(393c) First Order Approximation of Hydrogen Delivery System Costs

With hydrogen infrastructure in its infancy companies are competing for a limited number of public demonstration projects, such as Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) project now operating in 9 European cities. To establish a solid reputation as a market leader in both the hydrogen industry and in the public domain, winning the tender process for such demonstrations is crucial. The aim of participation may initially be the for publicity alone; consequently, the project may be expected to make a loss in the short-term, but potential financial rewards could be available in the future. When bidding for such demonstration projects it is important to react quickly to the tender process and not loose crucial time identifying in-depth economics of the proposal in the relatively short tender process. However, a basic understanding of the financial implications is still important at this stage of the tender process.

This paper defines generic economic models for the major components of a hydrogen production, storage, pumping and dispensing system. Key areas covered are hydrogen production via Steam Methane Reformation and Electrolysis, transport and storage via Pipelines and in Cylinders and local effects by either Pumps, Compressors or Dispensers. Additionally, energy inputs and subsequent CO2 penalties for each system component is included. Finally, the economic and energy analysis is applied to the current CUTE project in London, Great Britain.

Conclusions and content of this paper are applicable not only to the Chemical Engineering community, but are also of interest to hydrogen energy researcher's and policy/government strategists'.