Abstract
The development of new technologies and the optimization of existing technologies is of utmost importance to progress in the decarbonisation of industries. Shell is leveraging on the development of large-scale hydrogen production plant using renewable source of electricity. Green hydrogen is produced through water electrolysis with oxygen as side product - 1:8 tonne/tonne. Oxygen is presently vented to the atmosphere, but research activities are underway to develop treatment technologies for promoting oxygen utilization and monetisation opportunities.
Oxygen industrial applications are researched using a non-intermittent GW scale electrolyser operating at atmospheric pressure as basis. For the majority of the examined processes, a MW scale electrolyser is sufficient to meet the O2 requirement. Only the Allam Cycle application requires an O2 amount of the same scale for a specific net outlet duty.
Oxygen produced from an electrolyser contains hydrogen and water as major impurities. In order to meet the industrial purity specification of >99.5 vol.%, purification is required with upstream compression when the electrolyser operates at atmospheric pressure. In such cases, a techno-economic assessment for wet compression is conducted examining competing technologies. The study is completed with the support of external technical proposals. The discharge pressure is reached using water as motive fluid which is subsequently separated from the gas and recirculated after cooling. The system CAPEX and OPEX are comparable, whereas the compression power requirement is specified at different value.
The 1st purification unit aims at hydrogen reduction to ppmv level in accordance with end-user specifications, dehydrogenation. This operation is accomplished through H2/O2 combustion on a noble metal catalyst and in oxygen excess. Reactor design is required to complete preliminary design for capital project and enable cost estimation. The high degree of novelty of the technology is the source of lack of experimental data. In absence of those, a Preliminary Design Estimation Tool for deoxygenation reactor (O2 removal from H2) is developed and released for user utilization. The tool will be adapted for the dehydrogenation unit.
The 2nd purification unit aims at water reduction to ppmv level in accordance with end-user specifications through Temperature Swing Adsorption. A techno-economic assessment is completed to analyse the feed temperature impact on the dehydration system design to identify an optimal design line-up.
Deployment of an electrolyser integrated with O2 treatment is a renewable industrial alternative to the conventional cryogenic air separation unit for O2 production. The competitiveness of a HP - GW non-intermittent alkaline electrolyser against an air separation unit is demonstrated in terms of O2 production costs. This results in making O2 monetisation for future project potentially attractive.
Concerns are being raised about the indirect environmental impact of the H2 in the O2 stream when oxygen is vented to the atmosphere - monetisation not pursued. The dehydrogenation unit is assessed as valuable mitigation technology for future regulatory compliance.
Oxygen industrial applications are researched using a non-intermittent GW scale electrolyser operating at atmospheric pressure as basis. For the majority of the examined processes, a MW scale electrolyser is sufficient to meet the O2 requirement. Only the Allam Cycle application requires an O2 amount of the same scale for a specific net outlet duty.
Oxygen produced from an electrolyser contains hydrogen and water as major impurities. In order to meet the industrial purity specification of >99.5 vol.%, purification is required with upstream compression when the electrolyser operates at atmospheric pressure. In such cases, a techno-economic assessment for wet compression is conducted examining competing technologies. The study is completed with the support of external technical proposals. The discharge pressure is reached using water as motive fluid which is subsequently separated from the gas and recirculated after cooling. The system CAPEX and OPEX are comparable, whereas the compression power requirement is specified at different value.
The 1st purification unit aims at hydrogen reduction to ppmv level in accordance with end-user specifications, dehydrogenation. This operation is accomplished through H2/O2 combustion on a noble metal catalyst and in oxygen excess. Reactor design is required to complete preliminary design for capital project and enable cost estimation. The high degree of novelty of the technology is the source of lack of experimental data. In absence of those, a Preliminary Design Estimation Tool for deoxygenation reactor (O2 removal from H2) is developed and released for user utilization. The tool will be adapted for the dehydrogenation unit.
The 2nd purification unit aims at water reduction to ppmv level in accordance with end-user specifications through Temperature Swing Adsorption. A techno-economic assessment is completed to analyse the feed temperature impact on the dehydration system design to identify an optimal design line-up.
Deployment of an electrolyser integrated with O2 treatment is a renewable industrial alternative to the conventional cryogenic air separation unit for O2 production. The competitiveness of a HP - GW non-intermittent alkaline electrolyser against an air separation unit is demonstrated in terms of O2 production costs. This results in making O2 monetisation for future project potentially attractive.
Concerns are being raised about the indirect environmental impact of the H2 in the O2 stream when oxygen is vented to the atmosphere - monetisation not pursued. The dehydrogenation unit is assessed as valuable mitigation technology for future regulatory compliance.
| Original language | English |
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| Place of Publication | Eindhoven |
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| Publication status | Published - 28 Sept 2023 |
