E-fuels infrastructures for heavy-duty applications: Case study of a refueling facility based on green hydrogen

While e-fuels offer a promising avenue to enable the conversion of transport fuels to renewable sources, heavy-duty applications, such as aviation and heavy goods vehicles and shipping, may prove to be a challenging domain for electrification due to the drive-cycle and power/energy requirements. Understanding the refueling infrastructure considerations of e-fuels for heavy-duty applications is an important step toward decarbonizing the transport sector. The present work examines the complex considerations in refueling infrastructure for e-fuels, combining the design of production and dispensing facilities, with efficient and useable concepts with the analyses of critical parameters and key performance indicators (KPI). Particular focus is given to gaseous and liquid hydrogen facilities, as well as e-methanol, e-methane, and e-ammonia. The study concludes with the application of a numerical tool specifically developed for simulating a multi e-fuel production facility capable of generating 1 ton per day of each e-fuel. This facility encompasses sections for gaseous hydrogen production, hydrogen liquefaction, synthetic methane pressurization, liquid ammonia, and liquid methanol production. To globally produce and supply 1 ton each of e-CH4, e-NH3, and e-CH3OH, it is estimated that approximately 1 ton of gaseous hydrogen is needed, leveraging over 7 tons of CO2, and requiring about 4.6 MWh of electric energy coming from renewables. The production of gaseous H2 consumes 58 kWh per kg, while its liquefaction process consumes an additional 12.3 kWh per kg. The study is finalized by the sizing of the renewable energy plant integrated with the energy storage system.