Ibrahim, Yasir Abdelaziz Omer (2021-12). Modeling and Optimization of Low-Carbon Hydrogen Production and Delivery. Master's Thesis. Thesis uri icon

abstract

  • Hydrogen has been hailed as the key material that could assist in ending the world's dependence on fossil fuels and aid in the transition to net-zero emission. This attraction Comes on the heels of a profound energy transformation to the low-carbon energy system. Nevertheless, various impediments associated with production, storage, and transportation have to be overcome. On one hand, a significant amount of CO2 emission is generated on the production site as high energy input is required. On the other hand, sufficient and dedicated infrastructure for transportation is yet to be developed. Therefore, incorporating renewable energy, assess CO2 capture, storage, and utilization in the Hydrogen Supply Chain Network (HSCN), would be an effective and efficient solution. This could be the missing block towards the global energy neutral, as shown in many recent roadmaps. Hence, an optimization model is developed based on a novel combination of Resource Integration and Geographically-Explicit Optimization models. The resource integration will provide a novel representation to track all the resources and processes through the HSCN. These resources and processes could be but are not limited to H2, CO2, H2O, and CH4. On the other hand, the spatial interconnection of the HSCN is evaluated through the geographically explicit optimization model. This work presents a comprehensive framework to determine the minimum cost for hydrogen infrastructure design as well as CO2 capture and recovery strategies in an industrial cluster. The framework will identify the optimum decision pertains to production, storage, and transportation technologies. For long-distance hydrogen transmission, various options have been investigated. These options are ammonia, Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC), and liquid hydrogen. Additionally, the model considered two CO2 emissions mitigation policies, which are setting targets and monetizing the CO2 emissions. The model evaluated the effectiveness of implementing the two CO2 emissions policies on minimizing the cost and environmental impacts of the HSCN. The optimization results suggest that the inclusion of the environmental policies can economically justify the low-carbon hydrogen through electrolysis.

publication date

  • December 2021