Russian-led researchers develop way to generate power and hydrogen storage through LNG regasification
In Russia, an international group of scientists from Russia, as well as from Arab and African countries, has proposed a new technology that allows to generate electric power and also to ensure hydrogen storage in the process of regasification of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The results have been published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, included in Q1 of the best publications according to Scopus.
Scientists use the term of exergy: this is the maximum energy, which could be obtained as a result of some thermodynamic process and effectively used. The researchers have conducted an exergy analysis showing how much energy is wasted due to technology imperfections, and which energy losses are indivertible.
There is a well-known technology of operation of a gas generator. It turns biomass (wood, agricultural waste) into combustible gas. Significant part of usable energy is wasted here.
The scientists have proposed to combine the work of a gas generator with another technological process, regasification (or recovery) of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Before LNG is fed to pipes and tanks, it needs to be converted to gaseous form. In this process, cryogenic (cold) energy is wasted. Part of it could be used to improve the operation of the steam-turbine cycle of the gas generator. The technology has a scaling effect: the higher the temperature and the bigger the amount of the biomass fed to the gas generator, the higher its efficiency. Though, this principle is true only to a certain limit: the efficiency begins to decrease at the temperature of 1200 K.
Other part of the energy could be fed to, for instance, an electrolyser – an apparatus splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen could also be used as fuel for certain processes.
Such a system could be operated with the energy efficiency (efficiency factor) of 19.8%, that is, the fifth part of the biomass’s potential energy could be converted into useful work on generation of electricity and hydrogen. And these indicators could be further improved.
Category: Research
