Sizing, Optimization, and Financial Analysis of a Green Hydrogen Refueling Station in Remote Regions

Hydrogen (H2) can be a promising energy carrier for decarbonizing the economy and especially the transport sector, which is considered as one of the sectors with high carbon emissions due to the extensive use of fossil fuels. H2 is a nontoxic energy carrier that could replace fossil fuels. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) can decrease air pollution and reduce greenhouse gases when H2 is produced from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and at the same time being accessible through a widespread network of Hydrogen Refueling Stations (HRSs). In this study, both the sizing of the equipment and financial analysis were performed for an HRS supplied with H2 from the excess electrical energy of a 10 MW wind park. The aim was to determine the optimum configuration of an HRS under the investigation of six different scenarios with various numbers of FCEVs and monthly demands, as well as ascertaining the economic viability of each examined scenario. The effect of the number of vehicles that the installation can refuel to balance the initial cost of the investment and the fuel cost in remote regions was investigated. The results showed that a wind-powered HRS could be a viable solution when sized appropriately and H2 can be used as a storage mean for the rejected wind energy. It was concluded that scenarios with low FCEVs penetration have low economic performance since the payback period presented significantly high values.

Recent Progress in Homogeneous Catalytic Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid

Recently, there has been a strong demand for technologies that use hydrogen as an energy carrier, instead of fossil fuels. Hence, new and effective hydrogen storage technologies are attracting increasing attention. Formic acid (FA) is considered an effective liquid chemical for hydrogen storage because it is easier to handle than solid or gaseous materials. This review presents recent advances in research into the development of homogeneous catalysts, primarily focusing on hydrogen generation by FA dehydrogenation. Notably, this review will aid in the development of useful catalysts, thereby accelerating the transition to a hydrogen-based society.

Challenges and Opportunities for Green Hydrogen Power Supply in Oil and Gas Remote Facilities

The energy transition to renewable energy and hydrogen as an energy carrier, along with low-carbon footprint production targets in the oil and gas industry act as a catalytic for exploring the role of hydrogen in oil and gas production. For upstream and midstream operations, potential opportunities for using hydrogen as an energy carrier are being developed both in hydrogen generation (X-to-hydrogen) as well as in hydrogen consumption (hydrogen-to-X), but not without series of technical and economical challenges. This paper presents potential use cases in upstream and midstream facilities for hydrogen generation and consumption, be it both from hydrocarbon processing resultant in what is called "blue hydrogen" or from integration with renewable energy to form what is called "green hydrogen". It also explains process integration requirements with diagrams for full-cycle green hydrogen use from generation to consumption and its interaction with renewable energy technologies to achieve low to zero-carbon emission power supply systems. Different hydrogen generation and conversion technologies are reviewed as part of the modeling process. Green hydrogen feasibility is assessed in terms of operational efficiency and cost constraints. Hybrid hydrogen and renewable energy power supply systems are simulated and presented according to the intended applications of use in oil and gas facilities. This paper provides a feasibility analysis and hydrogen technology integration potential with renewable energy for applications in oil and gas remote facilities power supply. It also shows emerging hydrogen technologies potential for use in upstream and midstream applications.

Gas mass flow control in jet equipment

Based on a numerical simulation of gas flows in an ejector unit and an analysis of grinding chamber acoustic signals, this paper shows ways to increase the efficiency of jet grinding. To prevent ejector speed-up tube wear and to obtain a ground product without impurities, the effect of feeding an additional energy carrier flow on the flow pattern in the speed-up tube of a jet mill was studied. A comparative analysis of the ejector flow pattern as a function of the presence of an additional feed and the speed-up tube shape was carried out. It was shown that the use of a conical nozzle offers a more uniform flow at the ejector outlet. The additional energy carrier feed provides a uniform increase in flow speed and reduces speed-up tube wall wear. The acoustic signals of the mill working zones were related to the jet grinding process parameters, around which a ground product quality control method was developed. The paper presents a technique for determining the material particle size in the energy carrier flow from the results of acoustic monitoring of the process. The technique uses the established relationship between the dispersion of the acoustic signal characteristic frequency and the mass of the corresponding fracture of the mixture in in-flow material transportation. The technique speeds up material particle size determination and improves the finished product quality. An automatic system was developed to control the grinding process by controlling the loading process according to the characteristics of the grinding zone acoustic signals. An operating model of a controlled hopper of a gas jet mill was made. The operability of the control system was verified on a simulation model, which includes a control objet (mill) model and a control system model. It was shown that the system of mill loading automatic control by the characteristics of the grinding zone acoustic signals offers an up to 10 percent increase in mill capacity, which was verified in industrial conditions at Vilnohorsk Mining and Metallurgical Plant.

