A System-Level Analysis for Long-Distance Hydrogen Transport Using Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers (LOHCs): A Case Study in Australia–Korea
Byeongchan Ahn, Hyuntae Sohn, Jay Liu, Wangyun Won
Abstract
The toluene (TOL)–methylcyclohexane (MCH) system is one of the viable solutions because of its high stability and high hydrogen storage capacity (6.2%). However, the high volatilities of TOL and MCH and the accumulative byproducts make it difficult to transport hydrogen. Considering these limitations, we developed a new strategy introducing an extraction column and pressure swing adsorption with heat integration to reduce the required energy utilities. Furthermore, a comprehensive system-level analysis was conducted through an application example of the transport of hydrogen from Australia to Korea. The minimum transport cost of hydrogen was determined to be $2.17/kg-H 2 via techno-economic analysis. Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses revealed the influence of the economic and process parameters. Finally, a life cycle assessment was conducted to compare the environmental impact (EI) of each part. Although dehydrogenation is more energy-demanding than hydrogenation, hydrogenation has larger EIs for some factors including fossil resource scarcity (13% larger) and water consumption (746% larger), due to the toluene and hydrogen makeup. Furthermore, we compared changes in the EIs in the energy sources. This study can provide insights into the optimization and decision-making of hydrogen supply chains to revitalize the hydrogen economy.