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US 12,703,629 B2Granted
Stable qualified clean hydrogen production process and system
AssigneeBlack & Veatch Corporation
InventorsJustin Lamar, James Kurr
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A facility and methods to produce blue hydrogen with low carbon intensity scores. The facility and methods combine technologies to synthesize methane into qualified clean hydrogen (QCH) with low carbon intensity scores by mitigating CO2 emissions from upstream gas well gathering systems as well as midstream hydrogen production systems, employing hydrogen powered gas turbines to mitigate use of grid power, and leveraging CO2 capture technologies.
Claims19
A method of producing low carbon intensity hydrogen from methane, the method comprising:
- receiving at a gas processing unit methane extracted from a well;
- mitigating upstream CO2 emissions in the gas processing unit by:
- employing electrically powered heaters in the gas processing unit to heat the methane before it is transferred from the gas processing unit,
- employing electrically powered valves in the gas processing unit,
- employing electrically powered controls in the gas processing unit, and
- employing hydrogen-powered heaters in the gas processing unit to heat at least one component in the gas processing unit;
- transferring the methane from the gas processing unit to a hydrogen production facility;
- processing the methane in the hydrogen production facility to separate hydrogen and CO2 from the methane;
- mitigating midstream CO2 emissions in the hydrogen production facility by:
- generating electricity from delivery of the methane to the hydrogen production facility,
- employing hydrogen powered heaters in the hydrogen production facility,
- generating electricity from waste heat;
- and
- storing CO2 separated from hydrogen underground.
11 more elements
A method of producing low carbon intensity hydrogen from methane, the method comprising:
- receiving at a gas processing unit methane extracted from a well;
- heating the methane with electrically powered heaters in the gas processing unit;
- controlling the flow of the methane in the gas processing unit with electrically powered valves;
- dehydrating the methane in a glycol dehydration unit with glycol to remove water vapor;
- reclaiming the glycol by transferring the glycol and absorbed moisture from the glycol dehydration unit to a flash tank;
- heating the glycol and absorbed moisture in the flash tank with a hydrogen powered heater to remove the absorbed moisture from the glycol;
- capturing off-gas from the flash tank;
- transferring the methane to a hydrogen production facility;
- generating electricity from expansion of the methane at the hydrogen production facility with a gas expansion turbine;
- heating water with a hydrogen powered heater to create steam;
- generating electricity from waste heat from the hydrogen powered heater with a steam turbine;
- reacting the methane with the steam in the presence of a catalyst to convert the methane and steam into hydrogen and carbon monoxide;
- adding additional water to the hydrogen and carbon monoxide to create more hydrogen and carbon dioxide;
- separating the hydrogen from the carbon dioxide;
- storing the hydrogen for later use;
- and
- storing the carbon dioxide underground with carbon capture and storage technologies.
14 more elements
A method of producing hydrogen with a carbon intensity score of less than 0.45 from methane, the method comprising:
- receiving at a gas processing unit methane extracted from a well;
- mitigating upstream CO2 emissions in the gas processing unit by:
- employing electrically powered heaters in the gas processing unit to heat the methane before it is transferred from the gas processing unit,
- employing electrically powered valves in the gas processing unit,
- employing electrically powered controls in the gas processing unit, and
- employing hydrogen-powered heaters in the gas processing unit to heat a flash tank;
- transferring the methane from the gas processing unit to a hydrogen production facility;
- processing the methane in the hydrogen production facility to separate hydrogen and CO2 from the methane;
- mitigating midstream CO2 emissions in the hydrogen production facility by:
- generating electricity from expansion of the methane after it is transferred to the hydrogen production facility with a gas expansion turbine,
- generating steam with a steam generator;
- employing hydrogen powered heaters to heat the steam generator;
- generating electricity from waste heat from the hydrogen powered heaters with a steam turbine;
- and
- storing CO2 separated from hydrogen underground.
12 more elements
A method of producing low carbon intensity hydrogen from methane, the method comprising:
- receiving at a gas processing unit methane extracted from a well;
- heating the methane before it is transferred from the gas processing unit with hydrogen-powered heaters;
- transferring the heated methane from the gas processing unit to a hydrogen production facility;
- generating electricity from delivery of the methane to the hydrogen production facility;
- processing the methane in the hydrogen production facility to separate hydrogen and CO2 from the methane;
- storing at least some of the CO2 separated from the hydrogen underground;
- and
- transferring some of the hydrogen separated from the methane in the hydrogen production facility back to the gas processing unit to be used as fuel in the hydrogen-powered heaters in the gas processing unit.
5 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.