New technological solutions are required to control the impact of the increasing presence of renewable energy sources connected to the electric grid that are characterized by unpredictable production (i.e., wind and solar energy). Energy storage is becoming essential to stabilize the grid when a mismatch between production and demand occurs. Among the available solutions, Power to Hydrogen (P2H) is one of the most attractive options. However, despite the potential, many barriers currently hinder P2H market development. The literature reports general barriers and strategies to overcome them, but a specific analysis is fundamental to identifying how these barriers concretely arise in national and regional frameworks, since tailored solutions are needed to foster the development of P2H local market. The paper aims to identify and to analyze the existing barriers for P2H market uptake in Italy. The paper shows how several technical, regulatory and economic issues are still unsolved, result... [more]

In recent years, the use of alternative fuels in thermal engine power plants has gained more and more attention, becoming of paramount importance to overcome the use of fuels from fossil sources and to reduce polluting emissions. The present work deals with the analysis of the response to two different gas fuels—i.e., hydrogen and a syngas from agriculture product—of a 30 kW micro gas turbine integrated with a solar field. The solar field included a thermal storage system to partially cover loading requests during night hours, reducing fuel demand. Additionally, a Heat Recovery Unit was included in the plant considered and the whole plant was simulated by Thermoflex® code. Thermodynamics analysis was performed on hour-to-hour basis, for a given day as well as for 12 months; subsequently, an evaluation of cogeneration efficiency as well as energy saving was made. The results are compared against plant performance achieved with conventional natural gas fueling. After analyzing the perfor... [more]

Increasing production rates of the biomethane lead to increased generation of waste biogases. These gases should be utilized on-site to avoid pollutant emissions to the atmosphere. This study presents a flexible swirl burner (~100 kW) with an adiabatic chamber capable of burning unstable composition waste biogases. The main combustion parameters and chemiluminescence emission spectrums were examined by burning waste biogases containing from 5 to 30 vol% of CH4 in CO2 under air, O2-enriched atmosphere, or with the addition of hydrogen. The tested burner ensured stable combustion of waste biogases with CH4 content not less than 20 vol%. The addition of up to 5 vol% of H2 expanded flammability limits, and stable combustion of the mixtures with CH4 content of 15 vol% was achieved. The burner flexibility to work under O2-enriched air conditions showed more promising results, and the flammability limit was expanded up to 5 vol% of CH4 in CO2. However, the combustion under O2-enriched conditi... [more]

A 10 kW PEMFC (polymer exchange membrane fuel cell) stack consisting of two 5 kW modules, (A) and (B), connected in series with a multi-function controller unit was constructed and tested. The electrical performance of the V-shaped PEMFC stack was investigated under constant and variable electrical load. It was found that the PEMFC stack was capable of supplying the required 10 kW of electrical power. An optimised purification process via ‘purge’ or humidification, implemented by means of a short-circuit unit (SCU) control strategy, enabled slightly improved performance. Online monitoring of the utilisation of the hydrogen system was developed and tested during the operation of the stack, especially under variable electrical load. The air-cooling subsystem consisting of a common channel connecting two 5 kW PEMFC modules and two cascade axial fans was designed, manufactured using 3D printing technology, and tested with respect to the electrical performance of the device. The dependence... [more]

A novel process is proposed whereby wood wastes from forest tree mortalities and improved forest management are co-digested with high in nitrogen content animal manures to yield bio-methane along with nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium bio-fertilizers. The process mimics the well-known wood conversion to methane process in lower termites but relies on thermophilic fungi, bacteria, and archaea instead. It is based on the modified state-of-the art two-step, hyperthermophilic (70 °C) hydrolysis and thermophilic (55 °C) fermentation, dry (30% TS), anaerobic digestion technology with a high organic loading and shortened retention time. The process is augmented with the thermophilic fermentation of carbon dioxide in the biogas into secondary bio-methane by employing hydrogen produced via wind-powered electrolysis. The entire process comprised of five distinct steps is designated as “Wood to Methane 3 + 2”. An industrial type, standardized plant unit has been developed that can be employed... [more]

