Hydrogen Value Chain LOHC-MCH for Energy Transition #H2Americas2023
Summary
TLDRThe video script presents a technology called 'Spira' by Chota International Corporation, a proven and commercially available method for transporting hydrogen via a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) called methyl cyclohexane (MCH). It outlines Chota's background, the Spira process, and its advantages over other hydrogen transport options. The script highlights successful industrial demonstrations, including a global supply chain project between Brunei and Japan. It also discusses ongoing business development activities, such as potential projects in South America, Australia, Europe, and Singapore, involving MCH transportation and local hydrogen recovery. Overall, the script aims to introduce and promote Spira as a safe, reliable, and efficient technology for hydrogen transportation and distribution.
Takeaways
- 🔑 Chota International Corporation is showcasing their 'Spira' technology, which involves transporting hydrogen via a liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) called methyl cyclohexane (MCH).
- 🌐 The Spira technology allows for the safe and efficient global transportation of hydrogen, bridging the gap between production and consumption sites.
- ⚙️ The process involves hydrogenating toluene to MCH at the production site, transporting the MCH via various modes (tankers, trucks, pipelines), and then dehydrogenating the MCH at the destination to recover pure hydrogen.
- 🛳 Chota successfully demonstrated the Spira technology by transporting MCH from Brunei to Japan in 2020 and 2022, showcasing its viability for a global hydrogen supply chain.
- 🔋 The recovered hydrogen can be used for various applications, such as fuel cell vehicles, power generation, and industrial processes.
- 💰 Studies suggest that the transportation costs of Spira are competitive compared to other hydrogen carriers like ammonia and liquid hydrogen.
- 🌍 Chota is actively pursuing various business development activities and partnerships to implement the Spira technology globally, targeting regions like South America, Australia, Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, and Scotland.
- 🤝 Chota has formed a collaboration with Axens to provide a one-stop solution for hydrogen transport options, combining their respective expertise in hydrogenation and dehydrogenation technologies.
- 🌳 The Spira technology is positioned as a pragmatic and commercially available solution for enabling a carbon-free, hydrogen-based society.
- 📈 Chota envisions the development of hydrogen port delivery hubs, large-scale storage facilities, and decentralized dehydrogenation plants to facilitate the distribution of hydrogen via the Spira technology.
Q & A
What is the purpose of the Spira technology?
-Spira is a technology that enables the transportation of hydrogen over long distances by binding it with a liquid organic molecule called methyl cyclohexane (MCH). This allows hydrogen to be easily transported as a chemical at ambient temperatures and pressures.
How does the Spira technology work?
-The process starts with toluene, a common refinery aromatic, which is hydrogenated to produce MCH using hydrogen. The MCH can then be transported to the desired location, where it is dehydrogenated using a proprietary catalyst to release the hydrogen and regenerate the toluene, which is then returned to the production site for reuse.
What are the advantages of using the Spira technology over other hydrogen transportation methods?
-Spira offers several advantages, including the ability to transport hydrogen at ambient conditions, a higher volumetric density of hydrogen compared to compressed gas or liquid hydrogen, and the potential for high purity hydrogen recovery (over 99.8%). Additionally, the technology can utilize existing infrastructure for transportation and storage.
What was the significance of the demonstration projects mentioned in the presentation?
-The demonstration projects in Brunei and Japan were conducted to commercially demonstrate the viability of the Spira technology in a global hydrogen supply chain. These projects successfully transported MCH over long distances and recovered hydrogen at the destination, proving the technology's readiness for larger-scale deployment.
What are some of the current business development activities related to the Spira technology?
-The presentation mentions several ongoing business development activities, including evaluating and pursuing projects where hydrogen supply is remote from the point of use (e.g., South America, Australia), engineering a project with local dehydrogenation in Singapore, and partnering with Axens for a marketing and delivery collaboration.
How does the Spira technology compare to other hydrogen carriers in terms of transportation costs?
-According to the study mentioned in the presentation, transportation costs are not a significant barrier for the Spira technology compared to other hydrogen carriers like ammonia or liquid hydrogen. The transportation costs are typically overshadowed by other costs in the supply chain, such as hydrogen production and storage.
What is the overall process efficiency of the Spira technology?
-The presentation estimates the overall process efficiency of the Spira technology to be around 60%, considering factors like the energy required for hydrogenation, transportation, and dehydrogenation, as well as the energy content of the recovered hydrogen.
How is the Spira technology aligned with environmental goals?
-The presentation positions the Spira technology as a solution that can contribute to the prevention of global warming and CO2 emission reduction by enabling a global hydrogen supply chain and facilitating the use of hydrogen as a clean energy source.
