Hydrogen Price Research Articles

Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen and power production from supercritical water reforming of glycerol

Hydrogen and power production from supercritical water reforming of glycerol was techno-economically assessed, considering future states of technology because there is no demonstration plant using this technology. Two different configurations were proposed: supercritical water reforming (SCWR) and autothermal supercritical water reforming (ASCWR). A plant size of 1000kg/h of glycerol was considered on a process flow-sheet simulated by Aspen Plus with the criterion of being energy self-sufficient. The results reveal that, although ASCWR presents better performance than SCWR in terms of energy efficiency, the investment capital and operational difficulties of ASCWR process leads to higher hydrogen production costs. The levelized production cost of hydrogen was evaluated using a discounted cash flow analysis with a discount rate of 10% and 100% equity financing. Thus, the minimum hydrogen selling price (achieved when net present value is zero) is 5.36$/kg for SCWR and 5.75$/kg for ASCWR. These values are somewhat higher than in a few conventional technologies, such as steam methane reforming, although lower than other renewable processes, such as wood gasification. In a future scenario, possible improvements in SCW reforming performance may lead to a decrease in the estimation of renewable hydrogen price.

Efficiency, cost and life cycle CO2 optimization of fuel cell hybrid and plug-in hybrid urban buses

Fuel cell powered hybrid electric vehicles (FC-HEV) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (FC-PHEV) are being addressed by the automotive industry as improved and more sustainable alternative technologies relatively to conventional vehicles. Nevertheless, hybrid propulsion raises new challenges in designing the vehicle powertrain. This study highlights the significance of the driving conditions and the conflict between the optimization of investment cost, efficiency and life cycle impact (LCA) in powertrain design optimization of these kinds of vehicles. A single-objective (minimization of cost, fuel or LCA CO2eq) and multi-objective genetic algorithms (minimization of the couples cost and fuel, cost and LCA CO2eq, fuel and LCA CO2eq), linked with the vehicle simulation software ADVISOR, are used to optimize the design of powertrain components. The main outcomes of the research are as follows. The optimization of LCA CO2eq emissions and cost are conflicting as well as cost and energy use, what can be observed in the Pareto solutions. The fuel and LCA CO2eq emissions optimization are coupled for pure hybrids but not for plug-in hybrid configurations, due to the electricity consumption. Fuel cell buses can reduce the energy consumption by 58%, and emit 67% less LCA CO2eq than the conventional diesel bus, and achieve compensatory payback of 0.620$/km (depending on the hydrogen price). The FC-PHEV configuration shows more potential for achieving higher operation efficiencies, but the FC-HEV shows to have lower life cycle impact and lower cost in general.

Hydrogen storage for wind parks: A real options evaluation for an optimal investment in more flexibility

In this paper, we investigate the economic viability of hydrogen storage for excess electricity produced in wind power plants. For the analysis, we define two scenarios (50MW system with and without re-electrification unit) and apply Monte Carlo simulation and real options analysis (ROA) to compute hourly profits under uncertainty regarding wind speed, spot market electricity prices, and call of minute reserve capacity. Hydrogen as a storage medium helps to either (1) increase capacity utilization of the wind park in case of grid disconnection; (2) to offer minute reserve; or (3) to exploit temporal price arbitrage at the electricity spot market; additionally, hydrogen can also be directly sold as a commodity. We find that power-to-power operation is highly uneconomical under current framework conditions in Germany, irrespective of potential energy efficiency gains. Interestingly, due to counterbalancing effects, offshore wind parks are found to have only a modest economic advantage compared to onshore ones. The power-to-fuel plant can be operated profitably (at hydrogen prices of more than 0.36€m−3 and a 100% utilization of the electrolyzer) if hydrogen is directly marketed instead of used to store and re-generate electrical energy. The ROA recommends investment in a storage device without re-electrification unit beyond an expected project value that is about twice the investment cost of the storage device, a figure which is reduced markedly as conversion efficiency rises, assuming technical change to come at no cost for the investor, i.e. as being exogenous.

