A Comparative Study of Different Hydrogen Delivery and Storage Systems for Industrial Applications

Abstract

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to addressing global warming. In response, emission-intensive industries with significant emissions prioritize efforts to cut their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to a zero-emission future. Among these industries, INEOS Tyssedal has shown the potential efficiency of replacing coal with hydrogen in their high purity pig iron and titanium slag production. This thesis investigates how INEOS Tyssedal can ensure a stable supply of 10,000 tonnes of hydrogen per year, and is written in collaboration with TechnipFMC.

INEOS Tyssedal is part of an industrial symbiosis involving Statkraft and its hydropower plant powering a hydrogen production facility, and TechnipFMC’s subsea hydrogen storage solution located at the bottom of the nearby fjord to ensure a stable hydrogen supply. However, this industrial symbiosis is currently only a proposal. Consequently, this thesis addresses a knowledge gap by conducting a comparative study on various hydrogen storage and supply scenarios. It includes identifying all possible scenarios, which are assessed against specific, essential requirements to ensure the feasibility of the solutions specifically for INEOS Tyssedal.

The feasible solutions include excess polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser capacity powered by the hydropower plant with an emergency power generator during a power outage, local hydrogen production with subsea hydrogen storage, hydrogen transport by pipelines, and the transport of liquid organic hydrogen carriers by ship with local storage and dehydrogenation facility. These scenarios are further compared using the Pugh matrix as a method to find the best suited solution. In the Pugh matrix, key drivers are identified and weighted according to their importance to the end-user, in this case, INEOS Tyssedal. Each key driver is then further broken down into evaluation criteria that highlight how these scenarios differ from one another.

The Pugh matrix results indicate that excess polymer electrolyte membrane electrolyser capacity emerges as the clear winner, with subsea hydrogen storage as the second-best option. The proposed solutions of subsea pipelines and liquid organic hydrogen carriers score quite similarly among the feasible options. The results imply that the absence of a storage solution significantly reduces costs. However, the results also indicate that a storage solution could offer several benefits, including utilization by multiple end-users.