In recent years, power-to-gas technologies have been gaining ground and are increasingly proving their reliability. The possibility of implementing long-term energy storage and that of being able to capture and utilize carbon dioxide are currently too important to be ignored. However, systems of this type are not yet experiencing extensive realization in practice. In this study, an overview of the experimental research projects and the research and development activities that are currently part of the power-to-gas research line is presented. By means of a bibliographical and sitographical analysis, it was possible to identify the characteristics of these projects and their distinctive points. In addition, the main research targets distinguishing these projects are presented. This provides an insight into the research direction in this regard, where a certain technological maturity has been achieved and where there is still work to be done. The projects found and analyzed amount to 87,... [more]

A significant contribution to the reduction of carbon emissions will be enabled through the transition from a centralised fossil fuel system to a decentralised, renewable electricity system. However, due to the intermittent nature of renewable energy, storage is required to provide a suitable response to dynamic loads and manage the excess generated electricity with utilisation during periods of low generation. This paper investigates the use of stationary hydrogen-based energy storage systems for microgrids and distributed energy resource systems. An exploratory study was conducted in Australia based on a mixed methodology. Ten Australian industry experts were interviewed to determine use cases for hydrogen-based energy storage systems’ requirements, barriers, methods, and recommendations. This study suggests that the current cost of the electrolyser, fuel cell, and storage medium, and the current low round-trip efficiency, are the main elements inhibiting hydrogen-based energy storag... [more]

The reverse electrodialysis heat engine (REDHE) is a promising salinity gradient energy technology, capable of producing hydrogen with an input of waste heat at temperatures below 100 °C. A salinity gradient drives water electrolysis in the reverse electrodialysis (RED) cell, and spent solutions are regenerated using waste heat in a precipitation or evaporation unit. This work presents a non-equilibrium thermodynamics model for the RED cell, and the hydrogen production is investigated for KCl/water solutions. The results show that the evaporation concept requires 40 times less waste heat and produces three times more hydrogen than the precipitation concept. With commercial evaporation technology, a system efficiency of 2% is obtained, with a hydrogen production rate of 0.38 gH2 m−2h−1 and a waste heat requirement of 1.7 kWh gH2−1. The water transference coefficient and the salt diffusion coefficient are identified as membrane properties with a large negative impact on hydrogen producti... [more]

In order to decarbonize the rail industry, the development of innovative locomotives with the ability to use multiple energy sources, constituting hybrid powertrains, plays a central role in transitioning from conventional diesel trains. In this paper, four configurations based on suitable combinations of fuel cells and/or batteries are designed to replace or supplement a diesel/overhead line powertrain on a real passenger train (the Hitachi Blues) tested on an existing regional track, the Catanzaro Lido−Reggio Calabria line (Italy), managed by Trenitalia SpA. (Italy). The configurations (namely battery−electrified line, full-battery, fuel cell−battery−electrified line, and fuel cell−battery) are first sized with the intention of completing a round trip, then integrated on board with diesel engine replacement in mind, and finally occupy a portion of the passenger area within two locomotives. The achieved performance is thoroughly examined in terms of fuel cell efficiency (greater than... [more]

The large-scale storage of hydrogen in salt caverns, modelled on today’s natural gas storage, is a promising approach to storing renewable energy over a large power range and for the required time period. An essential subsystem of the overall gas storage is the surface facility and, in particular, the compressor system. The future design of compressor systems for hydrogen storage strongly depends on the respective boundary conditions. Therefore, this work analyses the requirements of compressor systems for cavern storage facilities for the storage of green hydrogen, i.e., hydrogen produced from renewable energy sources, using the example of Lower Saxony in Germany. In this course, a hydrogen storage demand profile of one year is developed in hourly resolution from feed-in time series of renewable energy sources. The injection profile relevant for compressor operation is compared with current natural gas injection operation modes.