Economic Assessment of the Hydrogenation of CO2 to Liquid Fuels and Petrochemical Feedstock

AbstractTo remove high concentrations of CO2 from the off‐gas of coal‐driven power plants, a new process was proposed. The catalytic hydrogenation of the CO2 leads to the production of C2 – C4 (petrochemical feedstock) and liquid C5+ hydrocarbons (fuel). Thus, environmentally harmful CO2 may be converted sustainably to useful products. On the basis of a process flow sheet, the costs for processing the CO2 are estimated for different plant sizes. The price of hydrogen contributes significantly to the overall production costs. Further price reductions may be achieved by final engineering optimization of the process as a whole and specific unit operations.

Technoeconomic and Policy Analysis for Corn Stover Biofuels

Conventional fossil fuels dominate the marketplace, and their prices are a direct competitor for drop-in biofuels. This paper examines the impact of fuel selling price uncertainty on investment risk in a fast pyrolysis derived biofuel production facility. Production cost specifications are gathered from previous research. Monte Carlo analysis is employed with uncertainty in fuel selling price, biomass cost, bio-oil yield, and hydrogen price parameters. Experiments reveal that fuel price has a large impact on investment risk. A reverse auction would shift risk from the private sector to the public sector and is shown to be more effective at encouraging private investment than capital subsidies for the same expected public cost.

A wind-hydrogen energy storage system model for massive wind energy curtailment

With wind energy penetration rate increasing, wind energy curtailment turns severe in some wind farms nowadays and new wind farm construction trends to aggregate this situation. Therefore the need for massive energy storage technology such as “Power to gas” is growing. In this study, a model of integrating curtailed wind energy with hydrogen energy storage is established based on real time data in term of 10 min avg. throughout a whole year in a wind farm. Two wind/hydrogen production scenarios via water electrolysis are given and the influence exerted on payback period by electrolyser power and hydrogen price is talked in tandem as well as the model validity is specified in the conclusion section. Our results further stress the importance of hydrogen energy storage technology on addressing wind energy curtailment and disclose some regularities from an economical perspective.

Carbon dioxide conversion to valuable chemical products over composite catalytic systems

This paper reports an experimental study on catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol, ethanol and acetic acid. Catalysts having different catalytic functions were synthesized and combined in different ways to enhance the selectivity to desired products. The combined catalyst system possessed the following functions: methanol synthesis, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, water-gas-shift and hydrogenation. Results showed that the methods of integrating these catalytic functions played an important role in achieving the desired product selectivity. We speculate that if methanol synthesis sites were located adjacent to the C–C chain growth sites, the formation rate of C2 oxygenates would be enhanced. The advantage of using a high temperature methanol catalyst PdZnAl in the combined catalyst system was demonstrated. In the presence of PdZnAl catalyst, the combined catalyst system was stable at 380 °C. It was observed that, at high temperature, kinetics favored oxygenate formation. The results implied that the process can be intensified by operating at high temperature using Pd-based methanol synthesis catalyst. Steam reforming of the byproduct organics was demonstrated as a means to provide supplemental hydrogen. Preliminary process design, simulation, and economic analysis of the proposed CO2 conversion process were carried out. Economic analysis indicates how ethanol production cost was affected by the price of CO2 and hydrogen.

Quantum efficiency modeling and system scaling-up analysis of water splitting with Cd1−xZnxS solid-solution photocatalyst

