Evaluation of Hydrogen Production Methods Using

international journal of hydrogen energy 34 (2009) 52945303
Available at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he
Evaluation of hydrogen production methods using

the Analytic Hierarchy Process
Petros A. Pilavachi*, Anatoli I. Chatzipanagi, Antonia I. Spyropoulou
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece
article info
abstract
Article history:
In this paper, seven common hydrogen production processes are evaluated using the
Received 18 February 2009
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) in respect to five criteria. The processes to be evaluated
Received in revised form
are steam methane reforming (SMR), partial oxidation of hydrocarbons (POX), coal gasifi-
8 April 2009
cation (CG), biomass gasification (BG), the combination of photovoltaics and electrolysis
Accepted 12 April 2009
(PVEL), the combination of wind power and electrolysis (WEL) and the combination of
Available online 23 May 2009
hydropower and electrolysis (HEL). The selected criteria that were used in the evaluation,
Keywords:
maintenance costs, capital cost, feedstock cost and hydrogen production cost. According to
Hydrogen production
the evaluation, the processes that combine renewable energy sources with electrolysis (PV
Analytic Hierarchy Process
EL, WEL and HEL) rank higher in classification than conventional processes (SMR, POX,
Single-criterion analysis
CG and BG).
Multicriteria analysis
2009 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights
for each of the seven hydrogen production processes are CO2 emissions, operation and
reserved.
1.
Introduction
The living standard has been increased in many countries

over the years. An important consequence of this is the
increase in energy use.
At first, energy demand was covered by the use of fossil
fuels, such as petroleum and coal, but it is now a fact that their
excessive use led to a decrease of these resources. In addition,
the environmental impact from their use is a problem that
cannot be ignored.
These reasons are more than enough to encourage an
effort to develop and use new and more environmentally
friendly forms of energy.
It is likely that hydrogen would be the fuel of the future. For
several years, a great number of studies have been carried out
concerning issues to be addressed in order to facilitate the
introduction of hydrogen in the energy balance [1] as well as
issues concerning the hydrogen infrastructure. Environmental
issues have also been taken into consideration, since hydrogen

seems to be a non-harmful energy carrier. Researchers have
focused not only on CO2 emissions [2] but also on hydrogens
high energy content [3].
Research has also been expanded in the transportation
sector [4]. Efforts have been made to replace petrol and gasoline fuel engines with hydrogen fuel engines [5] and many
projects have been carried out such as project ECTOS [6] and
the Euro-Quebec-hydrogen pilot project [7].
Although, many studies concerning hydrogen evaluation
have been published, they address issues related to hydrogen
fuel cell systems [8,9] rather than hydrogen production
systems that are studied in the present paper.
The present study forms an evaluation of seven of the most
common hydrogen production processes with respect to five
criteria, which reflect both economic (such as the cost for
hydrogen production) and environmental (CO2 emissions)
aspects. For this purpose, the Analytic Hierarchy Process
* Corresponding author. Tel.: 30 24610 56640.

E-mail address: ppilavachi@uowm.gr (P.A. Pilavachi).
0360-3199/$ see front matter 2009 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2009.04.026
5295
(AHP) was used, this being a common tool for single- and
multi-objective decision-making problems. This process has
the ability to simplify complex problems. In the past, the AHP
has been used in several studies such as the emissions from
power plants [10] and the impact on the living standard from
power plants [11,12], the hydrogen fuelling systems for
transportations [13], the evaluation of liquid biofuels [14] and
the hydrogen energy technology [15].
Even though AHP is a very good decision-making methodology, it is not the only one. There are other useful tools in
decision-making such as the Analysis and Synthesis of Parameters under Information Deficiency (ASPID). According to this
decision-making method [16], non-numerical, inexact and
incomplete information can generate useful results. The ASPID
has been used in many studies such as for the evaluation of CHP
systems [17] and the evaluation of natural gas supply options for
south, east and central Europe [18]. Apart from the abovementioned multicriteria decision-making methods, several
others exist such as the Preference Ranking Organisation
Method for Enrichment Evaluations (PROMETHEE) with wide
application such as waste management [19] and ranking of
chemical emissions from motor vehicles [20] as well as the
Elimination and Choice Expressing Reality (ELECTRE) method.
The ELECTRE method constitutes of two main parts, the
construction of one or several outranking relations and an
exploitation procedure that elaborates on the recommendations
obtained from the first phase. As with the previous methods,
ELECTRE is widely utilized for decision-making problems [21,22].
2.
Selection of alternative options
The seven hydrogen production processes selected for this

