Production of Synthetic Natural Gas From Carbon Dioxide and Renewably Generated Hydrogen: A Techno-Economic Analysis of a Power-to-Gas Strategy

Becker, William L.; Penev, Michael; Braun, Robert J.

doi:10.1115/1.4041381

Cited by 65 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Alternative hydrogen carriers are possible by the further conversion of hydrogen to other products, particularly chemical species such as synthetic methane [46][47][48], ammonia [49][50][51], methanol [52][53][54], di-methyl-ether (DME) [55], and methylcyclohexane [12,56]. Some of these chemicals are directly used (e.g., ammonia, methanol, and DME), or can be reverted back to hydrogen at the demand market for direct use (e.g., methanol [57], ammonia [58], and methylcyclohexane [59]).…”

Section: A) Production B) Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Alternative Power-to-Chemical Pathways for Renewable Energy Exports

Rasool¹,

Khalilpour

Rafiee³

et al. 2021

SSRN Journal

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Over the last five decades, there have been a few phases of interest in the so-called hydrogen economy, stemming from the need for either energy security enhancement or climate change mitigation. None of these phases has been successful in a major market development mainly due to the lack of cost competitiveness and partially due to technology readiness challenges. Nevertheless, a new phase has begun very recently, which despite holding original objectives has a new motivation to be fully green, based on renewable energy. This new movement has already initiated bipartisan cooperation of some energy importing countries and those with abundant renewable energy resources and supporting infrastructure. For example, the abundance of renewable resources and a stable economy of Australia can attract investments in building these green value chains with countries such as Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and those even further distant like in Europe. One key challenge in this context is the diversity of pathways for the (national and international) export of non-electricity renewable energy. This poses another challenge, i.e., the need for an agnostic tool for comparing various supply chain pathways fairly while considering various techno-economic factors such as renewable energy sources, hydrogen production and conversion technologies, transport, and destination markets, along with all associated uncertainties. This paper addresses the above challenge by introducing a probabilistic decision analysis cycle methodology for evaluating various renewable energy supply chain pathways based on the hydrogen vector. The decision support tool is generic and can accommodate any kind of renewable chemical and fuel supply chain option. As a case study, we have investigated eight supply chain options composed of two electrolysers (alkaline and membrane) and four carrier options (compressed hydrogen, liquefied hydrogen, methanol, and ammonia) for export from Australian ports to three destinations in Singapore, Japan, and Germany. The results clearly show the complexity of decision making induced by multiple factors. For the case study, under the given input parameters, the methanol combination with alkaline electrolysers becomes the least-cost supply chain option for Singapore, Japan, and Germany with expected levelised costs of hydrogen (ELCOH) of 6.53, 6.61, and 6.93 $/kgH 2, respectively. However, the second-best choices are not the same for all countries. Ammonia (with alkaline electrolysers) becomes the second-best option for Singapore ($7.98/kgH2) and Japan ($8.20/kgH2) destinations, while methanol (this time with PEM electrolysers) proves to be the second-best supply chain option for German destinations ($8.62/kgH2).

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Section: A) Production B) Consumptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Alternative Power-to-Chemical Pathways for Renewable Energy Exports

Rasool¹,

Khalilpour

Rafiee³

et al. 2021

SSRN Journal

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“…Technoeconomic assessment literature notes CO 2 -derived CH 4 as one of the more challenging products made from reduced CO 2 to be competitive on a cost basis ( Orella et al., 2020 ). In CO 2 methanation and power-to-gas technoeconomic assessments the cost is typically over $4.00 per kilogram; thus there is reliance on subsidy or low-cost hydrogen with few examples of economic deployment ( Peters et al., 2019 ; Becker et al., 2019 ). However, there are use cases where CH 4 production from CO 2 does still provide significant value.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electrochemical methane production from CO2 for orbital and interplanetary refueling