In this paper, a comprehensive study, aimed at the development of a semi-empirical predictive model for quantum efficiency of photolysis systems operating with crystalline photocatalysts and S2−/SO32− electron donors which are widely recognized as having good potential for cost effective solar water splitting, is reported. Efficiency prospects are made and cost goal is determined using the validated model for a scaled-up solar energy conversion system which uses the upper solar spectrum for photocatalysis whereas the middle spectrum is used for PV-electrolysis to generate additional hydrogen. The photochemical system uses an engineered photocatalyst of solid-solution type with general formula Cd1−xZnxS (x=0.21). Photocatalysis experiments are performed in a photoreactor illuminated with monochromatic LEDs of 470nm (2.64eV) and the photocatalyst is characterized in order to determine certain fitting parameters of the semi-empirical model and for validation purpose. The crystalline structure of the photocatalyst has been elucidated through X-ray diffraction, its elemental composition by energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, and its band gap has been determined from diffuse spectral reflectance measurements, whereas the morphology has been identified by scanning electron microscopy. The band gap of the catalyst semiconductor is found to be 2.48eV. The photocatalysis reactor can operate at constant volume and accumulates hydrogen in free space above liquid while pressure increases in time, or hydrogen can be drawn continuously out of gas space while maintaining a constant operating pressure. The molecular diffusion rate of species dissolved in the electrolyte and the relevant mass transport processes at liquid–gas interface where hydrogen diffuses and small bubbles burst out of liquid are also accounted for in the predictive model. The model predictions are satisfactory with 7.1% root mean square error against test data and a maximum hydrogen production rate of ~4.1mmol/h for 86.4mmol photons per hour. The void fraction in the electrolyte, caused by the presence of gas bubbles, reaches quickly a maximum of ~7% during constant volume mode simulations and then decreases due to increase of pressure. A plateau value of 8% is observed for void fraction during constant pressure mode simulations with no local maximum. The estimations obtained with the model show that, when integrated with PV-electrolysis, the system production is 6.4kg H2 per sq.m of solar collector and year. If it is mass produced up to a scale of 14.8Mt hydrogen per day, then the selling price of hydrogen becomes as low as $2/kg with a payback period of 10 years. The semi-empirical modeling method developed herein can be adapted for other photochemical reactions of similar type and it is considered to be useful for system scaling-up and for engineering design.

Status and perspectives of CO2 conversion into fuels and chemicals by catalytic, photocatalytic and electrocatalytic processes

This review highlights recent developments and future perspectives in carbon dioxide usage for the sustainable production of energy and chemicals and to reduce global warming. We discuss the heterogeneously catalysed hydrogenation, as well as the photocatalytic and electrocatalytic conversion of CO2 to hydrocarbons or oxygenates. Various sources of hydrogen are also reviewed in terms of their CO2 neutrality. Technologies have been developed for large-scale CO2 hydrogenation to methanol or methane. Their industrial application is, however, limited by the high price of renewable hydrogen and the availability of large-volume sources of pure CO2. With regard to the direct electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to value-added chemicals, substantial advances in electrodes, electrolyte, and reactor design are still required to permit the development of commercial processes. Therefore, in this review particular attention is paid to (i) the design of metal electrodes to improve their performance and (ii) recent developments of alternative approaches such as the application of ionic liquids as electrolytes and of microorganisms as co-catalysts. The most significant improvements both in catalyst and reactor design are needed for the photocatalytic functionalisation of CO2 to become a viable technology that can help in the usage of CO2 as a feedstock for the production of energy and chemicals. Apart from technological aspects and catalytic performance, we also discuss fundamental strategies for the rational design of materials for effective transformations of CO2 to value-added chemicals with the help of H2, electricity and/or light.

Probabilistic hydrogen, thermal and electrical management of PEM-fuel cell power plants in distribution networks

Abstract This paper presents a Stochastic Multi-objective Optimal Operation Management (SMOOM) framework of distribution networks in presence of PEM-Fuel Cell Power Plants (FCPPs) and boilers. Operational costs, thermal recovery, power trade with grid and hydrogen management strategies are considered in this model. Furthermore, four objective functions has been considered as criteria for SMOOM, i.e. electrical energy losses, voltages deviations from their nominal values, total emissions emitted by CHP systems and grids, and total operational costs of CHP systems, as well as electrical energy cost of grids. A 2 m + 1 Point Estimated Method is used to cope with the uncertain variables i.e. electrical and thermal loads, gas price of FCPPs consumption, fuel cost of residential loads, purchasing and selling tariff of electricity, hydrogen price, operation temperature of fuel cell stack, and the pressures of hydrogen and oxygen of anode and cathode, respectively. A new multi-objective Modified Firefly Algorithm (MFA) is implemented for minimizing the objective functions while the operational constraints are satisfied. Finally, a 69-bus distribution network is utilized to examine the performance of the proposed strategy regarding the rest.

Technical and economic analysis of a power supply system based on ethanol reforming and PEMFC

Abstract This work presents a technical and economic analysis of a power supply system based on a 5 kW Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) fed with hydrogen produced by the auto-thermal reforming of ethanol. The technical analysis is based on unpublished experimental data obtained from the prototype of an ethanol reformer developed by the Hydrogen Laboratory at Unicamp and by Hytron, which represents the state-of-the-art of this technology in Brazil. The results point out that the cost of the hydrogen produced by the ethanol reformer prototype is lower than the hydrogen prices in the Brazilian market, and that the cost of the electricity produced by that hydrogen in a PEMFC is lower than other alternative sources of energy, except when compared to the electricity available in grid-connected power system in Brazil.

