Welcome to Texcapture Energy

Why Hydrogen as a fuel source

Start with the basics: Hydrogen is the most readily available and purest element, H2. Methane, on the other hand, is made up of carbon and hydrogen (CH4.). The absence of carbon in hydrogen is the major driver behind the hydrogen versus the natural gas discussion. When hydrogen and oxygen combine in combustion, the only byproduct is H2O—water vapor. When methane burns, the carbon within the compound combines with oxygen during combustion to create carbon dioxide, or CO2.

Bottom Line: Hydrogen combustion doesn’t create carbon emissions, making it a “clean” alternative to methane / natural gas.

 Molecular Weight 

Hydrogen, is the first element on the periodic table, is the smallest and lightest molecule. Methane is much heavier, with a molecular weight of 16. Practically speaking, this difference means hydrogen has a greater potential for leakage when you use hydrogen as a fuel source. Special consideration will need to be put into the materials used to reduce leakages through piping, gaskets, valves or any sealing locations within a compressed hydrogen system.

Bottom Line: Hydrogen is smaller and lighter, meaning it can slip through cracks methane can’t.

 Flammability Limit 

For combustion to occur, you need fuel, air (oxygen) and an ignition source. The lower and upper flammability limits represent the percentage of fuel in a fuel and air mixture that’s required for that mixture to ignite. For hydrogen, the lower and upper flammability limits are 4% and 75% respectively, as compared to natural gas at 7% and 20%.

This means that hydrogen will burn with lower amounts of air present and with higher amounts of air present when compared to natural gas. This wide flammability range makes controlling the combustion of hydrogen more difficult than controlling the combustion of natural gas, which has a much narrower range. Along with flame speed, the flammability limit is among the distinguishing design issues that arise with the burning of hydrogen. Special considerations must be taken to ensure your system is properly controlling combustion.

Bottom Line: Hydrogen will combust with both higher and lower concentrations of air present, making combustion more difficult to control.

 Flame Speed  

Flame speed, in simple terms, is how fast the flame travels from a starting point through the unburned air and fuel mixture.

Picture pouring a line of gasoline along the ground, then lighting one end. The flame speed would be represented by how fast the flame runs across the line of gas on the ground. As you can see from the table above, the flame speed of hydrogen is almost 10 times that of methane. Flame speed is one of the more significant design issues when it comes to hydrogen combustion, as controlling the location of the combustion becomes more challenging. When hydrogen is burned in a gas turbine combustor, the flame tends to move upstream of the ideal combustion location, which can cause an oscillating combustion phenomena or flashback—similar to a backfire you may have experienced with a car or lawnmower engine. Changes in combustor design are typically required to manage the flame speed. 

Bottom Line: Quick flame speed plus a wider combustion range make hydrogen more challenging to control.  

 Flame Temperature 

Adiabatic flame temperature is the temperature a flame in the combustion process emits, assuming no heat is lost in the process. Hydrogen’s adiabatic flame temperature is approximately 500 °F hotter than natural gas. As you might imagine, not all the equipment or components subjected to the temperatures of the combustion may be able to withstand that increase in temperature. Therefore, materials, heat dissipation/cooling requirements and locations of temperature-sensitive components should be considered. Another consequence of a higher flame temperature is the potential for an increased amount of nitrogen oxides, or NOx emissions. During combustion, flame temperature and the amount of nitrogen in the air are contributing factors to NOx. Therefore, hydrogen’s increased flame temperature can increase NOx emissions as compared to burning natural gas. However, NOx production from combusting hydrogen can be mitigated in most cases. Modifying the combustion by adjusting air and fuel ratios and controlling flame hot spots, plus increasing emission treatment in the stack, such as selective catalytic reduction systems, are a few options. 

Bottom Line: Hydrogen burns hotter than natural gas, so be mindful of material selection, heat dissipation and NOx emissions.

 Heating Value  

The final consideration is heating value. The lower heating value represents how much energy you can get out of one pound (on a mass basis) or out of one cubic foot (on a volumetric basis) of fuel. On a BTU/lb basis, Hydrogen has about 2.5 times the energy density of methane. So, if you burn one pound of hydrogen vs one pound of natural gas, you will get 2.5 times the energy. Sounds great, right? But because hydrogen is so much lighter, or less dense, you need approximately 3 times the volume of hydrogen as compared to natural gas to get the same amount of energy. So, to get the same “bang for your buck” out of hydrogen as compared to natural gas, you would either need to increase the pressure of the fuel supply or increase the volumetric flow of hydrogen.

Bottom Line:  Hydrogen might seem like a bargain in terms of heating value per pound, but you’ll need to bring in much more volume to get the same amount of energy as natural gas.

The Texas Gulf Coast area caverns offer economies within Texas the reduced operating costs and margins to be successful.  The technologies to produce and store green hydrogen are proven over time. Are available today in three areas: Beaumont, Liberty and Brazoria. Texcapture Energy is bringing these technologies together at scale never seen before to accelerate the development of the U.S. hydrogen economy. By adding additional caverns within SE Texas this would solidify SE Texas as the world capitol for hydrogen. 

1. Water feedstock for electrolysis process. 
   1. Costal Water Authority
   2. Trinity River Water Authority
   3. LNVA ( Lower Neches river Valley Authority  
2. Renewable Energy source
   1. Geothermal Energy
   2. Wind
   3. Solar
   4. Battery Storage 
   5. Hydrogen feedstock to power plants
3. Electrolysis hydrogen process equipment
   1. Thyssenkrupp
4. Storage Caverns
   1. Locations
   2. Pipelines
5. Commercial uses
   1. Power Plant feedstocks
   2. Pipeline injection
   3. Ammonia feedstock
   4. Rocket fuel
6. Education Programs 
   1. Lamar Institute of Technology
   2. Lee College

In Summary

There is a need to match the development of clean H2 with an end-use market. Multiple market applications exist for H2 beyond its existing primary uses in oil refining and as petrochemical feedstock. Here at Texcapture Energy, new H2 market opportunities are being prioritized based on the extent of new infrastructure needed. The competitiveness of H2 over existing fuels or other clean alternatives (e.g., electrification) and the relative emissions reduction.  The SE Texas region and the state hold significant advantages to germinate green H2, which is produced via splitting a water molecule through electrolysis to create zero-emissions H2. An important advantage, given the significant power consumption requirements for electrolysis, is that the Texas power market is well suited for geothermal power. It would be a game changer for the base load energy needed for the high-power consumption presently required for the production of H2 via hydrolysis, low power prices create an advantage.  Geothermal power in SE Texas would transform the area into a powerhouse for the future.