feasibility study of hydrogen production using electrolysis and wind power in patagonia, argentina

107 Pages·2008·1.69 MB·English

FEASIBILITY STUDY OF HYDROGEN PRODUCTION USING ELECTROLYSIS AND
WIND POWER IN PATAGONIA, ARGENTINA

By

FEDERICO A. GIUDICI

A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF SCIENCE

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

2008
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© 2008 Federico A. Giudici

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To my nephew, Santino.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my family for the support they have given me all these years, even
being so far from here. I am also very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Dr. H.
A. Ingley, III. He was not only a great advisor but also a friend. Also, I appreciate the effort of
the members of my committee, Dr. Schueller and Dr. Sherif.
Finally, I thank the people working with the Fulbright Commission in the United States
and Argentina for making this project possible.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...............................................................................................................4
LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................................7
LIST OF FIGURES.........................................................................................................................8
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................................................10
ABSTRACT...................................................................................................................................11
CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................12
Hydrogen as an Energy Carrier..............................................................................................12
Background......................................................................................................................12
Hydrogen as an Energy Carrier.......................................................................................13
Renewable Energy and Energy Storage..........................................................................14
Hydrogen Production.......................................................................................................16
Hydrogen Storage............................................................................................................17
Energy Distribution.........................................................................................................20
Hydrogen Utilization.......................................................................................................22
Electrolyzers...........................................................................................................................23
Electrolysis of Water.......................................................................................................23
Process Description.........................................................................................................24
Electrolyzers Classification.............................................................................................27
Alkaline electrolyzers...............................................................................................28
PEM electrolyzer......................................................................................................29
Solid oxide electrolyzers..........................................................................................31
High-pressure electrolysis........................................................................................32
Relative Sizing of an Electrolyzer...................................................................................34
Water Consumption.........................................................................................................34
By-Product Oxygen.........................................................................................................36
Current State of Electrolyzers Development...................................................................36
Wind Power............................................................................................................................37
Initial Site Selection........................................................................................................40
Micrositing......................................................................................................................41
Argentina and Patagonia Case................................................................................................42
Introduction to Feasibility Study............................................................................................46
2 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................49
Process Description................................................................................................................49
Process Schematic...........................................................................................................49
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Capacity Calculation.......................................................................................................50
Wind farm................................................................................................................51
Electrolysis system...................................................................................................51
Water consumption..................................................................................................52
Storage......................................................................................................................52
Hydrogen pipeline....................................................................................................53
Technical Feasibility...............................................................................................................53
Economic Feasibility..............................................................................................................54
Capital Investment...........................................................................................................54
Operating Costs...............................................................................................................55
Return on Investment......................................................................................................55
Hydrogen Cost.................................................................................................................55
Data acquisition and model assumptions........................................................................56
Wind speeds and wind farm.....................................................................................56
Electrolysis system...................................................................................................60
Storage and distribution facilities.............................................................................63
By-product oxygen...................................................................................................64
3 RESULTS...............................................................................................................................66
Technical Feasibility...............................................................................................................66
Economic Feasibility..............................................................................................................66
Water Consumption................................................................................................................71
4 CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................73
Conclusions.............................................................................................................................73
Recommendations for Future Studies.....................................................................................74

APPENDIX
A HYDROGEN PROPERTIES.................................................................................................75
B MAPS.....................................................................................................................................79
C WIND POWER CALCULATION DATA.............................................................................84
D CALCULATIONS..................................................................................................................90
LIST OF REFERENCES.............................................................................................................103
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.......................................................................................................107