evaluation are methane steam reforming (SMR), partial
oxidation of hydrocarbons (POX), coal gasification (CG),
biomass gasification (BG), the photovoltaicelectrolysis
system (PVEL), the windelectrolysis system (WEL) and the
hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL).
2.1.
2.3.
At high temperatures, pulverized coal is oxidized with pure

oxygen in order to produce a raw gas mixture. The raw gas
mixture is then desulfurized. The produced gas after desulfurization is called synthesis gas. The synthesis gas is then
processed through a shift reactor in order to increase the
hydrogen fraction. Finally, a purification process takes place
through a PSA unit [23,25].
2.4.
Biomass gasification (BG)
Biomass gasification is similar to that of coal. We can identify

four main phases: the gasification process; the gas cleaning
section; the WGS reaction and; the PSA unit. Biomass gasifiers
tend to operate at lower temperatures than those of coal. The
produced gas from the gasification process has little requirements for clean up since biomass contains little sulfur [23].
However, the process has not yet been fully commercialized
since several aspects, such as the appropriate preparation of
the feedstock and the ash removal before its input in the
gasifier as well as technical issues concerning the gasification
procedure itself, need to be further investigated [25].
2.5.
The photovoltaicelectrolysis system (PVEL)
This hydrogen production system is constituted of a photovoltaic unit and a monopolar alkaline electrolysis unit. The
electricity required for hydrogen production via the electrolysis unit is provided from the photovoltaic unit [26].
2.6.
The wind turbineelectrolysis system (WEL)
This hydrogen production system is a combination of a wind

turbine system, which produces the necessary electricity, and
a monopolar alkaline electrolysis unit. Hydrogen is produced
through the electrolysis procedure [26].
Methane steam reforming (SMR)

2.7.
Methane steam reforming is probably the most common

process for the production of commercial hydrogen. At high
temperatures, steam reacts with methane in order to produce
carbon monoxide and hydrogen, a mixture known as
synthesis gas. Usually a catalyst is required for the reforming
reaction. Additional hydrogen can be produced through the
watergas-shift (WGS) reaction, which takes place in two
phases, at high temperature and at low temperature. Finally
a purification process is utilized through a PSA unit [23,24].
2.2.
Coal gasification (CG)
Partial oxidation of hydrocarbons (POX)
In partial oxidation of hydrocarbons, hydrocarbons are

oxidized in order to produce synthesis gas, which is mainly
comprised of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The processes
can operate with or without a catalyst. After the synthesis gas
production, a WGS reaction takes place in order to reduce the
carbon monoxide percentage in the mixture. The final phase
purification of the gas is achieved through a PSA unit [23].
The hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL)
This process combines a hydropower unit and a monopolar

alkaline electrolysis unit. The electrical power produced from
the hydropower unit is provided to the electrolysis unit for the
production of hydrogen [26].
Table 1 CO2 emissions for the seven hydrogen

production units for 2006.
Hydrogen production
process
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
CO2 emissions (kg CO2/kg H2)

(2006)
7.33 [2]
12.35 [2]
29.33 [2]
5.89 [27]
0 [9]
0 [28]
0 [2]
5296
Table 2 Operation and maintenance costs for the seven

hydrogen production units.
Hydrogen
production
process
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
3.
Salaries
(US$/(kg H2/
day))
Equipment
(US$/(kg H2/
day))
7.72
18.36
27.70
5.26
13.74
21.50
O&M costs
(US$/(kg H2/
day))
12.98
32.10
49.20
52.56
15.71
15.71
30.51
(1989)
(1989)
(1989)
(1993)
(1993)
(1993)
(1993)
Hydrogen production
process
[29]
[29]
[29]
[23]
[23]
[23]
[23]
Selection of criteria
The criteria selected for the evaluation of hydrogen production processes are the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, the
operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, the capital cost, the
feedstock cost and the hydrogen production cost.
3.1.
Operation and maintenance (O&M) costs
The O&M costs consist of expenses related to the operation

and maintenance of the unit. The O&M costs include salaries
and costs for maintenance of the equipment. The operation
and maintenance costs (see Table 2) are evaluated in US$ per
kg of H2 per day, after conversions, from data collected for
different years [23,29].
In order to carry out the evaluation, all data must be
updated to a common year. As far as salaries are concerned,
the updating can be done according to Equation (1).
Present Salary Initial SalaryPresent IECI =Initial IECI
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
Capital cost (US$/(kg H2/day))

