Pathways for low carbon hydrogen production from integrated hydrocarbon reforming and water electrolysis for oil and gas exporting countries

Abstract

Integrated hydrocarbon reforming processes with H2O electrolysis for H2 production have been developed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in oil and gas exporting countries (OGEC). The developed system includes steam methane reforming (SMR), gas-heated autothermal reforming (GH-ATR), autothermal reforming (ATR) and partial oxidation (POX). Each of these systems operates with H2O electrolysis to increase the H2 production rate and feed O2 to the reformers. The combined systems also incorporate thermophotovoltaic (TPV) units, solar cells, a wind turbine system and a Rankine cycle to convert waste heat to electricity and generate more electrical energy. Parabolic dish concentrators (PDCs) produced thermal energy for endothermic reactions. The introduction of H2 fuel cells replaced the burning of natural gas in power plants to generate electricity. The result of this study reveals that using renewable energy sources and energy recovery units to produce distilled H2O and operate other downstream units, the H2 selling price of the proposed system is expected to be <$2.9/kg. Efficiency improvement by ≥10% for each hydrocarbon reforming method operating with other units was also achieved in contrast to the current hydrocarbon reforming processes. The provided integrated method will provide a high-value chain in the H2 generation industry and promote carbon neutrality in oil and gas rich countries.