Technoeconomic assessment of hydrogen production from natural gas pyrolysis in molten bubble column reactors

Natural gas pyrolysis to produce carbon and hydrogen, known as “turquoise hydrogen, using molten metals and salts is a promising route to clean hydrogen production. Methane pyrolysis produces significantly less or near-zero CO₂. Additionally, the solid carbon can be separated and sold as a valuable co-product, making industrial-scale production of hydrogen via pyrolysis economically attractive. To better understand the potential of turquoise hydrogen, this study presents a comparative techno-economic assessment of molten media pyrolysis processes in bubble column reactors using Ni_0.27Bi_0.73, Ga, and KCl–MnCl₂ (33:67). The study evaluates techno-economic assessment with a clear understanding of kinetics of natural gas pyrolysis and reactor process modeling. According to the modeling results, Ga had the lowest reactor cost and total bare erected cost. Nevertheless, the pyrolysis process that used inexpensive KCl–MnCl₂ molten salt was more economically advantageous. Due to uncertainties in the density separation of solid carbon in the molten salt at temperatures above 1000 °C, Ni_0.27Bi_0.73 was selected as the promising molten medium for the long term. Sensitivity analyses were carried out to assess the impact of the costs of natural gas, hydrogen, and electricity on the industrial concept. In regions where gas is produced, such as Saudi Arabia, mature molten pyrolysis plants that use grid electricity at a rate of $48/MWh and solar photovoltaic systems with storage at a rate of $24/MWh can be economically feasible at natural gas prices of $132/ton and $198/ton, respectively, even if carbon is not sold. The cost of producing turquoise H₂ is comparable to the global average for grey H₂ and selling carbon can generate additional revenue or improve the profitability of the plant. The net energy demand of the molten pyrolysis plant is found to be approximately 21% of the energy requirement for current methods of green hydrogen production through PEM (proton exchange membrane) electrolysis.