(397h) Process Design and Economic Analysis for the Retrofitting of a Hydrogen Plant with CO2 Capture

Joohwa Lee¹, Haryn Park¹, Seokwon Yun², Jin-Kuk Kim*¹

¹Hanyang University, Korea, Republic of

²SK Innovation, Korea, Republic of

*Email: jinkukkim@hanyang.ac.kr

It is much more economic to use fossil fuels than to use renewable energy for the commercial-scale production of hydrogen. However, simply using fossil fuel is not a clean method due to the emission of CO₂, so the introduction of CO₂ capture process would be the most realistic way to reduce CO₂ emissions for sustainable production of hydrogen. Among various CO₂ capture methods, absorption-based CO₂ capture process is widely used for a large-scale plant. However, integrating the capture process into the hydrogen plant requires additional capital investment and operating expenditure, which leads to a significant increase in the production cost of hydrogen. Although many studies have been conducted to introduce the CO₂ capture process to industrial plants, systematic and comprehensive economic evaluation has not been made for the retrofitting of a hydrogen plant with a capture plant.

In this study, a baseline hydrogen plant and CO₂ capture process model is created using a commercial simulator Aspen HYSYS^®, while configurational changes associated with CO₂ capture options are also examined and different kinds of retrofit strategies were considered for all possible CO₂ capture options in a holistic manner. The accuracy and applicability of the simulation model developed is validated with literature data. From the simulation results, an economic evaluation study is carried out to estimate the Cost of Hydrogen, CO₂ Capture and Avoidance Cost with breakdown and sensitivity analysis presented. Therefore, the cost-effective strategy for the retrofitting CO₂ capture process into a hydrogen plant is identified, and the optimal configuration and its operating conditions can be systematically determined. Case studies provide conceptual insights and practical design strategies for the retrofitting CO₂ capture into the hydrogen plant.

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2019R1A2C2002263) and by the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) and the Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) of the Republic of Korea (No. 20214710100060).