Simulation-based assessment of the potential of offshore blue hydrogen production with high CO2 capture rates with optimised heat recovery

Abstract

Hydrogen is a versatile component and is acknowledged to play an important role in the energy transition. However, hydrogen is predominantly produced from fossil fuels, with natural gas being the most used source. The steam-methane reforming (SMR) is the process used to produce hydrogen from natural gas. Although this process can produce hydrogen relatively cheaply, it is carbon-intensive. If carbon capture and storage (CCS) is applied to the SMR process, clean hydrogen (in this case, labelled as blue hydrogen) is produced. Nevertheless, CCS will add costs to the production process. Despite the capture costs, transport and storage contribute to the overall costs of CCS. Hydrogen could be produced offshore close to a storage site to minimise the overall costs of CCS. This work investigates the production of blue hydrogen with high capture rates (98, 99 and 99.5%). Heat recovery is optimised to provide the required energy for the SMR and capture processes. The cost estimation shows that it is possible to produce blue hydrogen at costs around 2.7 $/kgH2 and a carbon footprint below 0.2 kgCO2/kgH2.