scholarly journals The Key Techno-Economic and Manufacturing Drivers for Reducing the Cost of Power-to-Gas and a Hydrogen-Enabled Energy System

Hydrogen ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 273-300
Author(s):  
George Bristowe ◽  
Andrew Smallbone
Keyword(s):  
Scale Up ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Hydrogen Gas ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Current Technology ◽  
Pem Electrolysis ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Electrolysis System

Water electrolysis is a process which converts electricity into hydrogen and is seen as a key technology in enabling a net-zero compatible energy system. It will enable the scale-up of renewable electricity as a primary energy source for heating, transport, and industry. However, displacing the role currently met by fossil fuels might require a price of hydrogen as low as 1 $/kg, whereas renewable hydrogen produced using electrolysis is currently 10 $/kg. This article explores how mass manufacturing of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysers can reduce the capital cost and, thus, make the production of renewable power to hydrogen gas (PtG) more economically viable. A bottom up direct manufacturing model was developed to determine how economies of scale can reduce the capital cost of electrolysis. The results demonstrated that (assuming an annual production rate of 5000 units of 200 kW PEM electrolysis systems) the capital cost of a PEM electrolysis system can reduce from 1990 $/kW to 590 $/kW based on current technology and then on to 431 $/kW and 300 $/kW based on the an installed capacity scale-up of ten- and one-hundred-fold, respectively. A life-cycle costing analysis was then completed to determine the importance of the capital cost of an electrolysis system to the price of hydrogen. It was observed that, based on current technology, mass manufacturing has a large impact on the price of hydrogen, reducing it from 6.40 $/kg (at 10 units units per year) to 4.16 $/kg (at 5000 units per year). Further analysis was undertaken to determine the cost at different installed capacities and found that the cost could reduce further to 2.63 $/kg and 1.37 $/kg, based on technology scale-up by ten- and one hundred-fold, respectively. Based on the 2030 (and beyond) baseline assumptions, it is expected that hydrogen production from PEM electrolysis could be used as an industrial process feed stock, provide power and heat to buildings and as a fuel for heavy good vehicles (HGVs). In the cases of retrofitted gas networks for residential or industrial heating solutions, or for long distance transport, it represents a more economically attractive and mass-scale compatible solution when compared to electrified heating or transport solutions.

Modeling of Hydrogen Production in a Stand-Alone Photovoltaic System

2012 ◽  
Vol 512-515 ◽  
pp. 1413-1417
Author(s):  
Chun Hua Li ◽  
Xin Jian Zhu ◽  
Qing Jun Zeng ◽  
Yun Long Wang
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Production ◽  
Production Process ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Hydrogen Gas ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Photovoltaic System ◽  
Operating Voltage ◽  
Photovoltaic Energy ◽  
Photovoltaic Array

A stand-alone renewable photovoltaic energy system can be used to meet the energy requirements of off-grid remote area applications. The excess photovoltaic energy with respect to load demand is transformed and stored as hydrogen gas via an electrolyzer. The stored hydrogen represents a long-term transportable form of fuel for fuel cell. To analyze the system performance and design the control strategy, it is necessary to develop a system model for the solar powered hydrogen production process. The operational characteristics of the photovoltaic array, the proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE), and the power converters are investigated. The maximum power output of the photovoltaic array is matched to the operating voltage of the PEMWE by the DC-DC converters. Simulation results of the PV-PEMWE hydrogen production process are discussed.

scholarly journals Possibility of Using Fuel Cells for Co-generation of Heat and Power in Venizelio Hospital in Crete, Greece

2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
John Vourdoubas
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Pv System ◽  
Hybrid Energy System ◽  
Hybrid Energy ◽  
Solar Pv System ◽  
The Cost

Mitigation of climate change requires the replacement of traditional energy technologies with novel low carbon energy systems. The possibility of using a fuel cell and a hybrid energy system consisted of a fuel cell and solar-PV panel for energy generation in Venizelio hospital located in Crete, Greece has been investigated. The size, the heat and electricity generated, the H2 required and the capital cost of the fuel cell and the solar-PV system covering the energy requirements in the hospital have been estimated. Existing research has indicated that fuel cells using H2 can cover the heat and electricity needs in various buildings. Our results indicated that a fuel cell at 1 397 KW can produce annually 4 895 MWhel and 4 895 MWhth covering all the electricity and heating needs in Venizelio hospital producing excess heat at 2 451 MWhth. The capital cost of the fuel cell has been calculated at 4 191 000 € while the required H2 at 367.5 tons/year. All the energy requirements of the hospital can be also covered with a hybrid energy system consisted of a fuel cell and a solar-PV system. The size of the fuel cell has been estimated at 697.5 KW and the cost at 2 092 500 €. The electricity generation was at 2 444 KWhel and its heat production at 2 444 KWhth. The size of the solar-PV system has been evaluated at 1 629 KWp and the cost at 1 634 000 €.The annual electricity generation was at 2 451 MWhel. The capital cost of the hybrid energy system at 3 726 500 € is lower than the cost of the fuel cell alone at 4 191 000 €. Our results indicated that the use of novel benign energy systems with zero carbon emissions in Venizelio hospital is technically and economically feasible.

