Assessment of floating reservoir-to-blue-hydrogen as alternative for deep-water offshore processing of natural gas

Among renewable electrification decarbonization initiatives, lies electrolysis hydrogen production (Hydrogen^GREEN), a carbon-free energy carrier whose deployment faces high costs and lack of infrastructure. Meanwhile, low-carbon hydrogen production from Steam-Methane-Reforming with carbon capture and storage – Hydrogen^BLUE – can fuel hydrogen economy at accessible costs. Hydrogen^BLUE demands a carbon dioxide destination, which can be Enhanced Oil Recovery at remote offshore reservoirs. This work investigates a novel concept: floating offshore Reservoir-to-Hydrogen^BLUE wherein Hydrogen^BLUE production is integrated with Enhanced Oil Recovery over offshore oil–gas fields sharing production infrastructure. Aspen-HYSYS simulator solved mass-energy balances and designed unit operations of Reservoir-to-Hydrogen^BLUE at 1.5 MMSm³/d of Hydrogen^BLUE. Steam-Methane-Reforming was coupled to Pressure-Swing Adsorption for Hydrogen^BLUE purification and to Aqueous-Monoethanolamine Absorption for carbon dioxide removal. Results show carbon emission reduction from 9.2 kg^CO2/kg^H2 to 1.40 kg^CO2/kg^H2-BLUE. Offshore Reservoir-to-Hydrogen^BLUE attains Levelized Cost of Hydrogen at 4.30 USD/kg^H2-BLUE and a net value of 379.5 MMUSD (11 years payback-time). Economic performance of offshore Reservoir-to-Hydrogen^BLUE is boosted by oil price and Enhanced Oil Recovery remuneration factor taken as 2 bbl^OIL/t^CO2_, which monetizes carbon dioxide and leverages Hydrogen^BLUE. Offshore Reservoir-to-H₂^BLUE brings exclusive advantages: it is a “pocket”, medium-scale, floating, flexible, and movable Reservoir-to-H₂^BLUE (i.e., it can help to decarbonize several oil-&-gas fields and can flee from cataclysms, wars, etc).