Sheehan¹

2021

iScience

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Summary Renewable CO 2 electrosynthesis is a potentially promising tool to utilize unwanted greenhouse gas. The greatest barrier to its adoption is rendering the production of CO 2 -derived chemicals cost-competitive, such that they have higher net value than their fossil-derived equivalents. Among the commodities that have been made using CO 2 , H 2 O, and electricity, CH 4 is one of the simplest and most researched products. Technoeconomic studies of CO 2 methanation make it clear that its high-value applications are limited without significant subsidy on Earth, where it competes with low-cost natural gas. In space, however, CO 2 methanation via the Sabatier reaction is already used on the International Space Station to recycle atomic oxygen, and propulsion systems employing cryogenic liquid methane are in development for reusable rocket engines. Comparative analysis of power-to-gas using either CO 2 electrosynthesis or the Sabatier reaction from an aerospace perspective identifies research priorities and parameters for deployment. Given its atmospheric CO 2 concentration over 95%, Mars may present future opportunities for technology that could also help overcome our climate challenges on Earth.

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“…In the present work, power to gas uses the part of electricity that the CCPP cannot sell at the moment to produce hydrogen through water electrolysis. Then, this hydrogen is combined with CO 2 to produce methane through methanation (Gahleitner, 2013;Giglio et al, 2015;Götz et al, 2015;Jensen et al, 2015;Vandewalle et al, 2015;Bailera et al, 2017a,b;Becker et al, 2019). Several options have been proposed in literature for the supply of CO 2 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Flexibility and Economics of Combined Cycles by Power to Gas

et al. 2020

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Massive penetration of renewable energy in the energy systems is required to comply with existing CO 2 regulations. Considering current power pools, large shares of renewable energy sources imply strong efficiency and economic penalties in fossil fuel power plants as they are mainly operated to regulate the system and constant shutdowns are expected. Under this framework, the integration of a combined cycle power plant (CCPP) with an energy storage technology such as power to gas (PtG) is proposed to virtually reduce its minimum complaint load through the diversion of instantaneous excess electricity. Power to gas produces hydrogen through water electrolysis, which is later combined with CO 2 to produce methane. The main novelty of this study relies in the improved flexibility and economics of combined cycles by means of using power to gas as a tool to reduce the minimum complaint load. The principal objective of the study is the quantification of cost reduction under different scenarios of shutdowns and conventional start-ups. The case study analyses a combined cycle of 400 MW e gross power with a minimum complaint load of 30% that can be virtually reduced to 20% by means of a 40-MW e power-togas plant. Eight scenarios are defined to compare the reference case of conventional operation under hot, warm, and cold start-ups with power-togas assisted operation. Additionally, PtG-assisted operation scenarios are analyzed with different loads (30-50-70%). These scenarios also include the consideration of a temporary peak of demand occurring in a period in which dispatch is below the minimum complaint load. Under this situation, the response time of conventional plants is very limited, while PtG-assisted CCPP can rapidly satisfy the peak. The techno-economic model quantifies the required fuel, gross and net power, and emissions as well as total costs and incomes under each scenario and net differential profit in an hourly basis. The analysis of the obtained results does not recommend the operation of the PtG-assisted CCPP at minimum complaint load for hot, warm, or cold start-ups. However, important marginal profits are achieved with the proposed system for part-loads operation over 50% for every sort of start-up, avoiding shutdowns and extending the capacity factor.

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Production of Synthetic Natural Gas From Carbon Dioxide and Renewably Generated Hydrogen: A Techno-Economic Analysis of a Power-to-Gas Strategy

Cited by 65 publications

References 29 publications

Evaluation of Alternative Power-to-Chemical Pathways for Renewable Energy Exports

Evaluation of Alternative Power-to-Chemical Pathways for Renewable Energy Exports

Electrochemical methane production from CO2 for orbital and interplanetary refueling

Improved Flexibility and Economics of Combined Cycles by Power to Gas

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