284.77 (2005) [32]
803.24 (1989) [29]
1242.76 (1989) [29]
80.42 (1993) [23]
7937 (2001) [28]785.5 (1993) [23]
1808 (2001) [28]785.5 (1993) [23]
3287 (2001) [28]785.5 (1993) [23]
were collected, Present IECI is the Employment Cost Index

Indicator [30] for the year that the updating needs to be done
and Initial IECI is the Employment Cost Index Indicator [30]
for the year the data were collected.
As far as the equipment is concerned, the updating can be
done according to Equation (2).
Present Equipment Cost
Initial Equipment CostPresent IM&S =Initial IM&S 2
Carbon dioxide emissions (CO2 emissions)
The CO2 emissions criterion concerns the amount of carbon

dioxide produced from each hydrogen production process. The
criterion is evaluated in kg of CO2 per kg of H2, after conversion,
from data collected for year 2006 (Table 1) [2,9,27,28].
3.2.
Table 4 Capital cost for the seven hydrogen production

units.
(1)
where Present Salary is for the year that the updating needs
to be performed (1993), Initial Salary is for the year the data
where Present Equipment Cost is for the year that the updating needs to be performed (1993), Initial Equipment Cost is for
the year the data were collected, Present IM&S is the Marshall
& Swift Indicator [31] for the year that the updating needs to be
done and Initial IM&S is the Marshall & Swift Indicator [31] for
the year the data were collected.
As a result, O&M costs are presented in Table 3 in US$ per
kg of H2 per day, for year 1993.
Table 5 Capital cost for the seven hydrogen production

units for 2005.
Hydrogen production
process
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
Capital cost (US$/(kg H2/day))

(2005)
284.77
1058.17
1637.19
104.82
10448.56
3170.86
4927.05
Table 3 Operation and maintenance costs for the seven

hydrogen production units for 1993.
Hydrogen
production
process
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
Equipment
Operation &
Salaries
(US$/(kg H2/ (US$/(kg H2/ maintenance
day))
day))
costs (US$/(kg
H2/day)) (1993)
8.85
21.04
31.74
5.67
14.8
23.16
14.51
35.84
54.90
52.56
15.71
15.71
30.51
Table 6 Feedstock cost for the seven hydrogen

Hydrogen production
process
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
Feedstock cost (US$/(kg H2/day))

(1989)
154.32 [29]
136.61 [29]
120.15 [29]
194.88 [36]
0
0
0
5297
Table 7 H2 production cost for the seven hydrogen

production units.
H2 production cost
(US$/kg H2)
Hydrogen production process

SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
32.75
12.55
22.37
23.78
16.00
36.75
1.25
(2007)
(1999)
(2007)
(2007)
(2004)
(2007)
(2004)
[25]
[37]
[25]
[25]
[38]
[25]
[39]
3.4.
H2 production cost (US$/kg H2)

(2007)
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
3.3.
Feedstock cost
The feedstock cost criterion refers to the cost of the primary

material used in the hydrogen production process. It is evaluated in US$ per kg of H2 produced per day (after unit conversions). Table 6 presents analytically the above costs for year
1989 [23,30].
Table 8 H2 production cost for the seven hydrogen

