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Abstract: Hydrogen is produced via steam methane reforming (SMR) for bitumen upgrading which results in significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Wind energy based hydrogen can reduce the GHG footprint of the bitumen upgrading industry. This paper is aimed at developing a detailed data-intensive techno-economic model for assessment of hydrogen production from wind energy via the electrolysis of water. The proposed wind/hydrogen plant is based on an expansion of an existing wind farm with unit wind turbine size of 1.8 MW and with a dual functionality of hydrogen production and electricity generation. An electrolyser size of 240 kW (50 Nm3 H2/h) and 360 kW (90 Nm3 H2/h) proved to be the optimal sizes for constant and variable flow rate electrolysers, respectively. The electrolyser sizes aforementioned yielded a minimum hydrogen production price at base case conditions of $10.15/kg H2 and $7.55/kg H2. The inclusion of a Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) of $0.13/kWh renders the production price of hydrogen equal to SMR i.e. $0.96/kg H2, with an internal rate of return (IRR) of 24%. The minimum hydrogen delivery cost was $4.96/kg H2 at base case conditions. The life cycle CO2 emissions is 6.35 kg CO2/kg H2 including hydrogen delivery to the upgrader via compressed gas trucks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The diversification of Canadian oil sands markets is imperative for the long-term economic growth of oil sands products. To ensure a competitive place in the global market, supply chain costs of oil sands must be as low as possible. This study conducts a comparative techno-economic analysis of potential pathways for the transportation of Canadian oil sands products (synthetic crude oil and diluted bitumen) to seaport destinations in the Asia-Pacific region. We developed data-intensive techno-economic models to estimate total supply chain costs from the production site in Alberta to ports in China, Japan, and India. Four pathways were developed using production (steam assisted gravity drainage), transportation (production-upgrader-port in Vancouver), upgrading, and shipping operations. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to identify cost ranges with their occurrence probability measures and evaluate the effect of key parameters for each stage of operation. Supply chain costs (C$ per barrel of bitumen) to China, Japan, and India are from 61–87, 60–86, and 62–90, respectively. Overall supply chain costs of dilbit (a blend of bitumen and diluent) and synthetic crude oil (SCO) are affected most by production and upgrading costs. The production and upgrading costs are influenced by capital cost, while pipeline lifetime and capacity highly impact transportation (pipeline) and shipping costs, respectively. The developed models can be used to predict total supply chain costs of different pathways in Canadian oil sand markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]