Onsite hydrogen production

In parallel onsite hydrogen production based on electrolysis or natural gas reforming, to stimulate the respective industries to further develop the necessary technologies and... 

High purity hydrogen generator for onsite hydrogen production. Int.J. Hydrogen Energ., 27, 1043-1047. 

For the first decades, all roadmaps show a focus on fossil-based hydrogen production options, mainly onsite and decentral steam methane reformers (SMR), electro-lysers and hydrogen as a by-product from the chemical industry. In some regions, hydrogen is also produced to a certain extend by nuclear, electrolysis, biomass and waste gasification. Later on, with a significant increase of hydrogen, the production... 

Today s rapidly increasing activities on hydrogen focus mostly on vehicle applications and less on stationary applications. For fuel cells, stationary applications are also relevant, but natural gas will be the dominant fuel here. The dominance of the transport sector is also reflected in the hydrogen roadmaps developed, among others, in the EU, the USA, Japan, or at an international level. Whereas in the beginning, onsite or decentralised production options based on fossil fuels or electricity are seen as the major option for hydrogen production, later on central production options will dominate the market. Here, several options could play a role, from coal, with carbon capture and sequestration, through natural gas and renewables (wind, biomass) to nuclear. A C02-free or lean vision can be identified in every roadmap. The cost... 

Decentralised hydrogen production from natural gas for onsite applications (fuel cells, refuelling stations for hydrogen vehicles) eliminates or reduces the problems of distribution and storage. Nevertheless, current technology has high costs because it lacks economy of scale. Lower pressure and temperature and lower-cost materials are... 

In the renewable scenario, 50% of the hydrogen must come from renewable sources from 2020 on. Biomass is the cheapest renewable option, but has a limited potential, as the competition between hydrogen, biofuels and other uses has to be considered. Offshore wind via electrolysis could, therefore, play a very important role for hydrogen production after 2020. Onsite SMR also dominates here in the early phase. 

Figure 14.9(d). Hydrogen-production plants in the REF scenario for onsite steam methane reforming in Germany in 2030. 

Depending on the scale of application, hydrogen production processes are characterised as forecourt (smaller distributed facilities located onsite at refueling stations, sized at 100 to 1500 kg H2 per day) and central (large plants, sized at... 

Table 7.18. Input and output data for the production of hydrogen via onsite steam reforming of natural gas ...

Fig. 14.3 shows schematically how the hydrogen infrastructure options - comprising the whole supply chain of hydrogen from production (central or onsite), via transport and distribution to the (implementation of) refuelling stations - are modelled in MOREHyS. It has to be noted, that from the point of view of model implementation, transport refers to the transportation of hydrogen between different areas, while distribution is defined as the transportation of hydrogen within the... 

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