Economic and European Union Environmental Sustainability Criteria Assesment of Bio-Oil-Based Biofuel Systems: Refinery Integration Cases

The biofuel mix in transport in the U.K. must be increased from currently exploited 3.33% to the EU target mix of 10% by 2020. Under the face of this huge challenge, the most viable way forward is to process infrastructure-compatible intermediate, such as bio-oil from fast pyrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass, into biofuels. New facilities may integrate multiple distributed pyrolysis units producing bio-oil from locally available biomass and centralized biofuel production platforms, such as methanol or Fischer–Tropsch liquid synthesis utilizing syngas derived from gasification of bio-oil. An alternative to bio-oil gasification is hydrotreating and hydrocracking (upgrading) of bio-oil into stable oil with reduced oxygen content. The stable oil can then be coprocessed into targeted transportation fuel mix within refinery in exchange of refinery hydrogen to the upgrader. This Article focuses on the evaluation of economic and environmental sustainability of industrial scale biofuel production systems from bio-oils. An overview of bio-oil gasification-based system evaluation is presented, while comprehensive process reaction modeling (with 40 overall bio-oil hydrocracking and hydrotreating reaction steps), simulation, integration, and value analysis frameworks are illustrated for bio-oil upgrading and refinery coprocessing systems. The environmental analysis shows that the former technologies are able to meet the minimum greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target of 60%, to be eligible for the European Union (EU) Directive’s 2020 target of 10% renewable energy in transport, while at least 20% renewable energy mix from an upgrader is required for meeting the EU GHG emission reduction target. Increases in the price of biodiesel and hydrogen make coprocessing of stable oils from bio-oil upgrader using refinery facilities economically more favorable than final biofuel blending from refineries and create win–win economic scenarios between the bio-oil upgrader and the refinery. The range of the cost of production (COP) of stable oil (328 MW or 0.424 t/t bio-oil), steam (49.5 MW or 0.926 t/t bio-oil), and off-gas or fuel gas (72.3 MW or 0.142 t/t bio-oil) from a bio-oil (LHV of 23.3 MJ/kg) upgrader process is evaluated on the basis of individual product energy values and global warming potential (GWP) impacts. The minimum and the maximum annualized capital charges predicted by the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis correspond to 25 operating years and 10% IRR, and 10 operating years and 20% IRR, respectively. On the basis of this DCF strategy and 1200 $/t of hydrogen and 540 $/t of biodiesel market prices, the selling prices of 259.32 $/t, 34.85 $/t, and 174.27 $/t of the stable oil, steam, and fuel gas, respectively, from the upgrader to the refinery were obtained to create win–win marginal incentive for the upgrader and refinery systems, individually. If stable oil from a bio-oil upgrader can be launched as a product potentially to be used in refinery hydrocracker (at a competitive price of 490 $/t), for the production of renewable diesel, upgrader can be operated independently, such as purchase hydrogen from vendors at competitive price, with comparative marginal incentives. The bio-oil upgraders, either stand-alone or integrated, were designed to meet desired product specifications, diesel with specific gravity 0.825 and cetane number 57 and stable oil with API 30.1 and cetane number 28.7, for coprocessing through the refinery hydrocracker, respectively.

Optimal energy supply network determination and life cycle analysis for hybrid coal, biomass, and natural gas to liquid (CBGTL) plants using carbon-based hydrogen production

Abstract A mixed-integer linear optimization formulation is developed to analyze the United States energy supply chain network for the hybrid coal, biomass, and natural gas to liquids (CBGTL) facilities. Each state is discretized into octants and each octant centroid serves as a potential location of one facility. The model selects the optimal locations of CBGTL facilities, the feedstock combination, and size of each facility that gives the minimum overall production cost. Two case studies are presented to investigate the effects of various technologies and hydrogen prices. The CBGTL network is capable to supply transportation fuel demands for the country at a cost between $15.68 and $22.06/GJ LHV ($76.55–$112.91/bbl crude oil) of produced liquid fuels for both case studies. Life cycle analysis on each facility in the supply chain network shows that the United States fuel demands can be fulfilled with an excess of 50% emissions reduction compared to petroleum based processes.

