Hydrogen in the chemical industry and R&D needs

Franco-German Conference on

Hydrogen October 22, 2018, Paris

Roland Merger Corporate Technology

Market size 2017: 56 mil t Source: CEH Report „Hydrogen“ 2018 without hydrogen in synthesis gas

55%

9%

33%

Ammonia

Major chemicals

Other 4%

Petroleum refining

Hydrogen – a key raw material for chemical production

Important uses:

Ammonia ( fertilizers)

Naphtha, Gasoline, Diesel

Chemicals like

● Cyclohexane ( Plastics, Fibres)

● Aniline ( Plastics, Foams)

● and a plethora of specialty chemicals

BASF Ludwigshafen:

Capacity: 300 kt/a

“on purpose” production from natural gas

byproduct hydrogen from other processes is fully utilized

2 October 2018

Hydrogen is like lifeblood for chemistry

3 October 2018

Hydrogen is proposed for many future applications

4

Chemicals –

major use today,

56 million t

Energy storage

CO2 utilization

Energy carrier

Fuel

Increasing Hydrogen demand

October 2018

Hydrogen (H2) production - principles

5

H

O

H Water (H2O)

Hydrogen is produced from water using much Energy (= Power)

with Oxygen as byproduct

H

O

H

+ Electrolysis

H

H

Hydrogen (H2)

O O

H

H

+

Oxygen

October 2018

Hydrogen (H2) production - principles

6

H

H

Hydrogen (H2)

H

H Pyrolysis

H

C

H

Natural Gas (methane, CH4)

Hydrogen could be produced from natural gas using little Energy

with solid carbon as byproduct

H

H

+ + C

Carbon

October 2018

Hydrogen (H2) production - principles

7

H

H

H

H

H

C

H

Steam reforming combines Hydrogen production from Water and Natural Gas in

one Reactor

H

H

H

O

H

H

O

H

+

H H

H H

O O C

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

+

Steam reforming

October 2018

Hydrogen (H2) production - principles

8

H

H

H

H

H

C

H

Steam reforming is the main production method for hydrogen globally

H

H

H

O

H

H

O

H

+

H H

H H

O O C

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

+

Steam reforming

October 2018

Hydrogen (H2) production - principles

9

H

H

H

H

H

C

H

Steam reforming produces ca 9t of CO2 per t of Hydrogen

H

H

H

O

H

H

O

H

+

H H

H H

O O C

Carbon dioxide (CO2)

+

Steam reforming

October 2018

Towards a low carbon hydrogen production

10

8,85

0 5

0

0

27

286

37

0 100 200

Minimum energy demand

in kJ/mol hydrogen

Either electrolysis or methane pyrolysis can be the preferred CO2 free technology, depending on local conditions

Direct CO2 emissions

In kg CO2/kg hydrogen

NG Steam reforming Mature technology, low improvement

potential

Water electrolysis Established technology, high potential for

flexibility

Methane pyrolysis Under development, potential for lower

cost. Solid Carbon as byproduct

October 2018

BASF leads a consortium evaluating methane pyrolysis since 2013

11

2013 – 2017 Basic, ambitious R&D

FfPaG-Project funded by BMBF 2013-2017

Carbon sample production on semi-pilot scale

Results

Successful operation on lab scale

Identification of promising reactor concepts

Successful carbon sample production

and testing

But: Semi-pilot reactor was crashed during

sample production

October 2018

Project Outlook

Methane Pyrolysis for Low Carb Hydrogen

12

R&D project

funded by the German Ministry

of Education and Research

July 2013-Dec 2016

Total cost €25 million

Pilot Unit

~€25-40 million investment

(~1000 Nm³/h H2, ~2 000 t/y carbon,

rWGS questionable)

1st commercial unit

October 2018

Hydrogen – which R&D does the chemical industry need?

13

Methane pyrolysis

Successful operation on pilot scale

Scale up via pilot to technical scale

Uses for byproduct carbon

– Steel industry

– Aluminium production

– Storage Options for Pyrolysis Carbon

Electrolysis

Long-term behavior of flexible electrolysis plants harvesting renewable power

Pilots for integration into chemical parks , investment optimization

Breakthrough technologies - long term research

Metal oxide catalysis for hydrogen from water

Photocatalytic water cleavage

October 2018

Conventional and new hydrogen production processes

Low Carbon Footprint for CO2 utilization

15 26.10.2018

Carbon Footprint [kg CO2 / kg H2]

Coal gasification

Electrolysis Electricity mix Germany 2030

Methane pyrolysis*

Hydrogen production cost

Electrolysis 100 % electricity from wind

Methane steam

reforming

Metal oxide

Electrolysis Electricity without grid charges

Net reduction of CO2

emission at low

Carbon Footprint