What is the partnership between Chota and Axens focused on?
-Chota and Axens have entered into a cooperative agreement for a marketing and delivery collaboration. Axens brings its hydrogenation technology and licensing experience, while Chota provides its proprietary dehydrogenation catalyst and engineering expertise. This partnership aims to offer a one-stop solution for clients seeking hydrogen transportation options.
What is the significance of the project being considered in Rotterdam?
-The project being considered in Rotterdam involves the importation of hydrogen via LOHC (Spira technology) and the establishment of a distribution hub in Northwestern Europe. This hub could supply hydrogen to various countries in the region, with a potential capacity of up to 400,000 annual metric tons by 2030.
Outlines
🌐 Introduction to Spira Technology and Chota Corporation
This paragraph introduces Robert Schneider, a senior technology adviser for Chota International Corporation, and the topic of his presentation - the Spira technology, a proven and commercially available method for transporting hydrogen via a global supply chain. It provides an overview of Chota Corporation, an established engineering and construction company with expertise in various industries, including renewable and clean energy. The paragraph outlines the structure of the presentation, covering Spira technology, its commercialization, business development activities, and industrial application projects.
🔬 Understanding the Spira Technology and Demonstration Project
This paragraph delves into the details of the Spira technology, also known as the liquid organic hydrogen carrier (LOHC) method. It explains the process of binding hydrogen with a liquid organic molecule called methyl cyclohexane (MCH) for transportation and then dehydrogenating it back to recover hydrogen at the destination. It discusses the physical properties of MCH, making it suitable for transportation at ambient conditions. The paragraph also compares the Spira technology with other hydrogen carriers like ammonia and liquid hydrogen in terms of transportation costs, efficiency, and purity. Additionally, it describes a successful one-year demonstration project where 210 metric tons of hydrogen were transported from Brunei to Japan using the Spira technology.
📹 Video Demonstration and Current Business Development Activities
This paragraph introduces a brief video showcasing the Spira demonstration project, highlighting the global hydrogen supply chain connecting Brunei, Japan, and other regions. It then discusses further demonstrations of the technology's viability, including transporting MCH in an ocean-going chemical tanker. The paragraph shifts focus to current business development activities, such as exploring global supply chain scenarios, hydrogen port delivery hubs, large-scale storage options, and decentralized dehydrogenation facilities. It mentions specific projects being evaluated, including supplying hydrogen from South America or Australia to Japan, Germany, Scotland, and the Netherlands. Additionally, it highlights the engineering progress of an MCH-based project with local dehydrogenation at the Port of Rotterdam, aimed at distributing hydrogen to Northwestern Europe.
🇸🇬 Local Dehydrogenation Project in Singapore and Collaboration
This paragraph discusses the progress being made on a local dehydrogenation and refueling station project in Singapore. It outlines the features of the site, including MCH storage, a compact and modular dehydrogenation plant, a refueling system, and a sheltered hydrogen dispenser. The locally recovered hydrogen will be used to refuel fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) and other port machinery. The paragraph also mentions a cooperative agreement with Axens, a French process catalyst and technology licensing firm, to provide a one-stop solution for clients seeking hydrogen transport options, combining Chota's dehydrogenation expertise and Axens' hydrogenation technology.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Hydrogen Carrier
💡Dehydrogenation
💡Global Supply Chain
💡Hydrogenation
💡Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs)
💡Demonstration Project
💡Toluene (Tyne)
💡Hydrogen Hub
💡Business Development
💡Decentralized Dehydrogenation
Highlights
Chota is an established player in the Global Engineering and construction business, with a technology Development Division pursuing innovative processes for improved conversion efficiency, product improvement, renewable clean energy projects.
The focus of the talk is on liquid organic hydrogen carrier (lohc), a convenient and demonstrated way to move hydrogen over long distances, where hydrogen is bound with a liquid organic molecule like methyl cyclohexane (MCH).
The lohc technology, called Spira, involves converting toluene to MCH using hydrogen, transporting MCH, and then dehydrogenating MCH back to toluene and hydrogen at the destination, using a proprietary catalyst.
The overall process efficiency of Spira is estimated around 60%, competitive with ammonia and generally somewhat superior to liquid hydrogen for long-distance hydrogen transport.
In 2020, an industrial-scale demonstration project successfully transported 210 metric tons of hydrogen as MCH from Brunei to Japan, enough to fill about 40,000 Toyota Mirai fuel cell cars.
In 2022, a further demonstration involved transporting MCH in an ocean-going chemical tanker from Brunei to Japan for commercial use at the Eneos oil refinery.
