A techno-economic evaluation of the hydrogen production for energy generation using an ethanol fuel processor

Abstract The techno-economic analysis of a process to convert ethanol into H 2 to be used as a fuel for PEM fuel cells of H 2 -powered cars was done. A plant for H 2 production was simulated using experimental results obtained on monolith reactors for ethanol steam reforming and WGS steps. The steam reforming (Rh/CeSiO 2 ) and WGS (Pt/ZrO 2 ) monolith catalysts remained quite stable during long-term startup/shut down cycles, with no carbon deposition. The H 2 production cost was significantly affected by the ethanol price. The monolith catalyst costs contribution was lower than that of conventional reactors. The H 2 production cost obtained using the expensive Brazilian ethanol price (0.81 US$/L ethanol) was US$ 8.87/kg H 2 , which is lower than the current market prices (US$ 13.44/kg H 2 ) practiced at H 2 refueling stations in California. This result showed that this process is economically feasible to provide H 2 as a fuel for H 2 -powered cars at competitive costs in refueling stations.