Production of syngas from the gasification of a biomass is attracting attention with an eye to the concepts of circularity, sustainability, and recent needs, triggered by socio-political events, to increase the level of self-sufficiency of energy sources for a given community. This manuscript reports on the gasification of spruce wood chips in a demonstration fluidised bed gasifier (1.5 MWth, height of 5.40 m, internal diameter of 1.2 m), with 0.2−0.4 mm olivine inventory (1000 kg). Gasification was carried out in air, at four different values of equivalence ratio (from 27% to 36%). The bed was fluidised at about 0.6 m/s, and the bed temperature resulted in the range of about 960−1030 °C as a function of the different tests. A mass flow rate of biomass in the range of about 360−480 kg/h (as a function of the different tests) was fed to the fluidised bed gasifier. Syngas lower heating value, specific mass and energetic yield, and chemical composition, were reported along with data on th... [more]

Low-carbon transition pathways oriented from different transition targets would result in a huge variation of energy system deployment and transition costs. Hydrogen is widely considered as an imperative energy carrier to reach carbon neutral targets. However, hydrogen production, either from non-fossil power or fossil fuels with carbon capture, is closely linked with an energy supply system and has great impacts on its structure. Identifying an economically affordable transition pathway is attractive, and energy infrastructure is critical due to massive investment and long life-span. In this paper, a multi-regional, multi-period, and infrastructure-based model is proposed to quantify energy supply system transition costs with different low-carbon targets and hydrogen production alternatives, and China is taken as a case study. Results show that, fulfilling 2-degree and 1.5-degree temperature increase targets would result in 84% and 151% increases in system transition costs, 114% and 2... [more]

Removal of nitrogen oxides during coal combustion is a subject of great concerns. The present study reviews the state-of-art catalysts for NO reduction by CO, CH4, and H2. In terms of NO reduction by CO and CH4, it focuses on the preparation methodologies and catalytic properties of noble metal catalysts and non-noble metal catalysts. In the technology of NO removal by H2, the NO removal performance of the noble metal catalyst is mainly discussed from the traditional carrier and the new carrier, such as Al2O3, ZSM-5, OMS-2, MOFs, perovskite oxide, etc. By adopting new preparation methodologies and introducing the secondary metal component, the catalysts supported by a traditional carrier could achieve a much higher activity. New carrier for catalyst design seems a promising aspect for improving the catalyst performance, i.e., catalytic activity and stability, in future. Moreover, mechanisms of catalytic NO reduction by these three agents are discussed in-depth. Through the critical rev... [more]

Solar biomass gasification is an attractive pathway to promote biomass valorization while chemically storing intermittent solar energy into solar fuels. The economic feasibility of a solar gasification process at a large scale for centralized H2 production was assessed, based on the discounted cash-flow rate of return method to calculate the minimum H2 production cost. H2 production costs from solar-only, hybrid and conventional autothermal biomass gasification were evaluated under various economic scenarios. Considering a biomass reference cost of 0.1 €/kg, and a land cost of 12.9 €/m2, H2 minimum price was estimated at 2.99 €/kgH2 and 2.48 €/kgH2 for the allothermal and hybrid processes, respectively, against 2.25 €/kgH2 in the conventional process. A sensitivity study showed that a 50% reduction in the heliostats and solar tower costs, combined with a lower land cost of below 0.5 €/m2, allowed reaching an area of competitiveness where the three processes meet. Furthermore, an increa... [more]

Hydrogen is largely considered as an attractive additive fuel for hydrocarbons and alcohol-fueled engines. Nevertheless, a complete understanding of the interactions between blended fuel mechanisms under oxidative conditions at low initial temperature is still lacking. This study is devoted to the numerical investigation of the laminar burning velocity of hydrogen−hydrocarbon and hydrogen−alcohol fuels under several compositions. Estimations were compared with experimental data reported in the current literature. Additionally, the effects of hydrogen addition on engine performance, NOX, and other pollutant emissions of the mentioned fuels have been thermodynamically analyzed. From the study, it has been observed that the laminar burning velocity of the fuel mixtures increased with increasing hydrogen fractions and the peak value shifted to richer conditions. Besides, hydrogen fraction was found to increase the adiabatic flame temperatures eventually favoring the NOX formation for all f... [more]

