Techno-Economic and Life Cycle Assessment of Blue Hydrogen Production by Partial Oxidation

Abstract

Partial oxidation (POx) as a hydrogen production method has not received comprehensive exploration as the resulting syngas has a relatively low H2/CO ratio compared to established techniques like Steam Methane Reforming (SMR). As a result, this study aims to comprehensively investigate the feasibility of a low-carbon hydrogen production process using POx from both technical-economic and environmental standpoints. To achieve this, the Aspen Plus® software is employed to model a hydrogen production plant with Carbon Capture integration, referred to as POx-CCS. The research reveals that the overall energy efficiency of the POx-CCS process is around 73%. Moreover, the economic evaluation indicates that the Levelised Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) is €1.8/ kgH2, given a fuel price of €5.7 per gigajoule. This cost competitiveness positions POx-CCS in line with conventional hydrogen production methods. From an environmental perspective, the climate change impact of hydrogen production through the POx-CCS process is assessed to be 1.62 kg CO2 eq./kgH2. Comparatively, this impact is reduced by 54% when contrasted with SMR with CCS and an impressive 85% reduction compared to SMR without CCS.

Keywords: Partial oxidation, carbon capture, cost of CO2 capture, greenhouse gas emissions