Life cycle analysis of processes for hydrogen production

Hydrogen is considered to be an ideal energy carrier in the foreseeable future and can play a very important role in the energy system. A variety of technologies can be used to produce hydrogen. One of the most remarkable methods for large-scale hydrogen production is thermo-chemical water decomposition using heat energy from nuclear, solar and other sources. Detailed simulations of the two most promising water splitting thermo-chemical cycles (the Westinghouse cycle and the Sulphur–Iodine cycle) were performed in Aspen Plus code and obtained results were used for life cycle analysis. They were compared with two different processes for hydrogen production (coal gasification and coal pyrolysis). Some of the results obtained from LCA are also reported in the paper.