AU2014100635A4

AU2014100635A4 - Exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels

Info

Publication number: AU2014100635A4
Application number: AU2014100635A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Bretton Cooper
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-06-11
Filing date: 2014-06-11
Publication date: 2014-07-17
Anticipated expiration: 2022-06-11

Abstract

2014100635 According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of exporting renewably generated hydrogen via a floating ammonia production vessel, by: a. Producing hydrogen on-shore via electrolysis powered by a renewable energy source such as solar, tidal, wind or geothermal power; and b. Piping this renewable hydrogen to an off-shore floating vessel which contains a nitrogen production plant and an ammonia synthesis plant to enable the hydrogen to be converted on-board into ammonia which can then be stored on-board pending offloading into ammonia transport ships which can berth alongside; and c. Using the pipeline connecting the on-shore renewable hydrogen production to the off-shore floating vessel as a means of short term hydrogen storage to assist in managing the intermittency of the renewable energy source being used to generate the hydrogen.

Description

1 AUSTRALIA Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION Exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it as known to me: 2 Exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels FIELD OF THE INVENTION (01) The present invention relates broadly to a method of using floating ammonia production, storage and offloading vessels to export hydrogen which has been renewably generated on-shore. BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION (02) In recent years there has been an expansion of interest and knowledge in the use of off-shore floating platforms to undertake various processes in the oil and gas industry including the floating production, storage and offloading of oil (FPSO) and the floating liquefaction of natural gas (FLNG). (03) In recent years there has also been an expansion of knowledge and interest in using ammonia as a vector to transport zero emission hydrogen where such hydrogen is generated on-shore via the electrolysis of water where such electrolysis is powered by renewable energy such as solar, tidal, wind or geothermal energy. (04) Hydrogen once generated, whether from renewable energy sources or from fossil fuel sources such as methane or coal, can be combined with nitrogen in a chemical synthesis plant, such as the Haber Bosch process, to produce ammonia (NH 3 ). (05) Often the renewable energy which could be used for the generation of zero emission hydrogen is located some distance removed from the chemical plants which could synthesise such hydrogen into ammonia. (06) Often the renewable energy which could be used for the generation of zero emission hydrogen is located some distance removed from the port facilities which could export such hydrogen in the form of ammonia. (07) Where the renewable energy which could be used for the generation of zero emission hydrogen is located within pipeline distance from a shore line, there is an opportunity to pipe such hydrogen to an off-shore floating ammonia production, storage and offloading (FAPSO) vessel. (08) Such FAPSO vessel could accommodate both an Air Separation Unit to generate nitrogen and an ammonia synthesis plant, such as the Haber Bosch process, to combine such nitrogen with the renewable hydrogen piped from land so as to produce ammonia on board the 3 (09) Such FAPSO vessel could also contain ammonia storage tanks which could hold the ammonia produced on board until such time as it could be offloaded into an ammonia transport ship tanker which berthed alongside. (10) In using highly pure hydrogen piped on board from land side renewable production, such FAPSO vessel would need to accommodate less items of plant than would a traditional land based fossil fuel fed ammonia production plant of equivalent production volume because the FAPSO vessel would not need to accommodate steam methane reforming plant or associated gas treatment and cleaning processes. (11) Where the renewable hydrogen was being generated from an intermittent source such as solar, wind or tidal power, the hydrogen pipeline connecting the on-shore renewable hydrogen production to the FAPSO vessel could double as both a link in the transport chain and as a short term storage facility. (12) For example, where hydrogen is being produced from solar or tidal power, such a pipeline with sufficient carrying capacity could be packed during the daylight hours in the case of solar, or when the tides are running in the case of tidal power, with high pressure hydrogen which could be continuously delivered at a lower pressure to the FAPSO vessel to allow its operation 24 hours per day. (13) In another embodiment both the hydrogen, via electrolysis and the nitrogen, via an Air Separation Unit, could be generated on shore using renewable energy sources and then both the hydrogen and the nitrogen could be piped to the off-shore FAPSO vessel which housed the ammonia synthesis plant to convert the two gasses into ammonia for on-board storage pending their offloading to ammonia transport ships. (14) For renewably generated hydrogen seeking an export market, a logistics chain utilising such FAPSO vessel and pipeline infrastructure can overcome distance issues, provide short term storage and can promote efficiencies by combining both the ammonia synthesis function and the port offloading function into a single, conveniently located asset. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION (15) According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of exporting renewably generated hydrogen via a floating ammonia production vessel, by: a. Producing hydrogen on-shore via electrolysis powered by a renewable energy source such as solar, tidal, wind or geothermal power; and b. Piping this renewable hydrogen to an off-shore floating vessel which contains a nitrogen production plant and an ammonia synthesis plant to enable the hydrogen to be converted on-board into ammonia which can then 4 be stored on-board pending offloading into ammonia transport ships which can berth alongside; and c. Using the pipeline connecting the on-shore renewable hydrogen production to the off-shore floating vessel as a means of short term hydrogen storage to assist in managing the intermittency of the renewable energy source being used to generate the hydrogen. (16) According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of exporting renewably generated hydrogen via a floating ammonia production vessel, by: (a) Producing hydrogen on-shore via electrolysis and producing nitrogen on shore via an Air Separation Unit (ASU) where both the electrolysis and ASU are powered by a renewable energy source such as solar, tidal, wind or geothermal power; and (b) Piping both the renewably generated hydrogen and the renewably generated nitrogen to an off-shore floating vessel which contains an ammonia synthesis plant to enable the hydrogen and nitrogen to be converted on board into ammonia which can then be stored on-board pending offloading into ammonia transport ships which can berth alongside; and (c) Using the pipelines connecting both the on-shore renewable hydrogen production and the on-shore renewable nitrogen production to the off-shore floating vessel as a means of short term hydrogen and nitrogen storage to assist in managing the intermittency of the renewable energy source being used to generate the hydrogen and nitrogen.

