Economic Analysis and Process Integration of Hydrogen Production Strategies

Hydrogen is a promising energy carrier for future transportation uses. Its combustion produces no greenhouse gases, no ozone layer depleting chemicals, little or no acid rain ingredients and pollution (Barreto et al, 2002). In addition, hydrogen has the highest gravimetric energy density of any known element (U. S Department of Energy, 2004). Furthermore, since the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is believed to be the best future vehicular power source for clean transportation and zero emission (Steele et al, 2001), the study of novel hydrogen production strategies is important. Experimental researchers in the Consortium for Fossil Fuel Science (CFFS) are developing novel technologies for hydrogen production and storage, however the economic and environmental viability of the technologies are mostly evaluated separately rather than in an integrated manner. In this work, we aim to address this gap through the development of integrated system engineering strategies for modeling, integration and optimization of hydrogen polygeneration plants.