Session: 17-01-01: Research Posters

Paper Number: 150862

150862 - A Regional Hydrogen Resiliency Concept 

The United States (US) vision of the clean energy transition contemplates hydrogen as a significant alternative to fossil fuels for achieving economy-wide net zero emissions. Hydrogen is abundantly available in nature, has one of the highest mass-energy densities and is emission-free in most cases. However, realizing a hydrogen-oriented economy will require massive end-to-end infrastructure developments from production to end users. Although many developments are underway in production, storage, delivery and applications, most of these capital movements are in the coastal regions. Supply and delivery from these infrastructures to deep inland regions will require significant investment and time in developing thousands of miles-long compressed hydrogen pipelines and liquid hydrogen delivery tankers, which can increase the end user hydrogen costs several times. In addition, hydrogen storage and delivery at a long distance is a challenge due to material compatibility issues, boil-off losses and other performance issues. Moreover, in the wake of global energy scenarios, it is imperative to create distributed energy resiliency instead of centralized platforms to reduce adversary threats and improve the cyber-physical security of the US energy sector. The current poster conceptualizes a hydrogen plant with an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) operating on locally available feedstocks at El Paso, TX, for regional hydrogen resiliency. El Paso is situated in the most extreme western part of Texas and is a city bordered by the state of New Mexico and the country of Mexico. Even though it is the 22nd largest city by population in the US and the sixth largest in Texas, it is nearly thousands of miles away from any of the hydrogen hubs under development. The nearest hydrogen plant is almost 500 miles away from the city. The current work focuses on an overall framework for regional hydrogen production while analyzing both the lifecycle (LCA) and techno-economic (TEA) perspectives. The study utilizes an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) plant coupled to a carbon capture unit (CCU) to produce the hydrogen and meet local demands. Since the hydrogen can be used onsite/near-site, such frameworks can significantly reduce existing challenges and complexities with supply, delivery and storage, reducing end-user costs and improving stakeholder markets. A field survey was done to collect the available regional energy crop and solid waste data, which was then analyzed to obtain elemental compositions. The feedstock properties were fed into an Aspen-based IGCC plant running on a set of modular fluidized bed gasifiers, and a portion of the produced hydrogen was split into a pure hydrogen outlet. The entire lifecycle from cradle to gate was considered, and all the expenses related to capital costs, operational costs, and transportation costs were inserted into an analytical model to forecast the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) from various sustainable feedstocks. Some of the novel aspects include the co-gasification of complex biomasses, cycle pressurization, and modular gasifier-based IGCC. The outcomes suggest the top potential gasification feedstocks in the region are pecan shells, cotton gin trash, and municipal solid waste (MSW). The IGCC was modeled with several modular gasifiers (10MWth each). Gasification sensitivity revealed the pecan shells performed better than other feedstocks and can be used to co-gasify with MSW to improve the performance and efficiency of the system. Pressurization and high gasification cycle temperature improved the syngas' heating value for co-gasification. The power cycle utilized syngas as the energy carrier and achieved about 33% cycle efficiency for hydrogen lean power generation. The feasibility study revealed that the hydrogen produced was carbon neutral and could support the net zero emission goal. In contrast, the production cost stayed between $2 and $3 for various feedstocks and their blends. A public-centric communication framework was also developed for outreach and to inform the public regarding the energy transition with the new technologies.

Presenting Author: Afsana Mustari Itul The University of Texas at El Paso

Presenting Author Biography: Afsana Mustari Itul is a Doctoral Research Assistant at the Aerospace Center at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department at UTEP. At the Aerospace Center, Ms. Itul works with the energy team in developing a high pressuring sustainable gasifier. Her research interests are hydrogen production systems, CFD and clean energy systems. She also has a BS in Aeronautical Engineering with distinction from the Military Institute of Science and Technology

Authors:

Sumit Chanda The University of Texas at El Paso
Afsana Mustari Itul The University of Texas at El Paso
Safwan Shafquat The University of Texas at El Paso
Anika Tasnim The University of Texas at El Paso
Ahmed Ann Noor Ryen The University of Texas at El Paso
Nawshad Arslan Islam The University of Texas at El Paso