Convegni ATI - Accesso riservato soci CTI

Autore: B. Morrone, A. Unich

Collana: CA - 61 - Perugia 2006

Note:
Hydrogen can be a valid alternative to gasoline in the next future. It will be, most likely, employed soon both as fuel for power plant applications and for terrestrial vehicles. The study investigates both the thermodynamic and economical aspects of
hydrogen production to be used in natural gas-hydrogen mixtures in road vehicles, by means of electrolyser systems. The cost analysis is carried out in conjunction with environmental and energy aspects to evaluate the manifold aspects of the project for localized small to medium quantity hydrogen production plants. These findings are useful to determine the cost of production per kg of hydrogen used in the compressed natural gas-hydrogen mixture at an affordable market price.
The plant capacity was considered in the range 10÷100 Nm3/h and the economic analysis was carried out by taking into account different parameters.
Results show both the cost of production of hydrogen and the price per kg of the mixtures as a function of the main investigated parameters. Mixture 30 presents an increment of the fuel cost compared to CNG of about 38% to 125%. Anyway, a comparison between this mixtures and gasoline in terms of unit cost of energy reveals that the proposed fuels present cheaper costs with a saving greater than 24%. The major findings of the investigation on a passenger car fuelled by CNG or mixtures indicated, assuming a constant range, that CO2 emissions show a reduction ranging from a 3% for Mixture 10 to about 12% for Mixture 30.