Hydrogen production from woody biomass gasification: a techno-economic analysis

Abstract

Reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are necessary to slow global warming and decrease the likelihood of irreversible climate scenarios. There is thus an urgent need for low-emissions fuels. This study conducted a techno-economic analysis of two different industrial plant concepts for producing hydrogen from woody biomass. One was a large-scale centralized 60 MW_H2 option using dual fluidized bed gasification with CO₂ removal. The other was a small-scale decentralized 1 MW_H2 option using fixed-bed gasification without CO₂ removal. Mass and energy balances were calculated by the process simulation software IPSEpro. Key performance indicators, including technical, economic, and environmental parameters, were derived. Overall energy efficiencies of 64.2 and 59.5% and hydrogen yields of 87 and 68 g_H2 kg⁻¹_BM.db were determined for hydrogen production by dual fluidized bed and fixed-bed gasification, respectively. The levelized costs of hydrogen amounted to 5.6 and 15.0 €₂₀₂₂ kg⁻¹_H2 and agreed quite well with values from the literature. Flexible and decentralized heat, electricity, and hydrogen production based on fixed-bed gasification within a multiproduct plant were also evaluated. The results show that the multiproduct plant could be economically feasible if at least 63% of the annual operating hours were dedicated to hydrogen production, and assuming a hydrogen selling price of 17.5 €₂₀₂₂ kg⁻¹_H2 in Austria. In conclusion, both of the processes that were evaluated are conceivable technologies for the transition of the energy system towards renewable energy sources from a technical and economic point of view, although small-scale hydrogen production is considerably more expensive.