Hydrogen production
process
updating needs to be done (2005), Initial Capital Cost is the

cost for the year the data were collected, Present ICEPCI is
the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index Indicator [3335]
for the year that the updating needs to be done and Initial
ICEPCI is the Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index Indicator
[3335] for the year the data were collected.
The updated values of capital cost are given in Table 5 in
US$ per kg of H2 per day, for year 2005.
32.75
16.07
22.37
23.78
17.36
36.75
1.40
3.5.
Hydrogen production cost
The hydrogen production cost refers to the total cost for

hydrogen production from the seven technologies. It is evaluated in US$ per kg of H2 produced and is presented in Table 7
(after unit conversions) [25,3739].
However, as previously mentioned, in order to have
a common basis of comparison, it is essential to update the
above values to a common year. For this, the yearly inflation
rate [40] has been taken into consideration. Equation (4) is
used for updating.
Capital cost
The third criterion is the capital cost of the unit, which is

considered to be the largest expense. It refers mostly to the
costs of the equipment, the transportation and the construction of the unit. The capital cost is given in Table 4 in US$ per
kg of H2 per day, after conversions, from data collected for
different years [23,28,29,32]. For the last three processes presented in Table 4, the first value refers to the renewable energy
unit (PV, W and H) and the second to the electrolysis unit (EL).
As previously mentioned, the data need updating in order
to be comparable. Updating is done according to Equation (3).
Present Capital Cost Initial Capital CostPresent ICEPCI =Initial ICEPCI
(3)
where, Present Capital Cost is the cost for the year that the
Ca1 Ca 1 IRa
(4)
where, C is the hydrogen production cost, a is the year in

which the hydrogen production cost is referred to and IR is the
yearly average inflation rate. Table 8 presents analytically the
above costs for the selected year 2007.
For instance Ca is the hydrogen production cost for year (a)
while Ca1 is the hydrogen production cost for year (a 1).
Table 9 presents the aggregated data selected for each alternative option in reference to each criterion.
4.
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP)
The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), introduced by Saaty in

1970, is a common decision-making methodology when
Table 9 Aggregated data for criteria alternative options.

Hydrogen production
process
SMR
POX
CG
BG
PVEL
WEL
HEL
Criteria
CO2 emissions
(kg CO2/kg H2)
(2006)
O&M costs (US$/

(kg H2/day))
(1993)
Capital cost (US$/

(kg H2/day))
(2005)
Feedstock cost
(US$/(kg H2/day))
(1989)
H2 production cost
(US$/kg H2)
(2007)
7.33
12.35
29.33
5.89
0
0
0
14.51
35.84
54.9
52.56
15.71
15.71
30.51
284.77
1058.17
1637.19
104.82
10448.56
3170.86
4927.05
154.32
136.61
120.15
194.88
0
0
0
32.75
16.07
22.37
23.78
17.36
36.75
1.4
5298
Evaluation of Hydrogen Production Processes
CO2 Emissions
SMR
O&M Cost
POX
CG
Feedstock
Cost
Capital Cost
BG
PV-EL
W-EL
H2 Production
Cost
H-EL
Fig. 1 Hierarchy tree structure for the evaluation of seven hydrogen production processes using AHP.
Fig. 2 Overall evaluation of hydrogen production

processes for base case.
dealing with multicriteria problems. The AHP utilizes a tree

structure in order to simplify complex decision-making
problems resulting in simplified sub problems, which can
easily be examined. We can distinguish four main steps [41]:

processes for case 2.
1. Creation of a tree structure, which comprises of one goal,

the criteria, and alternative solutions.
2. Evaluation of each alternative solution in relation to each

criterion.
3. Calculation of the weighing factor of the criteria with
subjective evaluation using pairwise comparisons.
4. Synthesis of the results of stages 2 and 3 so as to calculate
the overall evaluation of each alternative regarding the



5299

degree of achievement of each goal. Fig. 1 presents the tree

structure for the seven hydrogen production processes.
emphasis is given to CO2 emissions and H2 production cost.
On the contrary, coal gasification (CG) is ranked last.
5.
Analysis of the results
For the evaluation of the seven hydrogen production

processes, with the use of the AHP, 15 cases were carried out.
These cases were the base case, the equal weighted case, five
cases of single-criterion analysis and eight cases of multicriteria analysis.
5.1.
5.2.
Equally distributed criteria (case 1)
CO2 emissions: 20%, O&M cost: 20%, Capital cost: 20%, Feedstock cost: 20%, H2 production cost: 20%.
Base case
The criteria weights have been calculated using pairwise

comparison according to the AHP method.
CO2 emissions: 41.1%, O&M cost: 8.0%, Capital cost: 19.1%,
Feedstock cost: 8.1%, H2 production cost: 23.7%.
In the base case, the above weighing factors were given to
each criterion. As can be seen, the environmental impact (CO2
emissions) of each alternative option is the primary concern
of this case, while H2 production cost follows.
Fig. 2 presents the rating of alternative options for
hydrogen production. The combination of a hydropower unit
with an electrolytic unit (HEL) is the best option when greater



