Economic Analysis of a Heat-integrated Hydrogen Production System Using Cu-Cl Thermochemical Cycle

Abstract

The Cu-Cl thermochemical cycle for hydrogen production was selected on the basis of its high efficiency and moderate temperature requirements The simulation of Cu-Cl thermochemical cycle for hydrogen production is investigated in Aspen Plus Since this cycle is a high consuming energy process the heat integration technique is implemented to recover the waste heat so that the process optimization can be successfully achieved The result confirms that the optimal heat integration has contribution in achieving the maximum heat recovery and reducing the capital and operating cost In the same time the economic feasibility becomes one of the greatest issues when applying this technology By utilizing the economic cost analysis the Net Present Value analysis can be performed The results show that the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 14 76% with the payback period of 4 44 year and Net Present Value (NPV) of US$ 5 545 975 43 Evaluation of economic feasibility of a Cu-Cl thermochemical plant also needs better understanding of its production unit cost under different capacities By evaluating the unit cost of the hydrogen and oxygen as the products of Cu-Cl thermochemical plant under different capacities the results showed that the unit costs of Cu-Cl thermochemical plant were significantly affected by production capacities As the facility capacity increased from 3 000 000 to 300 000 000 kg/h the hydrogen and oxygen unit cost decreased from 273 96 $/kg to 3 97 $/kg and 375 43 $/kg to 3 39 $/kg respectively The cost analysis developed in this study could be used for economic analysis of Cu-Cl thermochemical plant

Date of Award	2014 Aug 4
Original language	English
Supervisor	Wei Wu (Supervisor)