have tried to accomplish a successful transition of an energy system to hydrogen (H2 ) based on various political strategies such as ‘The National Hydrogen Strategy’ (2020) in Germany [1], ‘EU Hydrogen Strategy’ (2020) in the EU [2], ‘Basic HydrogenStrategy’ (2017)’, ‘Strategic Energy Plan’ (2018), and ‘The Strategic Road Map for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells’ (2019) in Japan [3,4,5], ‘Hydrogen in a Low-carbon Economy’ (2018) in the UK [6], ‘H2 @Scale’ (2021) in USA [7], and ‘National Hydrogen Roadmap’ (2018) in Australia [8]
Was technically and economically investigated by preliminary techno-economic analysis consisting of a process simulation using Aspen Plus®, itemized cost estimation, and sensitivity and scenario analysis for various parameters such as temperature, the ratio of fuel (CH4 and H2 produced from methane pyrolysis (MP)) combusted, and the ratio of reactants for C gasification
To investigate various H2 production scenarios, thermal and catalytic methane pyrolysis (TMP-S1 and CMP-S2) and systems with additional H2 production processes composed of C gasification and water–gas shift (WGS) reaction (TMPG-S3 and CMPG-S4) were considered in this study

Summary

Introduction

Strategy’ (2017)’, ‘Strategic Energy Plan’ (2018), and ‘The Strategic Road Map for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells’ (2019) in Japan [3,4,5], ‘Hydrogen in a Low-carbon Economy’ (2018) in the UK [6], ‘H2 @Scale’ (2021) in USA [7], and ‘National Hydrogen Roadmap’ (2018) in Australia [8]. There are still technical and economic challenges to be immediately utilized [23,24,25]; most H2 production still depends on conventional methods with additional processes to reduce

Methods

Results

Conclusion