Current business development activities include evaluating global supply chain projects, hydrogen port delivery hubs with large-scale storage, and decentralized dehydrogenation facilities for local distribution.
A project under consideration involves importing hydrogen via lohc to the Port of Rotterdam and distributing it as a hub to various countries in Northwestern Europe, with a capacity of up to 400,000 annual metric tons by 2030.
Engineering is progressing on a project in Singapore featuring local MCH dehydrogenation, a refueling system, and a hydrogen dispenser for fuel cell vehicles and port machinery.
Chota has entered into a cooperative agreement with Axens, a French process catalyst and technology licensing firm, to provide one-stop shopping for hydrogen transport options, combining their respective hydrogenation and dehydrogenation technologies.
The presentation highlights that for hydrogen transportation, several lohc options can likely coexist in the marketplace, depending on project particulars and material issues.
The MCH option for hydrogen transport has been demonstrated as safe, reliable, and commercially available today, utilizing existing and fungible assets.
The presentation aims to introduce the Spira technology, a proven and commercially available method that can be applied to the transport of hydrogen via a global supply chain.
Chota has a presence in the United States and has operated a wholly-owned subsidiary called Chota International Corporation in Houston, Texas, for over 50 years.
Toluene, a common refinery aromatic found in the BTX stream of a catalytic reformer, is the starting point for the Spira technology, where it is converted to MCH using hydrogen.
Transcripts
so welcome to Washington very nice of
them to stay open for us this week I was
kind of worried about what was going to
happen if they weren't um my name is
Robert Schneider I come from the process
licensing proprietary Catalyst world I'm
retained by uh Chota international
corporation as a senior technology
adviser uh today my aim is to introduce
you to a technology we call Spira this
focuses on a proven and commercially
available technology that can be applied
to the transport of hydrogen uh via
Global Supply
Chain
okay I'd like to start off with uh just
a very brief presentation on you know
who the company is won't spend much time
on that uh again a little bit about spir
uh describe the commercialization of the
technology uh provide maybe some insight
into current Business Development
activities in industrial application
projects that we're now
pursuing so who are we Chota is an
established player in the Global
Engineering and construction business
mean s technology Development Division
which pursues Innovative processes for
improved conversion efficiency product
Improvement renewable clean energy
projects that are in harmony with our
world and our environment company got
its start after World War II rebuilding
Refinery and Associated infrastructure
in its Home Market of Japan eventually
this led to branching out into various
EPC projects chemicals petrochemicals
liquefied natural
gas today toota provides engineering
solutions for both conventional and
established Industries as well as
emerging ones such as battery power
storage and hydrogen Supply
infrastructure Cha's headquarters are
located in Yokohama Japan the company
has a presence in the United States and
has had one for over 50 years currently
operating out of a wholly owned
subsidiary called Chota inter National
Corporation and that office is located
in Houston
Texas so the focus of my talk today is
liquid organic hydrogen carrier we call
it lohc for short it's a convenient and
demonstrated way to move hydrogen over
long distances uh this is frequently
important consideration since hydrogen
production is frequently located at a
site remotely located from where you
want to use it uh in
lohc hydrogen is bound with liquid
organic molecule in the case of AR
Spirit technology this molecule is
methyl cyclohexane which Hereafter I
will refer to as
MCH the journey starts with tiine uh
common Refinery aromatic which is found
in the btx Stream of a catalytic
reformer in most refineries if they have
such a unit each molecule of toine
contains three double bonds uh in the
aromatic ring and thus can be
hydrogenated to one molecule Ule of MCH
using three molecules of hydrogen MCH
can be transported over both long and
short distances and then can be
dehydrogenated back to uine and three
moles of hydrogen as shown on this slide
MCH has a mole weight of about 98 a
density 3/4 of the density of water
boils at about the same temperature 101°
Centigrade given the physical properties
of MCH it can be easily transported as a
chemical at ambient temperatures and
pressures of course hydrogen can be
transp transported as a pure liquid as a
compressed gas in the event that this is
desirable um but it can also most
conveniently be transported using
chemical carriers as shown in this slide
and these carriers include such options
as ammonia MCH and there are other
chemical options as well all of these
carriers have been studied at Great
length and depending upon the specifics
of Any Given application each will have
its own pluses and minuses to be
considered as I've already mentioned
chota's use of tyin uh for conversion to
methyl cycle hexane or MCH as we refer
to it is known by the name spir MCH is
transported by whatever means deemed