5300

For the equally distributed criteria case (case 1), Fig. 3

presents the ranking of the hydrogen production processes for
this case. Again, the combination of a hydropower unit with
an electrolytic unit (HEL) is the best option while coal gasification (CG) ranks last.
5.3.
Single-criterion analysis (cases 26)
In the single-criterion analysis (cases 26), the evaluation has

been carried out with full emphasis to one criterion while the
other four criteria are ignored.
5.3.1.

methane reforming (SMR) has the highest ranking while coal

gasification (CG) receives the last position.
5.3.3.
Case 4
CO2 emissions: 0%, O&M costs: 0%, Capital cost: 100%, Feedstock cost: 0%, H2 production: 0%.
In case 4, steam methane reforming (SMR) has the highest
ranking while photovoltaics system in combination with an
electrolytic unit (PVEL) receives the last position. This result
Case 2
CO2 emissions: 100%, O&M costs: 0%, Capital cost: 0%, Feedstock cost: 0%, H2 production cost: 0%.
As can be seen from Fig. 4, the best options are the systems,
which combine renewable energy with an electrolytic unit
(PVEL, HEL, WEL). Coal gasification (CG) ranks last, given
the fact that it has high emissions of CO2.
5.3.2.
Case 3
CO2 emissions: 0%, O&M costs: 100%, Capital cost: 0%, Feedstock cost: 0%, H2 production cost: 0%.
Fig. 5 gives the overall ranking of hydrogen production
processes when full emphasis is given to O&M costs. Steam



5301
In the last three cases, greater emphasis is given to two

criteria at the same time (cases 1114).
5.4.1.
Case 7
CO2 emissions: 70% O&M costs: 7.5%, Capital cost: 7.5%,

For this case, the ranking of the hydrogen production
processes is presented in Fig. 9.
As can be seen, the best hydrogen production process is the
hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL) and the worst is coal
gasification (CG).
5.4.2.

was expected since photovoltaic units require high capital

cost for their installation (Fig. 6).
5.3.4.
Case 5
CO2 emissions: 0%, O&M costs: 0%, Capital cost: 0%, Feedstock
cost: 100%, H2 production: 0%.
Since the combination of renewable energy systems with
an electrolytic unit (PVEL, WEL, HEL) requires no feedstock,
these processes receive the first position in ranking while
biomass gasification (BG) receives the last position. Fig. 7
shows the overall evaluation.
5.3.5.
5.4.3.
Case 9
CO2 emissions: 7.5%, O&M costs: 7.5%, Capital cost: 70%,

Fig. 11 shows the ranking of hydrogen production
processes for this case and according to it the best hydrogen
production process is steam methane reforming (SMR) and
the worst is the photovoltaicelectrolysis system (PVEL).
Case 6
5.4.4.
CO2 emissions: 0%, O&M costs: 0%, Capital cost: 0%, Feedstock
cost: 0%, H2 production: 100%.
In the last case of the single criteria assessment, where full
emphasis is given to H2 production cost, hydropower with an
electrolytic unit (HEL) is considered to be the optimum solution,
as can be seen in Fig. 8, while wind turbines with an electrolytic
unit (WEL) receive the last position on the overall ranking.
Case 10
CO2 emissions: 7.5%, O&M costs: 7.5%, Capital cost: 7.5%,

Feedstock cost: 70%, H2 production cost: 7.5%.
From Fig. 12, it is clear that the best hydrogen production
process is the hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL) and the
worst is biomass gasification (BG).
5.4.5.
5.4.
Case 8
CO2 emissions: 7.5%, O&M costs: 70%, Capital cost: 7.5%,