Compressor Issues for Hydrogen Production and Transmission Through a Long Distance Pipeline Network

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Starr ◽  
Calin-Cristian Cormos ◽  
Evangelos Tzimas ◽  
Stathis Peteves
Keyword(s):  
Pressure Ratio ◽  
High Strength Steels ◽  
High Strength ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Pipeline System ◽  
Hydrogen Energy ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
System Pressure ◽  
Production Of Hydrogen ◽  
Plant Exit

A hydrogen energy system will require the production of hydrogen from coal-based gasification plants and its transmission through long distance pipelines at 70 � 100 bar. To overcome some problems of current gasifiers, which are limited in pressure capability, two options are explored, in-plant compression of the syngas and compression of the hydrogen at the plant exit. It is shown that whereas in-plant compression using centrifugal machines is practical, this is not a solution when compressing hydrogen at the plant exit. This is because of the low molecular weight of the hydrogen. It is also shown that if centrifugal compressors are to be used in a pipeline system, pressure drops will need to be restricted as even an advanced two-stage centrifugal compressor will be limited to a pressure ratio of 1.2. High strength steels are suitable for the in-plant compressor, but aluminium alloy will be required for a hydrogen pipeline compressor.

scholarly journals Exergy Assessment and Thermo-Economic Analysis of Hybrid Solar Systems with Seasonal Storage and Heat Pump Coupling in the Social Housing Sector in Zaragoza

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1279
Author(s):  
Amaya Martínez-Gracia ◽  
Sergio Usón ◽  
Mª Teresa Pintanel ◽  
Javier Uche ◽  
Ángel A. Bayod-Rújula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heat Pump ◽  
Social Housing ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Solar Systems ◽  
Under Construction ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Solar Resource ◽  
Solar Field

A real case study of an energy system based on a Solar Assisted Heat Pump (SAHP) fed by hybrid photovoltaic-thermal solar panels (PVT) and seasonal storage (SS) is presented in this paper. Exergy and exergy cost analyses are proposed as complementary methods for the assessment and better understanding of the efficiency of this cogeneration solar configuration. The system performance takes advantage of storage heat in summer, when the solar resource is high in Spain, and is then later consumed during the cold winter (heating season). The building is devoted to social housing, and it is currently under construction. The assessment is based on simulations developed using TRNSYS, a dynamic simulation software for energy systems. Results show that the unit exergy cost of the solar field is around 6. The cost of the seasonal storage is higher, about 13, and its formation is affected both by its own irreversibility and by the irreversibility of the PVT solar field. The cost of the heat delivered by the heat pump is around 15, being affected by all the upstream units and even by the grid. Besides, the analysis points out strategies for improving the system efficiency, such as increasing the size of the storage tank or improving the control strategy of the boiler.

scholarly journals A Theoretical Study on Reversible Solid Oxide Cells as Key Enablers of Cyclic Conversion between Electrical Energy and Fuel

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (15) ◽  
pp. 4517
Author(s):  
Saheli Biswas ◽  
Shambhu Singh Rathore ◽  
Aniruddha Pramod Kulkarni ◽  
Sarbjit Giddey ◽  
Sankar Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Energy Demand ◽  
Electrode Materials ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
High Capacity ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Solid Oxide ◽  
Lower Efficiency ◽  
Internal Reforming ◽  
Fuels And Chemicals ◽  
The Cost