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LIST OF TABLES
Table page

1-1 Hydrogen and other fuels properties related to storage.....................................................18
1-2 Types of electrolyzers........................................................................................................28
1-3 Change of hydrogen production by pressure.....................................................................33
1-4 ASTM specifications for reagent water.............................................................................35
1-5 Characteristics of largest commercially available electrolyzers as of December 2003.....37
1-6 Standard wind classification at 50 meters..........................................................................39
1-7 Renewable energy extraction limits for Argentina and the world.....................................44
2-1 Typical breakdown cost for a 10 MWe wind farm............................................................56
2-2 Electrolyzer energy consumption estimated developement...............................................60
2-3 Electrolyzer cost data.........................................................................................................62
2-4 Pipeline installation costs in 2008 dollars..........................................................................63
A-1 Lower and higher heating values of hydrogen and fuels..................................................75
C-1 REpower 5M technical data...............................................................................................85
C-2 Wind power data for the wind farm site utilizing a single REpower 5M turbine..............88
D-1 Capacity calculation assumptions......................................................................................90
D-2 Cost calculation assumptions.............................................................................................91
D-3 Capacity calculations.........................................................................................................92
D-4 Lowest cost calculations for different plant capacities......................................................93
D-5 Lowest hydrogen cost breakdown for different plant capacities.......................................96
D-6 Highest cost calculations for different plant capacities.....................................................97
D-7 Highest hydrogen cost breakdown for different plant capacities.....................................100
D-8 Hydrogen cost breakdown without transportation...........................................................101
D-9 Comparison of different estimations for the cost of hydrogen produced........................102
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure page

1-1 Simple alkaline electrolyzer...............................................................................................25
1-2 Alkaline electrolyzers........................................................................................................28
1-3 Schematic of electrolysis cell with PEM...........................................................................30
1-4 Major components of a horizontal axis wind turbine........................................................39
1-5 Wind farm array schematic................................................................................................41
1-6 Argentine population.........................................................................................................43
1-7 Composition of Argentine energy offer in 2006................................................................44
1-8 Evolution of the composition of Argentine electricity generation.....................................45
2-1 Process schematic..............................................................................................................50
2-2 Annual oxygen production in Argentina............................................................................64
3-1 Hydrogen cost for different production capacities.............................................................67
3-2 Calculated required wind farm area...................................................................................68
3-3 Total capital investment for different production capacities.............................................69
3-4 Comparison of the estimated hydrogen cost against different published estimations.......69
3-5 Comparison of electricity costs used to estimate the hydrogen cost.................................70
3-6 Estimated hydrogen cost breakdown (lowest cost)............................................................71
3-7 Water consumption for different plant capacities..............................................................72
A-1 Energy density by weight for various storage forms.........................................................76
A-2 Energy density by volume for various storage forms........................................................77
A-3 Cycle efficiency for various storage forms........................................................................78
B-1 Location of Argentina in the world....................................................................................79
B-2 Argentine map showing average wind speed at 50 m above ground and Patagonia.........80
B-3 Patagonia’s topography......................................................................................................81
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B-4 Argentine population distribution per province.................................................................82
B-5 Patagonia map showing average wind speed at 50 m above ground and permanent
rivers..................................................................................................................................83
C-1 REpower 5M power curve.................................................................................................84
C-2 SIG Eólico..........................................................................................................................86
C-3 SIG Eólico, main screen....................................................................................................86
C-4 SIG Eólico, wind power information screen......................................................................87
C-5 Wind rose for data point 1.................................................................................................88
C-6 Probability density function of the wind speed for data point 1........................................89

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AC: Alternate current.
ASME: American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
ASTM: American Society for Testing and Materials.
DC: Direct current.
FC: Fuel cell.
GJ: Gigajoule (109 joules).
gpm: Gallons per minute.
GW: Gigawatts (109 watts).
HHV: Higher heating value.
HVDC: High-voltage direct current.
ktoe: Kilo tonne of oil equivalent (1 ktoe = 41.868 GJ = 11.63 MWh).
lpm: Liters per minute.
MPa: Mega Pascal (106 Pascal).
MW: Mega Watt (106 watts).
MWe: Electrical megawatt.
MWh: Megawatt-hour.
Nm3: Normal cubic meter. It is a measure of quantity of gas, equal to a cubic
meter at 273.15 K and 101.325 kPa.
PEM: Polymer electrolyte membrane or proton exchange membrane.
PV: Photovoltaic.
scf: Standard cubic foot. It is a measure of quantity of gas, equal to a cubic
foot at 60°F and either 14.696 pounds per square inch (1 atm) or 14.73 psi
(30 inHg) of pressure.
SMR: Steam methane reformation.
STP: Standard temperature and pressure (25°C and 1 atmosphere pressure).
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