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) technology generates power while capturing CO2 inherently with no direct energy penalty. However, previous studies have shown significant energy penalties due to low turbine inlet temperature (TIT) relative to a standard natural gas combined cycle plant. The low TIT is limited by the oxygen carrier material used in the CLC process. Therefore, in the current study, an additional combustor is included downstream of the CLC air reactor to raise the TIT. The efficient production of clean hydrogen for firing the added combustor is key to the success of this strategy. Therefore, the highly efficient membrane-assisted chemical looping reforming (MA-CLR) technology was selected. Five different integrations between CLC and MA-CLR were investigated, capitalizing on the steam in the CLC fuel reactor outlet stream to achieve highly efficient reforming in MA-CLR. This integration reduced the energy penalty as low as 3.6%-points for power production only (case 2) an... [more]

Ammonia is considered to be a potential medium for hydrogen storage, facilitating CO2-free energy systems in the future. Its high volumetric hydrogen density, low storage pressure and stability for long-term storage are among the beneficial characteristics of ammonia for hydrogen storage. Furthermore, ammonia is also considered safe due to its high auto ignition temperature, low condensation pressure and lower gas density than air. Ammonia can be produced from many different types of primary energy sources, including renewables, fossil fuels and surplus energy (especially surplus electricity from the grid). In the utilization site, the energy from ammonia can be harvested directly as fuel or initially decomposed to hydrogen for many options of hydrogen utilization. This review describes several potential technologies, in current conditions and in the future, for ammonia production, storage and utilization. Ammonia production includes the currently adopted Haber−Bosch, electrochemical a... [more]

In this study, the feasibility of hydrogen and methane production from grass and leaves via hyperthermophilic anaerobic digestion was investigated. The hyperthermophilic treatment of grass at 70 °C resulted in the highest concentrations of volatile fatty acids (TVFA) and reducing sugars in the supernatant of over 21 and 6.5 g/L reported on day 3 and 4 of the experiment. In contrast, hydrolysis and acidification of leaves performed slower and with lower efficiency, as the peak concentrations of TVFA and reducing sugars were observed at the end of the process. However, the highest cumulative hydrogen and methane yields of 69.64 mLH2/gVS and 38.63 mLCH4/gVS were reported for leaves digested at 70 °C, whereas the corresponding maximum productions observed for grass were 50 mLH2/gVS and 1.98 mLCH4/gVS, respectively. A temperature increase to 80 °C hampered hydrogen and methane production and also resulted in lower yields of volatile fatty acids, reducing sugars and ammonia as compared to th... [more]

Three Ni-based natural gas steam reforming catalysts, i.e., commercial JM25-4Q and JM57-4Q, and a laboratory-made catalyst (26% Ni on a 5% SiO2−95% Al2O3), are tested in a laboratory reactor, under carbon dioxide methanation and methane steam reforming operating conditions. The laboratory catalyst is more active in both CO2 methanation (equilibrium is reached at 623 K with 100% selectivity) and methane steam reforming (92% hydrogen yield at 890 K) than the two commercial catalysts, likely due to its higher nickel loading. In any case, commercial steam reforming catalysts also show interesting activity in CO2 methanation, reduced by K-doping. The interpretation of the experimental results is supported by a one-dimensional (1D) pseudo-homogeneous packed-bed reactor model, embedding the Xu and Froment local kinetics, with appropriate kinetic parameters for each catalyst. In particular, the H2O adsorption coefficient adopted for the commercial catalysts is about two orders of magnitude hig... [more]

Underground geological energy and CO2 storage contribute to mitigation of anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions and climate change effects. The present study aims to present specific underground energy and CO2 storage sites in Greece. Thermal capacity calculations from twenty-two studied aquifers (4 × 10−4−25 × 10−3 MJ) indicate that those of Mesohellenic Trough (Northwest Greece), Western Thessaloniki basin and Botsara flysch (Northwestern Greece) exhibit the best performance. Heat capacity was investigated in fourteen aquifers (throughout North and South Greece) and three abandoned mines of Central Greece. Results indicate that aquifers present higher average total heat energy values (up to ~6.05 × 106 MWh(th)), whereas abandoned mines present significantly higher average area heat energy contents (up to ~5.44 × 106 MWh(th)). Estimations indicate that the Sappes, Serres and Komotini aquifers could cover the space heating energy consumption of East Macedonia-Thrace region. Undergroun... [more]