For case 8, the classification of the hydrogen production
processes is presented in Fig. 10.
According to this figure, the best hydrogen production
process is the photovoltaicelectrolysis system (PVEL) and
the worst is coal gasification (CG).
Multicriteria analysis (cases 714)
Case 11
CO2 emissions: 7.5%, O&M costs: 7.5%, Capital cost: 7.5%,

Feedstock cost: 7.5%, H2 production cost: 70%.
The ranking of hydrogen production processes for this case
is presented in Fig. 13. According to this figure, the best
hydrogen production process is the hydropowerelectrolysis
system (HEL) and the worst is the wind turbineelectrolysis
system (WEL).
According to multicriteria analysis (cases 714), the evaluation

of the seven selected hydrogen production processes has been
carried out by giving greater emphasis (a larger weighting
factor) to one criterion without ignoring the rest as was carried
out in the single-criterion analysis (cases 711).
Table 10 Overall criteria weights for each scenario.

Criteria
CO2
emissions
O&M cost
Capital cost
Feedstock
cost
H2
production
cost
Criteria Weights for each case (%)

Base
Case
Case
1
Case
2
Case
3
Case
4
Case
5
Case
6
41.1
20
100
8
19.1
8.1
20
20
20
0
0
0
100
0
0
0
100
0
0
0
100
0
0
0
23.7
20
100
Case
7
Case
8
Case
9
Case
10
Case
11
Case
12
Case
13
Case
14
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.5
35
35
10
7.5
7.5
7.5
70
7.5
7.5
7.5
70
7.5
7.5
7.5
70
7.5
7.5
7.5
10
35
10
10
10
10
10
35
10
7.5
7.5
7.5
7.5
10
35
35
70
70
5302
Table 11 Overall evaluation and ranking of hydrogen production process for each case.
Hydrogen production
process
Base case
21.16
14.1
16.30
13.23
7.27
14.26
13.07
HEL
WEL
PVEL
BG
CG
POX
SMR
5.4.6.
Case 2
Case 7
1
4
2
5
7
3
6
20.76
16.64
17.43
9.85
8.09
13.63
13.60
Case 8
1
3
2
6
7
4
5
19.50
19.50
19.50
15.60
0
11.28
14.62
Case 9
19.97
18.43
18.73
13.43
3.03
12.16
14.25
1
3
2
5
7
6
4
17.05
21.12
21.42
4.58
3.04
12.35
20.44
4
2
1
6
7
5
3
14.48
15.08
6.54
16.24
13.72
16.50
17.44
5
4
7
3
6
2
1
Case 12
Case 13
Case 14
CO2 emissions: 10%, O&M costs: 10%, Capital cost: 35%,

Feedstock cost: 10%, H2 production cost: 35%.
The overall evaluation of hydrogen production processes
in the last case is presented in Fig. 16. The best hydrogen
production process is the hydropowerelectrolysis system
(HEL) and the worst is coal gasification (CG).
Table 10 presents the criteria weights for each scenario and
Table 11 presents an overall evaluation and ranking of the
seven hydrogen production methods under examination for
each of the alternative cases.
6.
Case 4
Case 5
Case 6
14.82
23.81
23.81
1.43
0
11.58
24.55
3
2
2
5
6
4
1
10.72
14.13
0
20.08
17.10
18.23
19.47
Case 11
6
5
7
1
4
3
2
25.70
25.70
25.70
0
9.86
7.68
5.36
Case 12
1
1
1
5
2
3
4
33.05
0
18.15
12.15
13.50
19.35
3.80
Case 13
1
7
3
5
4
2
6
Case 14
Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)

According to Fig. 15, the best hydrogen production process
is the hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL) and the worst is
coal gasification (CG).
5.4.8.
1
1
1
2
5
4
3
Case 10