Turning the wind into hydrogen: The long-run impact on electricity prices and generating capacity

Hydrogen production via electrolysis has been proposed as a way of absorbing the fluctuating electricity generated by wind power, potentially allowing the use of cheap electricity at times when it would otherwise be in surplus. We show that large-scale adoption of electrolysers would change the shape of the load–duration curve for electricity, affecting the optimal capacity mix. Nuclear power stations will replace gas-fired power stations, as they are able to run for longer periods of time. Changes in the electricity capacity mix will be much greater than changes to the pattern of prices. The long-run supply price of hydrogen will thus tend to be insensitive to the amount produced.

Toward Novel Hybrid Biomass, Coal, and Natural Gas Processes for Satisfying Current Transportation Fuel Demands, 1: Process Alternatives, Gasification Modeling, Process Simulation, and Economic Analysis

This paper, which is the first part of a series of papers, introduces a hybrid coal, biomass, and natural gas to liquids (CBGTL) process that can produce transportation fuels in ratios consistent with current U.S. transportation fuel demands. Using the principles of the H2Car process, an almost-100% feedstock carbon conversion is attained using hydrogen produced from a carbon or noncarbon source and the reverse water-gas-shift reaction. Seven novel process alternatives that illustrate the effect of feedstock, hydrogen source, and light gas treatment on the process are considered. A complete process description is presented for each section of the CBGTL process including syngas generation, syngas treatment, hydrocarbon generation, hydrocarbon upgrading, and hydrogen generation. Novel mathematical models for biomass and coal gasification are developed to model the nonequilibrium effluent conditions using a stoichiometry-based method. Input−output relationships are derived for all vapor-phase components, char, and tar through a nonlinear parameter estimation optimization model based on the experimental results of multiple case studies. Two distinct Fischer−Tropsch temperatures and a detailed upgrading section based on a Bechtel design are used to produce the proper effluent composition to correctly match the desired ratio of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene. Steady-state process simulation results based on Aspen Plus are presented for the seven process alternatives with a detailed economic analysis performed using the Aspen Process Economic Analyzer and unit cost functions obtained from literature. Based on the appropriate refinery margins for gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, the price at which the CBGTL process becomes competitive with current petroleum-based processes is calculated. This break-even oil price is derived for all seven process flowsheets, and the sensitivity analysis with respect to hydrogen price, electricity price, and electrolyzer capital cost, is presented.

Techno-economic analysis of biomass to fuel conversion via the MixAlco process

MixAlco is a robust process that converts biomass to fuels and chemicals. A key feature of the MixAlco process is the fermentation, which employs a mixed culture of acid-forming microorganisms to convert biomass components (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) to carboxylate salts. Subsequently, these intermediate salts are chemically converted to hydrocarbon fuels (gasoline, jet fuel, and diesel). This work focuses on process synthesis, simulation, integration, and cost estimation of the MixAlco process. For the base-case capacity of 40 dry tonne feedstock per hour, the total capital investment is US $5.54/annual gallon of hydrocarbon fuels (US $3.79/annual gallon of ethanol equivalent), and the minimum selling price [with 10% return on investment (ROI), internal hydrogen production, and US $60/tonne biomass] is US $2.56/gal hydrocarbon, which is equivalent to US $1.75/gal ethanol. If plant capacity is increased to 400 tph, the minimum selling price of biomass-derived hydrocarbon fuels is US $1.76/gal hydrocarbon (US $1.20/gal ethanol equivalent), which can compete without subsidies with petroleum-derived hydrocarbons when crude oil sells for about US $65/bbl. At 40 tph, using the average tipping fee for municipal solid waste (US $45/dry tonne) and current price of external hydrogen (US $1/kg), the minimum selling price is only US $1.24/gal hydrocarbon (US $0.85/gal ethanol equivalent).