To support the interpretation of the experimental results obtained from two laboratory-scale reactors, one working in the steam methane reforming (SMR) mode, and the other in the CO2 hydrogenation (MCO2) mode, a steady-state pseudo-homogeneous 1D non-isothermal packed-bed reactor model is developed, embedding the classical Xu and Froment local kinetics. The laboratory reactors are operated with three different catalysts, two commercial and one homemade. The simulation model makes it possible to identify and account for thermal effects occurring inside the catalytic zone of the reactor and along the exit line. The model is intended to guide the development of small size SMR and MCO2 reactors in the context of Power-to-X (P2X) studies.

The results of a techno-economic model of distributed wind-hydrogen systems (WHS) located at each existing wind farm on the island of Ireland are presented in this paper. Hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis from wind energy and backed up by grid electricity, compressed before temporarily stored, then transported to the nearest injection location on the natural gas network. The model employs a novel correlation-based approach to select an optimum electrolyser capacity that generates a minimum levelised cost of hydrogen production (LCOH) for each WHS. Three scenarios of electrolyser operation are studied: (1) curtailed wind, (2) available wind, and (3) full capacity operations. Additionally, two sets of input parameters are used: (1) current and (2) future techno-economic parameters. Additionally, two electricity prices are considered: (1) low and (2) high prices. A closest facility algorithm in a geographic information system (GIS) package identifies the shortest routes from each... [more]

Hydrogen presents an attractive option to decarbonise the present energy system. Hydrogen can extend the usage of the existing gas infrastructure with low-cost energy storability and flexibility. Excess electricity generated by renewables can be converted into hydrogen. In this paper, a novel multi-energy systems optimisation model was proposed to maximise investment and operating synergy in the electricity, heating, and transport sectors, considering the integration of a hydrogen system to minimise the overall costs. The model considers two hydrogen production processes: (i) gas-to-gas (G2G) with carbon capture and storage (CCS), and (ii) power-to-gas (P2G). The proposed model was applied in a future Great Britain (GB) system. Through a comparison with the system without hydrogen, the results showed that the G2G process could reduce £3.9 bn/year, and that the P2G process could bring £2.1 bn/year in cost-savings under a 30 Mt carbon target. The results also demonstrate the system impli... [more]

The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology is often used to check the environmental suitability of hydrogen energy systems, usually involving comparative studies. However, these comparative studies are typically affected by inconsistent methodological choices between the case studies under comparison. In this regard, protocols for the harmonisation of methodological choices in LCA of hydrogen are available. The step-by-step application of these protocols to a large number of case studies has already resulted in libraries of harmonised carbon, energy, and acidification footprints of hydrogen. In order to foster the applicability of these harmonisation protocols, a web-based software for the calculation of harmonised life-cycle indicators of hydrogen has recently been developed. This work addresses—for the first time—the validation of such a tool by checking the deviation between the available libraries of harmonised carbon, energy, and acidification footprints of hydrogen and the corre... [more]

This paper addresses the energy management of a standalone renewable energy system. The system is configured as a microgrid, including photovoltaic generation, a lead-acid battery as a short term energy storage system, hydrogen production, and several loads. In this microgrid, an energy management strategy has been incorporated that pursues several objectives. On the one hand, it aims to minimize the amount of energy cycled in the battery, in order to reduce the associated losses and battery size. On the other hand, it seeks to take advantage of the long-term surplus energy, producing hydrogen and extracting it from the system, to be used in a fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle. A crucial factor in this approach is to accommodate the energy consumption to the energy demand and to achieve this, a model predictive control (MPC) scheme is proposed. In this context, proper models for solar estimation, hydrogen production, and battery energy storage will be presented. Moreover, the controlle... [more]