As shown in Fig. 14, the best hydrogen production process
is the hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL) and the worst is
coal gasification (CG).
5.4.7.
Case 3
Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
(%)
HEL
WEL
PVEL
BG
CG
POX
SMR
Hydrogen production
process
Case 1
Conclusions
In the present study, seven different common hydrogen

production processes are evaluated with respect to five
different criteria. The hydrogen production processes evaluated are steam methane reforming (SMR), partial oxidation of
hydrocarbons (POX), coal gasification (CG), biomass gasification (BG), the photovoltaicelectrolysis system (PVEL), the
23.85
22.30
22.60
3.70
9.19
9.91
8.45
1
3
2
7
5
4
6
28.44
6.27
17.88
11.28
11.45
17.21
7.47
1
7
2
5
4
3
6
17.93
16.73
13.59
13.84
8.32
14.20
15.39
1
2
6
5
7
4
3
23.52
13.21
18.13
11.86
7.41
14.47
11.40
1
4
2
5
7
3
6
21.32
11.86
13.25
12.98
11.70
16.21
12.68
1
6
3
4
7
2
5
wind turbineelectrolysis system (WEL), the hydropower

electrolysis system (HEL). The criteria selected are CO2
emissions, operation and maintenance (O&M) costs, capital
cost, feedstock cost and hydrogen production cost.
The evaluation of the hydrogen production processes was
carried out using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for 15
cases. These consisted of the base case, the equally distributed criteria, five cases of single-criterion analysis and eight
cases of multicriteria analysis.
In the majority of cases, the processes that combine
renewable energy sources with electrolysis (PVEL, WEL and
HEL) are considered to be better than the conventional
processes (SMR, POX, CG and BG) and are higher in ranking.
On the contrary, the conventional hydrogen production
processes (SMR, POX, CG and BG) rank last in most of the
cases.
More specifically, in most of the cases (9 out of 15), the first
in ranking hydrogen production process is considered to be
the hydropowerelectrolysis system (HEL) and the worst (9
out of 15) is coal gasification (CG).
references
[1] Hennicke P, Fischedick M. Towards sustainable energy

systems: the related role of hydrogen. Energy Policy 2006;
34(11):126070.
[2] Kothari R, Buddhi D, Sawhney RL. Comparison of
environmental and economic aspects of various hydrogen
production methods. Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews 2008;12(2):55363.
[3] Koroneos C, Dompros A, Roumbas G, Moussiopoulos N. Life
cycle assessment of hydrogen fuel production processes. Int
J Hydrogen Energy 2004;29(14):144350.
[4] Contreras A, Guervos E, Posso F. Market penetration analysis
of the use of hydrogen in the road transport sector of the
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
[14]
[15]
[16]
[17]
[18]
[19]
[20]
[21]
Madrid region, using MARKAL. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2009;

34(1):1320.
Wallace JS, Ward CA. Hydrogen as a fuel. Int J Hydrogen
Energy 1983;8(4):25568.
Maack MH, Skulason JB. Implementing the hydrogen
economy. Journal of Cleaner Production 2006;14(1):5264.
Drolet B, Gretz J, Kluyskens D, Sandmannq F, Wursteir R. The
Euro-Quebec hydro-hydrogen pilot project (EQHHPP):
demonstration. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1996;21(4):30516.
Afgan NH, Veziroglu A, Carvalho MG. Multicriteria evaluation
of hydrogen system options. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2007;
32(15):318393.
Afgan NH, Carvalho MG. Sustainability assessment of hydrogen
energy systems. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2004;29(13):132742.
Chatzimouratidis AI, Pilavachi PA. Objective and subjective
evaluation of power plants and their non-radioactive
emissions using the analytic hierarchy process. Energy
Policy 2007;35(8):402738.
Chatzimouratidis AI, Pilavachi PA. Multicriteria evaluation of
power plants impact on the living standard using the
analytic hierarchy process. Energy Policy 2008;36(3):107489.
Chatzimouratidis AI, Pilavachi PA. Sensitivity analysis of the
evaluation of power plants impact on the living standard
using the analytic hierarchy process. Energy Conversion and
Management 2008;49(12):3599611.
Winebrake JJ, Creswick BP. The future of hydrogen fuelling
systems for transportations: an application of perspectivebased scenario analysis using the analytic hierarchy process.
Technology Forecasting and Social Change 2003;70(4):35984.
Papalexandrou MA, Pilavachi PA, Chatzimouratidis AI.
Evaluation of liquid biofuels using the analytic hierarchy
process, Process. Safety and Environmental Protection 2008;
86:36074.
Lee SK, Mogi G, Kim JW. The competitiveness of Korea as
a developer of hydrogen energy technology: the AHP
approach. Energy Policy 2008;36(4):128491.
Hovanov NV, Kornikov VV, Seregin IA. Qualitative
information processing in DSSS ASPID-3W for complex
objects estimations under uncertainty. In: Proceedings of the
International Conference on Informatics and Control, St.
Petersburg (Russia) 1997;2:808816.
Pilavachi PA, Roumpeas CP, Minett S, Afgan NH. Multicriteria evaluation for CHP system options. Energy
Conversion and Management 2006;47(20):351929.
Afgan NH, Carvalho MG, Pilavachi PA, Martins N. Evaluation
of natural gas supply options for south, east and central
Europe. Part 1: indicator definitions and single indicator
analysis. Energy Conversion and Management 2007;48(9):
251724.
Vego G, Kucar-Dragicevic S, Koprivana N. Application of
multi-criteria decision-making on strategic municipal solid
waste management in Dalmatia. Croatia Waste Management
2008;28(11):2192201.
Beynon MJ, Wells P. The lean improvement of the chemical
emissions of motor vehicles based on preference ranking:
a PROMETHEE uncertainty analysis. Omega 2008;36(3):38494.
Li H, Sun J. Hybridizing principles of the Electre method with
case-based reasoning for data mining: Electre-CBR-I and
[22]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
[29]
[30]
[31]
[32]
[33]
[34]
[35]
[36]
[37]
[38]
[39]
[40]
[41]
5303
Electre-CBR-II. European Journal of Operational Research