Hydrogen Production from Biomass via Supercritical Water Gasification

Comparison with other biomass thermochemical gasification, such as air gasification or steam gasification, the supercritical water gasification can directly deal with the wet biomass without drying, and has high gasification efficiency in lower temperatures. The cost of hydrogen production from supercritical water gasification of wet biomass was several times higher than the current price of hydrogen from steam methane reforming. Biomass is gasified in supercritical water at a series of temperatures and pressure during different resident times, and the product gas is composed of H2, CO2, CO, CH4, and a small amount of C2H4 and C2H6. Supercritical water is a promising reforming media for the direct production of hydrogen at 875–1,075 K temperature with a short reaction time (2–6 s). As the temperature is increased from 875 to 1,075 K the H2 yield increases from 53 to 73% by volume, respectively. In addition to being a high mass transfer effect, supercritical water also participates in reforming reaction. Pressure has a negligible effect on hydrogen yield above the critical pressure of water.

Plug-in hybrid fuel cell vehicles market penetration scenarios

The main objective of this research is to analyze the impact of the market share increase of hydrogen based road vehicles in terms of energy consumption and CO 2, on today's Portuguese light-duty fleet. Actual yearly values of energy consumption and emissions were estimated using COPERT software: 167112 TJ of fossil fuel energy, 12213 kton of CO 2 emission and 141 kton of CO, 20 kton of HC, 46 kton of NO x and 3 kton of PM. These values represent 20–40% of countries total emissions. Additionally to base fleet, three scenarios of introduction of 10–30% fuel cell vehicles including plug-in hybrids configurations were analysed. Considering the scenarios of increasing hydrogen based vehicles penetration, up to 10% life cycle energy consumption reduction can be obtained if hydrogen from centralized natural gas reforming is considered. Full life cycle CO 2 emissions can also be reduced up to 20% in these scenarios, while local pollutants reach up to 85% reductions. For the purpose of estimating road vehicle technologies energy consumption and CO 2 emissions in a full life cycle perspective, fuel cell, conventional full hybrids and hybrid plug-in technologies were considered with diesel, gasoline, hydrogen and biofuel blends. Energy consumption values were estimated in a real road driving cycle and with ADVISOR software. Materials cradle-to-grave life cycle was estimated using GREET database adapted to Europe electric mix. The main conclusions on CO 2 full life cycle analysis is that light-duty vehicles using fuel cell propulsion technology are highly dependent on hydrogen production pathway. The worst scenario for the current Portuguese and European electric mix is hydrogen produced from on-site electrolysis (in the refuelling stations). In this case full life cycle CO 2 is 270 g/km against 190 g/km for conventional Diesel vehicle, for a typical 150,000 km useful life. A brief energy price analysis was presented. We conclude that hydrogen price equivalent to gasoline energy price (€/MJ) is important to the consumer preference of hydrogen based vehicles. It is also possible a fuel cell cost comparable with internal combustion engine cost if sufficient market penetration and power density increase are attained.

Design and economical analysis of hybrid PV–wind systems connected to the grid for the intermittent production of hydrogen

In this paper, several designs of hybrid PV–wind (photovoltaic–wind) systems connected to the electrical grid, including the intermittent production of hydrogen, are shown. The objective considered in the design is economical to maximise the net present value ( NPV) of the system. A control strategy has been applied so that hydrogen is only produced by the electrolyser when there is an excess of electrical energy that cannot be exported to the grid (intermittent production of hydrogen). Several optimisation studies based on different scenarios have been carried out. After studying the results – for systems with which the produced hydrogen would be sold for external consumption – it can be stated that the selling price of hydrogen should be about 10 €/kg in areas with strong wind, in order to get economically viable systems. For the hydrogen-producing systems in which hydrogen is produced when there is an excess of electricity and then stored and later used in a fuel cell to produce electricity to be sold to the grid, even in areas with high wind speed rate, the price of electrical energy produced by the fuel cell should be very high for the system to be profitable.

Thermodynamic Considerations in Reduction of Nickeliferrous Laterite by Methane

Efforts have been made to replace carbon-rich reductants such as coke and coal used for reduction of nickeliferrous Laterite ores by hydrogen. This, however, makes the process expensive because of the price of hydrogen. Methane is a potential reductant, which has not been studied for reduction of nickeliferrous Laterite ores. The thermodynamic feasibility of using methane as a reductant has been studied. These studies indicate that methane exhibits a good reduction potential at around 873 to 1073 K for nickel Laterite. The experimentally observed phases in the unreduced sample form the basis for calculating equilibrium data based on the principle of free-energy minimization.