Final report 2008-2010

2014.06.26For IEA

Tiejun ZhaoCAS Key Laboratory of Low‐Carbon Conversion 

Science and EngineeringShanghai Advanced Research Institute

Chinese Academy of Sciences

Towards greener hydrogen production in China

Hydrogen from fossil fuels

Hydrogen production routines in China

natural gas

oil

coke

coal

biomass

waste

power

hydrogen

fuel products

other liquids

chemicals

syngas

syngas manufacturingtechnologies

syngas conversiontechnologies

Hydrogen production route is highly dependent on locally rich sources 

Hydrogen is not a full commodity at present 

Hydrogen consumption in China 

Hydrogen use in China

In China, the produced hydrogen is mainly for ammonia and refinery

Alkaline industry

Methanol 

Refinery 

Ammonia

Hydrogen production from coal

1.884000Residue oil

1.403000Refinery gas

1.12950Petroleum coke

1.07760Coal

H2 price,RMB/Nm3Cost of raw materials, RMB/t

Resources

Due to availability of coal and lower cost, hydrogen production from coal will continue mainly for ammonia synthesis

For 20MT/y refinery 

Gasification processes is a key step to produce hydrogen 

• Higher efficiency and less coal consumption for pulverized gasifier than coal‐water slurry gasifier

Comparison of entrained gasification technology

• If we have to choose coal gasification to produce hydrogen, use the pulverized gasifier as much as possible

Hydrogen from methane reforming in China

• Currently, reforming process is mainly focus on using the tail gas, coke gas etc.•Shale gas and unconventional gas reforming is expected to  produce hydrogen in the future

Catalysts, products and processes in steam reforming

Production costs for hydrogen with/without CO2 capture/storage. Data from  IEA 2005

Hydrogen from non-fossil fuels

Routes to Harvest Photon Energy

Electrons

Photons

Hydrogen HCs

Near future: within 10 years?

Ancient & nature routesCelluloseProtein

Hydrocarbonscoal, oil & gas

Modern routes

Future routes > 50 years?Hydrocarbons

Efficiency >10%

Efficiency < 1%

Efficiency ~ 20%

Current efficiency <5%

Abundant renewable energies will provide cheap electrons to produce H2 via electrolysis and then HCs (such as FTS ) will be highly sustainable.

Direct hydrocarbon synthesis via photoelectrochemistryrequires significant advances in science and technology.

Photoelectrochem

Plants

PVWindWave

What if electricity is abundant but non‐balanced?

Wind electricity & demandWind electricity & demand

Distribution of solar powerDistribution of solar power

Theoretical 1.2*105 TW solar energyEstimated wind potential 70 TW (land only)

Solar electricity vs timeSolar electricity vs time

What if electrolysis plays a central role? 

Solar, wind &

hydro-power

Biomass

Electricity

Power Plant

Electrolysis/ Fuel CellH2 and O2

H2 Storage

Fuel storage

Upgrading

CO2

H2CO2

hydrogenationCH4, CH3OH…

Fuels

ChemicalsConsumer

No shift reaction CO + H2O CO2 + H2 Effectively no CO2 emissions

Gasifier

Product Upgrade

Fischer-TropschSynthesis

Gas Cleanup

Nuclear Plant Electrolyzers

Small amount of CO2

H2S Sulfur

Product

Synfuel25,000

barrels/day

H2

O2

Hybrid system uses 70% less coal Product fuel’s energy is 20% from nuclear

Coal 4,400 tons/day

Converting available carbon to fuels, not by-product CO2

Energy content of fuels

Challenges in the Transport Sector

Thank you very much！