Energy, economic and safety evaluation of blue hydrogen production through modelling and simulation

Driven by net-zero emissions scenarios, global demand for hydrogen (H2) is growing rapidly and expected to exceed 200 million tonnes/year by 2030. Currently, steam methane reforming (SMR) remains the primary hydrogen production method but it generates significant carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Blue hydrogen production (BHP) aims to mitigate this impact, though challenges in energy efficiency, cost, and safety remain. Through optimizing processes, modifying configurations and developing risk assessment systems, these challenges can be addressed.
A rate-based model of post-combustion carbon capture (PCC) process was developed at pilot scale and scaled up to commercial scale for capturing CO2 from SMR process. The energy performance of this PCC process using piperazine (PZ) and advanced flash stripper (AFS) configuration was investigated and compared with the standard PCC process using Monoethanolamine (MEA). The results indicated that the energy consumption of PZ was lower than that of MEA, and that can be further reduced by using AFS configuration.
The detailed models of the commercial-scale SMR process was developed and integrated with PCC process. A novel configuration was proposed to lower both costs and energy consumption. Compared to the standard BHP process, the proposed energy and cost-saving blue hydrogen production (ECSB) process using 30 wt.% PZ reduced energy penalty by 36 % and levelized cost of blue hydrogen (LCBH) by 20 %.
An integrated model is developed based on the ECSB process to investigate the relationship between potential process safety improvements and economic benefits. In addition, a weighted risk index (WRI) method is proposed to assess the overall process risk of BHP process. The results of integrating risk and economics analysis showed that the recommended operating temperature should be between 800-1000 oC. The operating pressures above 30 bar should be avoided.