Reversible solid oxide cells (rSOC) enable the efficient cyclic conversion between electrical and chemical energy in the form of fuels and chemicals, thereby providing a pathway for long-term and high-capacity energy storage. Amongst the different fuels under investigation, hydrogen, methane, and ammonia have gained immense attention as carbon-neutral energy vectors. Here we have compared the energy efficiency and the energy demand of rSOC based on these three fuels. In the fuel cell mode of operation (energy generation), two different routes have been considered for both methane and ammonia; Routes 1 and 2 involve internal reforming (in the case of methane) or cracking (in the case of ammonia) and external reforming or cracking, respectively. The use of hydrogen as fuel provides the highest round-trip efficiency (62.1%) followed by methane by Route 1 (43.4%), ammonia by Route 2 (41.1%), methane by Route 2 (40.4%), and ammonia by Route 1 (39.2%). The lower efficiency of internal ammonia cracking as opposed to its external counterpart can be attributed to the insufficient catalytic activity and stability of the state-of-the-art fuel electrode materials, which is a major hindrance to the scale-up of this technology. A preliminary cost estimate showed that the price of hydrogen, methane and ammonia produced in SOEC mode would be ~1.91, 3.63, and 0.48 $/kg, respectively. In SOFC mode, the cost of electricity generation using hydrogen, internally reformed methane, and internally cracked ammonia would be ~52.34, 46.30, and 47.11 $/MWh, respectively.

A Tool for Thermoeconomic Analysis and Optimization of Gas, Steam, and Combined Plants

1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 885-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Agazzani ◽  
A. F. Massardo
Keyword(s):  
Cost Model ◽  
Optimization Technique ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Capital Cost ◽  
Marginal Costs ◽  
Electricity Cost ◽  
Combined Cycles ◽  
Thermodynamic Variables ◽  
Definition Of

The aim of this work is to demonstrate the capability of an original “modular” simulator tool for the thermoeconomic analysis of thermal-energy systems. The approach employed is based on the Thermoeconomic Functional Analysis (T.F.A.), which, through definition of the “functional productive diagram” and the establishment of the capital cost function of each component, allows the marginal costs and the unit product costs, i.e., the “internal economy,” of the functional exergy flows to be obtained in correspondence to the optimum point. The optimum design of the system is obtained utilizing a traditional optimization technique, which includes both physical structure of the energy system described in terms of thermodynamic variables and cost model (capital cost of the components, maintenance and amortization factors, unit fuel cost, unit electricity cost, etc.). As an application example to show the practicability of the tool, the thermoeconomic analysis of various complex multipressure combined cycles (with or without steam reheating) is carried out. The results are analyzed and discussed in depth.

scholarly journals Heat Transfer Optimization of NEXA Ballard Low-Temperature PEMFC

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2182
Author(s):  
Artem Chesalkin ◽  
Petr Kacor ◽  
Petr Moldrik
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Low Temperature ◽  
Stable Condition ◽  
Energy System ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Cfd Modeling ◽  
Heat Distribution ◽  
Operation Conditions ◽  
Heat Transfer Optimization

Hydrogen is one of the modern energy carriers, but its storage and practical use of the newest hydrogen technologies in real operation conditions still is a task of future investigations. This work describes the experimental hydrogen hybrid energy system (HHS). HHS is part of a laboratory off-grid system that stores electricity gained from photovoltaic panels (PVs). This system includes hydrogen production and storage units and NEXA Ballard low-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Fuel cell (FC) loses a significant part of heat during converting chemical energy into electricity. The main purpose of the study was to explore the heat distribution phenomena across the FC NEXA Ballard stack during load with the next heat transfer optimization. The operation of the FC with insufficient cooling can lead to its overheating or even cell destruction. The cause of this undesirable state is studied with the help of infrared thermography and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling with heat transfer simulation across the stack. The distribution of heat in the stack under various loads was studied, and local points of overheating were determined. Based on the obtained data of the cooling air streamlines and velocity profiles, few ways of the heat distribution optimization along the stack were proposed. This optimization was achieved by changing the original shape of the FC cooling duct. The stable condition of the FC stack at constant load was determined.

Numerical Modeling of Velocity and Temperature Distributions in a Bipolar Plate of PEM Electrolysis Cell With Greatly Improved Flow Uniformity

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jephanya Kasukurthi ◽  
K. M. Veepuri ◽  
Jianhu Nie ◽  
Yitung Chen
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Flow Distribution ◽  
Bipolar Plate ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Electrolysis Cell ◽  
Flow And Heat Transfer ◽  
Temperature Distributions ◽  
Pem Electrolysis

In this present work, finite volume method was used to simulate the three-dimensional water flow and heat transfer in a flow field plate of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis cell. The standard k-ε model together with standard wall function method was used to model three-dimensional fluid flow and heat transfer. First, numerical simulations were performed for a basic bipolar plate and it was found that the flow distribution inside the channels in not uniform. The design of the basic bipolar plate has been changed to a new model, which is featured with multiple inlets and multiple outlets. Numerical results show that the flow and temperature distributions for the new design become much homogeneous.

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