Question
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We want to reduce the refinery’s carbon footprint, starting with SMR. What's the best economic approach: CCUS, an alternative process, or buy in the hydrogen?
Nov-2021
Answers
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Tom Ventham, tom.ventham@gwaru.com, Unicat Catalyst Technologies
Improving hydrogen production is a hot topic. New peer-reviewed research helps inform refiners on categories of hydrogen technology that in fact worsen carbon footprint rather than improve it.1 The very first consideration when evaluating any environmental project is the straightforward maxim: reuse > recycle > replace. This is particularly true when it comes to large scale refinery projects. As well as generating a significant carbon debt when fabricating materials of construction (i.e. large amounts of steel and concrete) along with other carbon costs of transport, construction, and commissioning of new plant, it is well known that large scale projects take many years to implement from design stage to full operation. The window of opportunity for the world to act on carbon emissions is closing. The time to complete complex projects clearly impacts the ultimate claimed benefit of the final equipment. A better approach is to make improvements today that can be realised by hydrogen producers immediately to provide CO2 savings. Although economics arguably should not be a factor in these discussions, the question asks this and the solution we propose, which focuses on reusing existing SMR equipment, is also the most economic. Magma and Unicat have developed an advanced SMR catalyst technology that is a direct drop-in, pellet-type replacement, of the current reformer catalyst system with no changes required to loading, start-up, upset operation, normal operation, or unloading procedures. This MagCat technology reimagines SMR catalyst manufacture to deliver an optimised shape and size coupled with enhanced strength and anti-coking properties. Using MagCat in any design of SMR or primary reformer unit improves the efficiency of hydrogen production, meaning less energy input is required to produce a constant amount of hydrogen. This improvement directly translates to a reduction in CO2 emissions that can be imagined in several ways. In addition, if the desire is produce more hydrogen to support a burgeoning hydrogen economy or satisfy environmental goals of the refinery, be that processing of hydrogen-intensive biofuels or to meet higher fuel standards, MagCat provides that option by boosting hydrogen production far beyond nameplate capacity. It is this opportunity to improve the carbon footprint of your SMR unit today that should be taken seriously by all refiners who are truly committed to these goals.
1 R W Howarth, M Z Jacobson, How green is blue hydrogen?, Energy, Science & Engineering, Aug 2021. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ese3.956
Nov-2021
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