most appropriate from the point of
production to the point of hydrogen use
and at this point hydrogen is recovered
from MCH by a process known as
dehydrogenation at this point we make
use of a proprietary Catalyst and this
proprietary Catalyst provides for high
conversion High selectivity and
long-term
stability the tuine which emanates from
the dehydrogenation facility is then
returned to the point where hydrogen is
produced for eventual reprocessing back
into MCH thus this is a circular carrier
options to move MCH and tiine include
oceangoing tankers barg es tanker trucks
Rail lines and to the extent that they
exist
pipelines looking at the process from an
overall perspective we can consider the
energy content of the hydrogen to be
transported hydrogenation conversion
energy required enery any energy
recovered from the hydrogenation
exotherm because it is an exothermic
reaction energy used to transport both
MCH and taline and the energy required
for dehydrogenation which is an
endothermic reaction accordingly and in
consideration of these factors and the
energy content of the recovered hydrogen
we estimate an overall process
efficiency of around 60% and while this
might seem low efficiency calculations
always depend on where you choose the
boundaries uh for your analysis and what
assumptions you make future technology
current technology lohc and ammonia are
usually competitive with one another and
according to several studies generally
somewhat Superior to liquid hydrogen all
things being
considered chart's a little busy I'll
just uh touch on the high points we
compare lohc hydrogen with ammonia and
liquid hydrogen loc can be moved in
ambient conditions uh while both ammonia
and liquid hydrogen are cogenic liquids
so they must be handled accordingly with
MCH hydrogen content is roughly 1500th
of the equivalent volume of gasius
hydrogen in the case of ammonia the
compression ratio is even greater and
the hydrogen contained volume is
1300th of that in an equivalent volume
of hydrogen gas hydrogen via MCH can be
provided at a purity of over
99.8% but for fcev applications we'd
need to clean it up a little bit more
required Fu cell fuel cell Purity would
be arrived at after treatment by PSA for
example in the case of ammonia use as a
fuel requires no further treatment but
but for hydrogen recovery applications
ammonia cracking and subsequent
purifications would be required there's
no question ammonia cracking is possible
however there are no large scale ammonia
cracking facilities in commercial
operation at this
time in one study the total cost to
supply hydrogen from South America to
the port of rodam compared various
hydrogen carriers such as ammonia MCH
methanol Benzel Tyne and liquid
hydrogen the shipping cost are shown is
the dark blue bar sort of in the middle
of the of the stack
charts and the shipping cost is actually
overwhelmed by other costs such as
hydrogen production utility storage and
other various supply chain
costs thus we can conclude that as shown
here Transportation costs are not a
significant barrier to the supply of
hydrogen moving from one site to
another
so now we're going to turn our attention
to Industrial demonstration and
commercialization of the spir
technology in 2020 after having
successfully proven the viability of
Spear and chota's Yokohama development
pilot facilities an industrial scale
project was undertaken to commercially
demonstrate spir a hydrogenation plant
was erected at an existing production
site in brunai where hydrogen production
was already in operation MCH was
produced and shipped out to Japan by
oceangoing carrier but in ISO containers
for reference the one-way distance uh
from brunai to the port of Tokyo is
about 5,000 kilometers so 3,000 miles at
the Japanese Port the MCH was offloaded
sent to a newly constructed
dehydrogenation facility at the toea oil
refinery here hydrogen was recovered as
a purified gas was ultimately used as a
supplemental fuel to a gas turbine
electric power generator could have been
used anywhere but that that was a
convenient place to use it over the
course of the one-year demonstration
program some 210 metric tons of hydrogen
were successfully moved from berai to
Japan this amount of hydrogen though
used for electric power production as I
said it could have been used in in
numerous other applications and just for
a point of reference this would have
been enough hydrogen to fill up about
40,000 Toyota Mar fuel cell
cars this diagram shows the overall path
of the demo project from one site to
another to recap the demo project
hydrogen moved from one plant shown in
the upper left as MCH in ISO containers
that were then loaded onto an Oceano
ship when the MCH arrived in Kawasaki it
was dehydrogenated using our proprietary
Catalyst for use at the to refinery in a
gas turbine the real purpose of this
demonstration was to show the viability
of spir as applied to a global hydrogen
supply chain while the end product was
El electric power again it could have
been used for almost any purpose
imaginable next assuming our technology
cooperates okay I want to show you a
very brief uh video on The Spar
demonstration
project we are committed to delivering
hydrogen energy to the world to
contribute to the prevention of global
warming and CO2 emission reduction Spa
hydrogen has been developed with such
ambitions
with the reaction of toine SP hydrogen
can be produced it is handled at ambient