2009;197(1):21424.
Papadopoulos A, Karagiannidis Av. Application of the multicriteria analysis method Electre III for the optimisation of
decentralised energy systems. Omega 2008;36(5):76676.
Ogden JM. Prospects for building a hydrogen energy
infrastructure. Annual Review of Energy and the
Environment 1999;24:22779.
Spath PL, Mann MK. Life cycle assessment of hydrogen
production via natural gas steam reforming. National
Renewable Energy Laboratory; 2001.
Mueller-Langera F, Tzimas E, Kaltschmitt M, Peteves S.
Techno-economic assessment of hydrogen production
processes for the hydrogen economy for the short and
medium term. Int J Hydrogen Energy 2007;32(16):3797810.
Manual for technologies for electrical power production from
renewable sources, Athens, August 2001, CRES, Available
from: www.cres.gr.
Williams RH. Crude oil, climate change, coal, cane and cars.
Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University;
2004.
Afgan NH, Carvalho MG. Multi-criteria assessment of new
and renewable energy power plants. Energy 2002;27(8):
73955.
Cheng HC, Steinberg M. Modern and prospective
technologies for hydrogen production from fossil fuels.
Brookhaven National Laboratory; 1989.
US Department of labor, Alexis M Herman-Secretary, Bureau
of labor Statistics Katharine G. Abraham-Commissioner,
Bulletin 2532; September 2000.
Marshall and Swift Index. Chemical Engineering 1994;101(9):
198.
Stiegel GJ, Ramezan M. Hydrogen from coal gasification: an
economical pathway to a sustainable energy future. Int J Coal
Geology 2006;65(34):17390.
Chemical Engineering Plant Cost Index. Chemical
Engineering 1993;100(3):204.
Engineering 2000;107(7):146.
Engineering 2007;114(7):84.
Ogden JM. Renewable hydrogen energy system studies,
Technical Report, Contract No. XR-2-11265-1, National
Renewable Energy Laboratory; 1993.
Padro G, Putsche V. Survey of the Economics of Hydrogen
Technologies, Technical Report, National Renewable Energy
Laboratory; 1999.
Broussard K, Kazmerski LL, Solar photovoltaic hydrogen: the
technologies and their place in our roadmaps and energy
economics. 19th European PV Solar Energy Conference and
Exhibition Paris, France; 2004.
Yumurtaci Z, Bilgen E. Hydrogen production from excess
power in small hydroelectric installations. Int J Hydrogen
Energy 2004;29(7):68793.
Average inflation rate data for USA. Available from: www.
inflationdata.com.
Liberatore MJ, Nydick RL. Decision technology modeling,
software and applications. Wiley Inc.; 2003.

Evaluation of Hydrogen Production Methods Using

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Evaluation of Hydrogen Production Methods Using

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

international journal of hydrogen energy 34 (2009) 52945303

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he