Techno-economic feasibility of road transport of hydrogen using liquid organic hydrogen carriers

The cost of storing and transporting hydrogen have been one of the main challenges for the realization of the hydrogen economy. Liquid organic hydrogen carriers (LOHC) are a promising novel solution to tackle these challenges. In this paper we compare the LOHC concept to compressed gas truck delivery and on-site production of hydrogen via water electrolysis. As a case study we consider transportation of by-product hydrogen from chlor-alkali and chlorate plants to a single industrial customer, which was considered to have the greatest potential for the LOHC technology to enter the markets. The results show that the LOHC delivery chain could significantly improve the economics of long distance road transport. For economic feasibility, the most critical parameters identified are the heat supply method for releasing hydrogen at the end-user site and the investment costs for LOHC reactors.