temperature and pressure enabling a
large scale and safe storage
transportation of hydrogen the world's
first Global hydrogen supply chain
connecting brunai duras salum and Japan
has been realized 2020 construction of
the hydrogenation plant in brunai
Jerusalem started in April 2018 18 and
the plant became operational in
2020 first Hydrogen is produced from
natural gas processed at the brunai LG
plant and then converted to MCH a liquid
compound called SP hydrogen Spa hydrogen
is transported and shipped under ambient
conditions by existing ISO containers
using a commercial containers vessel
it's sent to the dehydrogenation plant
in TOA oils kin Refinery located in the
Kawasaki Coastal area in Japan this
project shows the reality of global
hydrogen supply chain practically
demonstrating the whole process from
production and overseas transportation
to the utilization of hydrogen based on
its success the next challenge will be
to develop a commercial business that
will bring hydrogen into demand and to
connect global syst sustainable energy
resources via SP hydrogen supply chain
Network our efforts will continue to
bring us closer to achieve a carbon-free
hydrogen-based
society
okay a further demonstration of spirit
VI viability was undertaken in 2022
where MCH was transported this time not
in ISO containers but in an Oceano
chemical tanker so this is you know
scaling up and this sailed from berai to
Japan different port this time in the
case in this case the Final Destination
was the Enos oil refinery where the MCH
was uh was used
commercially let me turn now just for a
brief minute to some of the current
Business Development related
activities uh on this slide we talk
about a global supply chain a hydrogen
Port delivery Hub in large scale storage
are depicted uh the MCH can be sent to
Short or long-term storage or it can be
dehydrogenated locally at a receiving
terminal uh other sources of hydrogen
could include renewable hydrogen
generation or power to gas facilities uh
MCH can alternatively be sent to a
decentralized facility for local
dehydrogenation and distribution to
users for Mobility material movement
applications such as cars fcev trucks uh
forklifts
Etc looking at the global picture
several persp respective projects are
now being evaluated and pursued where
the hydrogen Supply is remote from the
point of use such as Manufacturing in
South America or Australia and then MCH
transportation to Japan Germany Scotland
or the
Netherlands lastly Chota and its
partners are progressing the engineering
of an MCH uh based uh project with local
dehydrogenation whoops I went too far
let me go back here think I missed
something
yeah sorry this is uh this is theou with
the port of Rotterdam importation of
hydrogen via lohc and a Distribution Hub
in Northwestern Europe This would then
Supply hydrogen to various countries uh
in Europe and capaity is up to about
400,000 annual metric tons by 2030 or
now under
consideration uh this project is uh this
lhts project is being looked at the ship
hydrogen from Scotland to
Rotterdam uh the partners on this SL
envisioned production of hydrogen in
Scotland then local conversion to MCH
the liquid MCH would be transported by
Oceano carrier to Rotterdam hydrogen and
there be recovered at the Port uh and
then distributed from The Hub to users
in Northwestern Europe and we have
Personnel in the Netherlands right now
supporting this initiative which is
under active
Pursuit uh this is the one I started
talking about prematurely uh with
Partners we're progressing the
engineering of a local dehydrogenation
refueling in station in Singapore so
this is a distributed uh hydrogen Supply
the site will feature MCH storage
Compact and modular dehydrogenation
plant refueling system and a sheltered
hydrogen dispenser the locally recovered
hydrogen will be sent to an adjacent
adjacent refueling station and at this
station refueling will be available for
fcv trucks or other Port material
movement uh
Machinery like to just uh mention very
quickly before I close uh we have a
Cooperative agreement we've recently
entered into with axin which is the
well-known French process Catalyst and
Technology licensing firm uh this
marketing delivery collaboration is
meant to provide One-Stop shopping for
clients seeking hydrogen transport
options what ACC brings to the table uh
is dehydrogenation technology sorry
hydrogenation technology and licenser
experience uh while toota will provide
the proprietary and proven
dehydrogenation Catalyst along with
engineering procurement and construction
expert expertise so quick summary in
reality we fully expect that for
hydrogen Transportation you know being
pragmatic several loc's can and will
probably coexist in the marketplace
depending on Project particulars and
other material issues we've demonstrated
that MCH option is safe it's reliable as
a carrier mechanism and that this
technology can be reliably applied to a
large extent using existing and fungible
assets this technology is proven and
it's commercially available
today uh that brings me to the end of my
presentation the clock just went to zero
so I don't have time for questions if
you want to catch me in the hallway uh
I'll try to answer I think I've stayed
within the allotted time I'd like to
thank the organizers for inviting us I'd
like to thank you for your time and
attention
thanks
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