Washington (May 23rd, 2017) – The International Journal of Hydrogen Energy has published a peer-reviewed study titled “Thermal Hydrogen: an emissions free hydrocarbon economy”. The study, authored by Jared Moore of Meridian Energy and Policy Consulting, envisions a fossil fueled economy without CO2 emissions, electric transportation without range limits, and (renewable) energy storage without batteries. What is distinctive and perhaps most important about the economy, however, is that fossil fuels are made more competitive, not less, with decarbonization. Furthermore, all hydrogen can be distributed using the existing infrastructure.
How is this possible? The energy system takes advantage of the symbiotic chemical relationships created by a hydrogen economy and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS). The idea is that a hydrogen economy enables emissions free hydrocarbon utilization; mutually reinforcing this relationship, hydrocarbon utilization creates chemicals to enable pragmatic hydrogen production and distribution.
For example, when hydrogen is produced by splitting water (H2O), the pure oxygen produced is normally “dumped”. This oxygen can be used to pre-empt the part that makes CCS relatively expensive—the “Carbon Capture” (or gas separation) part. In CCS, nitrogen gas, which makes up ~78% of air, must be separated to isolate CO2 for sequestration. This requires work. If pure oxygen from water splitting can be used to oxidize hydrocarbons, this work is not required as nitrogen in air never gets a chance to contaminate combustion. Thus, the combustion reactants would be limited to only “sequestration ready” CO2 and water.
Hydrocarbon processes are made increasingly competitive in the Thermal Hydrogen economy because pure oxygen also enables the use of the simplest and most efficient thermodynamic cycles—the Allam cycle for electricity production and auto-thermal reforming for hydrogen/syngas production. The cost of sequestration would presumably be off-set by the commodity value of the CO2, which can be used for Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR).
So, while a hydrogen economy creates pure oxygen for hydrocarbons, a hydrocarbon economy creates chemicals to enable hydrogen energy carriers. Instead of electrolyzing water, CO2 can be electrolyzed, and auto-thermal reformers can also make syngas (H2/CO) instead of hydrogen. The syngas can be reformed into hydrogen or it can be reformed into methanol for distribution or (solid oxide) fuel cell use. Furthermore, CCS creates pure nitrogen, and less than 10% of hydrocarbons require CCS to create the nitrogen necessary to convert all hydrogen intended for combustion into ammonia. Methanol and ammonia are envisioned to replace natural gas and gasoline, respectively, enabling all hydrogen to be distributed using the existing infrastructure.
Dr. Moore summarizes the implications, “This vision shows how the modern economy can be renovated—without requiring any pure hydrogen distribution—to reduce hydrocarbon costs while yielding only oil and water instead of pollution. I am seeking funding to show how a regional-scale project can show proof of concept. For production, we can blend methanol produced from Thermal Hydrogen with gasoline. On the consumption side, (plug-in) SOFC vehicles can be fueled by the grid and then can reform any hydrocarbon for range. Effectively, the versatility of carbon prevents the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma. Therefore, we don’t need to wait, and acting now will enable more grid flexibility, and by extension, more intermittent renewable energy.”
The economy was introduced during a presentation at the National Coal Council spring meeting. Dr. Jared Moore can be contacted for media inquiries and interviews at (402-630-0923) or ([email protected]).
More information on Meridian Energy and Policy Consulting is available at www.meridianenergypolicy.com/
