H2Tech - Q1 2021 - 28

SPECIAL FOCUS

ADVANCES IN HYDROGEN TECHNOLOGY

both at ports and in long-haul overland
transport, clean industrial consumption,
and gas turbine fuel with up to 100% H2.
Transportation studies in North
America. Production of H2 via conven-

tional methodologies, recovery of byproduct or through greener approaches,
such as water electrolysis, have a marked
effect on both the cost and availability of
H2. When considering H2 as an alternative fuel, it is normal that the first question asked is usually " What is the delivered cost of H2? " How to best produce H2
for the future is a broad topic not covered
by this article. The authors' focus is to
explore how to best deliver produced H2
reliably and at a competitive cost.
Concurrent to the demonstration of
SPERA LOHC technology, a number of
wide-ranging studies have been under-

taken to explore competitive options for
transportation. Both locally focused and
long-haul transport have been considered
and reviewed. Truck transport, rail, inland
waterway barges, pipelines and ocean-going tankers have been compared in a number of studies (FIG. 13).
In 2019, a detailed study was concluded with the government of British
Columbia in Canada that considered the
efficient transport of H2 produced from
low-cost hydropower. SPERA technology served as the basis, and transport of
H2 from a coastal location was considered for delivery to Japan, to the city of
Vancouver, Canada and to the port of Los
Angeles in California, U.S.
Another study was completed in 2019
with a U.S.-based industrial partner to
produce H2 from excess nuclear power in
the Midwestern U.S. The LOHC was then

FIG. 13. Studies undertaken to explore competitive options for H2 transportation.

FIG. 14. SPERA technology as applied to a green energy hub.

28 Q1 2021 | H2-Tech.com

transported to an industrial port located
on the U.S. Gulf Coast for eventual dehydrogenation and subsequent distribution
for both industrial use and/or clean power
production. In this case, rail and barge
transport options were investigated.
Lastly, a research laboratory of the
U.S. DOE was engaged to complete another detailed transportation study. In
this study, the recovery of H2 from existing U.S. Gulf Coast sources (cracker byproduct and chlor-alkali offgas) was compared with green production of H2 using
both solar and wind energy, for transport
to California for use as mobility fuel and
power. Various transport options were
considered, including rail and ocean-going, long-range chemical carriers.
With reference to the DOE study, several findings were noted:
* Transmission of methylcyclohexane
and toluene by large product tankers
(115,000 deadweight tonnage, or
DWT) is 50% less expensive than
transmission by rail at $0.7/kg vs.
$1.53/kg. It is also important to
note that greenhouse gas emissions
are reduced by half when utilizing
ships for transmission, compared
with rail transport.
* Use of byproduct H2 incurs the
lowest cost among all of the
pathways analyzed. Using ships
as the transmission mode, the
cost (reflected by natural gas
substitution only) could be at a
delivered total cost of below $2/kg,
including transmission cost.
Future applications. SPERA has
strength in large-scale transportation by
ocean-going, long-range chemical carriers,
as well as the potential to provide for H2
in many applications beyond the obvious
uses in mobility, material movement and
clean power generation (FIG. 14). H2 production by green or traditional methods
can be utilized in remote locations for convenience and competitiveness, with shipment to any other location for centralized
or decentralized recovery of H2, depending on the desirable end use at hand.
Large-scale H2 storage is one method
to consider for storage of fluctuating renewable power, such as seasonal fluctuation, at the point when renewable power
is widely introduced in the power grid
network. The H2 also can be used in the
gas grid network.

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