Claims

1. A method of exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels, said method comprising the steps of: Using land based electrolysis plants to produce hydrogen from water where such electrolysis is powered by a renewable energy source such as solar, wind, tidal or geothermal power; Using pipelines to transport such renewable hydrogen to off-shore floating ammonia production storage and offloading vessels which each contain an air separation unit to generate nitrogen and an ammonia synthesis plant to combine the hydrogen and nitrogen to produce ammonia and storage tanks to hold the ammonia pending its offloading into ammonia transport ships which can berth alongside the vessels;

2. A method of exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels as described in claim 1, where the intermittency of the renewable energy powering the electrolysis is partly managed by: Packing hydrogen at high pressure into the pipelines referred to in claim 1 during periods in which the renewable energy source is available, and; Continuously drawing hydrogen off at lower pressure into the floating ammonia production storage and offloading vessels to enable their continuous or near continuous operation.

3. A method of exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels, said method comprising the steps of: Using land based electrolysis plants to produce hydrogen from water where such electrolysis is powered by a renewable energy source such as solar, wind, tidal or geothermal power; Using land based Air Separation Units to produce nitrogen where such Air Separation Unit is powered by a renewable energy source such as solar, wind, tidal or geothermal power; Using pipelines to transport such renewable hydrogen and renewable nitrogen to off-shore floating ammonia production storage and offloading vessels which each contain an ammonia synthesis plant to combine the hydrogen and nitrogen to produce ammonia and storage tanks to hold the ammonia pending its offloading into ammonia transport ships which can berth alongside the vessels; 3

4. A method of exporting renewable hydrogen via floating ammonia production vessels as described in claim 3, where the intermittency of the renewable energy powering the electrolysis and the Air Separation Unit is partly managed by: Packing hydrogen and nitrogen at high pressure into the pipelines referred to in claim 3 during periods in which the renewable energy source is available, and; Continuously drawing hydrogen and nitrogen off at lower pressure into the floating ammonia production storage and offloading vessels to enable their continuous or near continuous operation.