Feasibility study on hydrogen refuelling station for green transition in transportation sector

Today, climate change and growing environmental concerns are considered worldwide issues that necessitate prompt and ongoing response from global communities to protect humanity and the Earth's ecosystem. A multifaceted strategy that includes boosting energy efficiency, significantly reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and encouraging the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) like solar and wind energy is needed to address this noteworthy problem. However, these energy sources present an energy production issue due to their intermittency and volatility, which do not allow for following energy demand unless energy can be stored efficiently. One of the compelling options to overcome the intermittency of RESs could be the use of hydrogen as an energy carrier, known as the most plentiful element in the Universe. In fact, hydrogen production and use for decarbonizing the transport and industrial sectors is part of the European Union's 2050 carbon neutrality goal. At the moment, most of the hydrogen produced by fossil fuel-based industrial methods, mostly methane steam reforming, can not meet the long-term energy and environmental goals. Obtaining green hydrogen through electrolysis of water by using RESs does not release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, making it a potential option for the ongoing energy transition. Also, hydrogen can be beneficial for fossil energy replacement in the mobility and heating sector, and numerous industrial processes require proper storage systems. In order to use H2 for the mobility sector, the infrastructure for its development must be advanced and built. This thesis explores different aspects of scenarios from modelling to economic feasibility of hydrogen refuelling stations infrastructure for providing hydrogen fuel to light/heavy-duty vehicles such as passenger cars and railway trains, and aspects considered as: • 1: Dynamic modelling of a hydrogen gas station, analyzing tank-to-tank refuelling for onboard car tanks. i • 2: Pre-feasibility techno-economic assessments of an on-site hydrogen refuelling station for a Spanish railway train. • 3: Optimizing the hydrogen refuelling process using a novel Taguchi algorithm approach for light-duty commercial vehicles. • 4: Government subsidies' effects on hydrogen station Infrastructure. In the first case, a thermodynamic tank-to-tank modelling of HRS was conducted using H2FILL's software, aiming to investigate several charging parameters' effect on the refuelling performance (end gas temperature and State of Charge (SOC)) of the onboard vehicle tank. Multiple simulations were conducted to examine different refuelling factors, notably revealing the significant impact of H2 supply temperature on tank temperature and SOC. Increasing supply temperature from -40℃ to 20℃ causes a 65.2% rise in final gas temperature and a 9.3% decrease in SOC. However, in the second case, a detailed pre-feasibility technoeconomic study evaluated the H2 dispensing cost dynamics of a solar-powered HRS for a Spanish tram, analyzing various operational and financial aspects. The base case, involving a 2.8 MWp solar plant and 0.515 MW PEM electrolyser, projected an H2 cost of 7.49 €/kg over 15 years. With excess energy sales, costs could drop to 2.27 €/kg. The third case considered, a Taguchi Design of Experiment (DOE) approach was employed to optimize process parameters with the aim of providing better thermo-physical insights during charging of the onboard vehicle tank. Finally, the thesis presents an economic analysis by considering available Spanish governmental subsidy values (0% to 40%) to the HRS facility, resulting in H2 costs of 6.43 €/kg to 3.76 €/kg for subsidy values of 0% to 40%, indicating subsidy funds provided by the government are essential to make green hydrogen technologies and infrastructure commercially competitive.