Hydrogen Production
During the pilot phase hydrogen gas was successfully produced at a newly constructed plant located at the AGL Loy Yang Complex in the Latrobe Valley.
Stage 1. Latrobe Valley Coal Gasification
Location: Loy Yang, Latrobe Valley
Hydrogen was produced through extraction from Latrobe Valley coal and biomass by gasification. Gasification is a well-developed technology and core to current Integrated coal Gasifier Combined Cycle (IGCC) developments used for power generation in Japan, US, EU and China.
Gasification works by reacting coal (also mixed with biomass) with oxygen under high pressure and temperature to form synthesis gas (syngas), a mixture consisting primarily of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2). The pilot gasification plant includes a drying and milling system developed specifically for Latrobe Valley coal, and has produced about 1 tonne of hydrogen gas so far.
Stage 2. Gas Refining
Location: Loy Yang, Latrobe Valley
This element of the pilot supply chain demonstrated the effective production of hydrogen from syngas.
During gas refining, the syngas was purified when reacted with steam to produce additional hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The carbon monoxide was converted to carbon dioxide with steam, then the hydrogen is separated. For the pilot phase, carbon credits were purchased for the CO2 produced and a carbon capture and storage system will be implemented for the commercial phase.
The hydrogen produced was refined to achieve a 99.999% purity specification for transportation.
Stage 3. Road Transport
Location: Latrobe Valley to Port of Hastings
As part of the pilot phase, hydrogen gas was transported to the liquefaction plant at the Port of Hastings by road in high pressure tube trailers. This method of transporting hydrogen gas is common practice in Australia.
Status of the Latrobe Valley plant:
