Benefits and Risks of Adding Modular Hydrogen Production with CCUS at Gas Processing Sites, to Produce Low Carbon Hydrogen for Industrial Customers
Proceedings of the 17th Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies Conference (GHGT-17) 20-24 October 2024
Belinda Perriman
Convert Well Ltd.
Amir Jahanbakhsh
Heriot-Watt University - Research Centre for Carbon Solutions (RCCS)
Abstract
Global demand for low-carbon hydrogen is seeing significant growth. More than 95% of current hydrogen production comes from reforming hydrocarbons, involving high CO2 emissions, including venting of the CO2 by-product. The majority of hydrogen today is produced using steam methane reformation (SMR) technology.
A relatively new solution for reducing CO2 emissions from existing hydrogen production plants, and growing volumes of lowcarbon hydrogen involves the capture, transport and injection of CO2 for long-term storage in geological formations, so-called Blue Hydrogen. The other relatively new solution is Green Hydrogen, building large-scale electrolysers that use renewable energy to produce low-carbon hydrogen. There are concerns for both Blue and Green Hydrogen regarding the cost per kg, with the expectation that they will rely on substantial subsidies for many years. There are also concerns around the complexity of making new long-term contracts for what are multibillion dollar projects.
This paper presents Upstream Hydrogen™, an innovative and modular concept with global application: co-location of hydrogen production with gas processing, at or close to a producing gas field. Oil and Gas Companies can switch products and sell zerocarbon fuel to large-scale industrial customers who today buy natural gas. The paper explains the multiple benefits that result when captured CO2 from both gas processing and hydrogen production is injected into the base of the same producing gas reservoir, and how this results in lower cost/kg hydrogen. By going back to a major source of the greenhouse gas problem, fossil fuel gas fields, one can mitigate the greenhouse gas issue within a couple of minutes. The Serviceable Addressable Carbon of this method is 6 GT CO2 per annum and thus of sufficient scale to provide a significant contribution to mitigating climate change.
Keywords: Hydrogen; Hydrogen Production; Upstream Hydrogen; CO2 Storage; CCUS