Offshore Methane Pyrolysis

A techno-economic analysis to assess the feasibility of offshore methane pyrolysis for the production of hydrogen

Master thesis (2023)

Authors

A. Stroo Mechanical Engineering

Contributors

A.J.M. van Wijk Energy and Industry (supervisor 1)
Earl Goetheer Energy Technology - Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering (supervisor 1)
A.C.M. van der Stap Offshore Engineering - CEG (supervisor 2)
Colin van Wijk (coach)
Faculty
Mechanical Engineering
Copyright: © 2023 Aike Stroo
More Info
expand_more

Published Date

26-01-2023

Language

English

Reuse Rights

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.

Faculty

Mechanical Engineering

Abstract

Methane pyrolysis is a technology that has the potential to greatly reduce the CO2 emissions of hydrogen production on a large scale. The process generates solid carbon instead of gaseous, thereby inhibiting emissions and has a relatively low process energy demand.

A three-step approach was taken to investigate the feasibility of offshore methane pyrolysis for sustainable hydrogen production. Firstly, a model was developed to evaluate the potential for converting methane into hydrogen under various design scenarios. Secondly, the model was utilized as a tool to create an offshore design for the methane pyrolysis reactor, including necessary auxiliary equipment. Finally, a calculation of the levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) was conducted to compare it with conventional methane reforming technologies for hydrogen production.

The ultimate results showed a higher LCOH of offshore methane pyrolysis compared to the reforming technologies, however, two main components were identified that have the potential to close this gap. First, the sales of the solid carbon by-product would reduce the LCOH of offshore hydrogen and second the introduction of a CO2 tax would increase the LCOH of reforming technologies where methane pyrolysis is not affected. Thus, it can be inferred that offshore methane pyrolysis can be cost-competitive under the appropriate conditions.