Waste-Based Intermediate Bioenergy Carriers: Syngas Production via Coupling Slow Pyrolysis with Gasification under a Circular Economy Model

Waste-based feedstocks and bioenergy intermediate carriers are key issues of the whole bioenergy value chain. Towards a circular economy, changing upcycling infra-structure systems takes time, while energy-from-waste (EfW) technologies like waste pyrolysis and gasification could play an integral part. Thus, the aim of this study is to propose a circular economy pathway for the waste to energy (WtE) thermochemical technologies, through which solid biomass waste can be slowly pyrolyzed to biochar (main product), in various regionally distributed small plants, and the pyro-oils, by-products of those plants could be used as an intermediate energy carrier to fuel a central gasification plant for syngas production. Through the performed review, the main parameters of the whole process chain, from waste to syngas, were discussed. The study develops a conceptual model that can be implemented for overcoming barriers to the broad deployment of WtE solutions. The proposed model of WtE facilities is changing the recycling economy into a circular economy, where nothing is wasted, while a carbon-negative energy carrier can be achieved. The downstream side of the process (cleaning of syngas) and the economic feasibility of the dual such system need optimization.

RESEARCH OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF TWO-CHAMBER PULSE DEVICES FOR STAMPING

Одной из разновидностей устройств, осуществляющих импульсные методы обработки давлением, являются двухкамерные устройства для листовой штамповки, использующие в качестве энергоносителя газовоздушные топливные смеси. Подача сжатого воздуха в камеру сгорания в рассматриваемом двухкамерном устройстве для листовой штамповки осуществляется компрессором. Проведен анализ термодинамических процессов, протекающих в камере сгорания и рабочем цилиндре двухкамерного устройства для листовой штамповки. При этом установлено, что энергия, затрачиваемая на работу компрессора, составляет около 45% от энергии, выделяющейся в камере сгорания. Получена зависимость для определения термодинамического КПД двухкамерных устройств для листовой штамповки, величина его составляет около 0,25. Установлено, что энергоэффективность двухкамерных устройств не уступает энергоэффективности традиционного штамповочного оборудования, при этом затраты на энергоносители двухкамерных устройств ниже за счет использования дешевого энергоносителя. В двухкамерном штамповочном устройстве для листовой штамповки электрическая энергия, используемая на работу компрессора, составляет менее 1/3 общей потребляемой энергии устройства. Поэтому при прочих равных условиях расходы на энергоносители будут значительно меньше, чем в штамповочном оборудовании, работающем на электрическом токе One of the types of devices that carry out pulse methods of pressure treatment are two-chamber devices for sheet stamping, using gas-air fuel mixtures as an energy carrier. The supply of compressed air to the combustion chamber in the considered two-chamber device for sheet stamping is carried out by a compressor. We carried out the analysis of thermodynamic processes taking place in the combustion chamber and the working cylinder of a two-chamber device for sheet stamping. We found that the energy spent on the operation of the compressor is about 45% of the energy released in the combustion chamber. We obtained the dependence for determining the thermodynamic efficiency of two-chamber devices for sheet stamping; its value is about 0.25. We established that the energy efficiency of two-chamber devices is not inferior to the energy efficiency of traditional stamping equipment, while the energy costs of two-chamber devices are lower due to the use of a cheap energy carrier. In a two-chamber die-forging device for sheet metal stamping, the electrical energy used to operate the compressor is less than 1/3 of the total energy consumption of the device. Therefore, all other things being equal, the cost of energy carriers will be significantly less than in stamping equipment operating on electric current