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Sustainable hydrogen production through water splitting: a comprehensive review

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Abstract

The continuous increase in population is causing a lot of pressure on energy production sector due to the huge demand at domestic and industrial scales. Developed and developing countries have set restrictions on the energy use from greenhouse gas emissions point of view. Hydrogen as a clean source of energy has been given full research consideration due to its high energy density. However, there are many challenges in producing hydrogen efficiently, economically and environmental friendly. Hydrogen can be produced from biomass and water splitting processes using renewable energy sources, which are extensively discussed in this work. The strength, weakness, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of hydrogen production processes are presented and discussed considering different methods of hydrogen production. Moreover, energy, exergy, economic and environment analyses (4E) for hydrogen production from water splitting process are discussed. In addition to SWOT factor, political, economic, social and technological (PEST) considerations are also considered.

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Data is available as request.

Abbreviations

\({{\text{C}}}_{{\text{ei}}}\) :

Exergoenvironmental impact factor

Cp :

Specific Heat (kJ kg−1 K−1)

\(\overline{{\text{ex}} }\) :

Specific molar exergy (kJ/mol)

\(\dot{Ex}\) :

Exergy rate

\({{\text{f}}}_{{\text{ei}}}\) :

Exergoenvironment factor

\({{\text{f}}}_{{\text{es}}}\) :

Factor of exergy stability

∆G:

Gibbs energy (molar basis)

Ḣ:

Total enthalpy rate (kW)

\({\overline{h} }^{0}\) :

Specific molar enthalpy at the reference conditions (kJ/mol)

\({\overline{h} }_{f}^{0}\) :

Specific molar enthalpy for formation (kJ/mol)

\({{\text{k}}}_{{\text{i}}}\) :

Product’s specific cost

\(\dot{m}\) :

Molar mass ((kg/kmol))

M:

Molar mass (kg/kmol)

\({\dot{{\text{m}}}}_{{\text{H}}2}\) :

Rate of hydrogen production (kg/s)

n:

Number of moles

\(\dot{n}\) :

Molar flow rate (mol/s)

Q̇:

Heat rate (kW)

\(\sum \dot{{\text{Q}}}\) :

Sum of reaction heat and required heat by the system (kW)

r:

Discount factor

T:

Temperature (˚C or K)

Ẇ:

Work by the cycle (kW)

\({{\text{Y}}}_{{\text{i}}}\) :

Annual production capacity

Z:

Capital investment (USD)

\(\upeta\) :

Energy efficiency

\({\upeta }_{{\text{ex}}}\) :

Exergy efficiency

\(\theta _{{\text{ei}}}\) :

Environmental damage effectiveness

\(\theta _{{\text{eii}}}\) :

Exergoenvironmental enhancement Factor

cyc:

Cycle

in:

Inlet

out:

Outlet

rxn:

Reaction

step:

Steps

sys:

System

\({\text{tot}}.{\text{out}}\) :

Total output

4E:

Energy, exergy, economic and environment analyses

AEC:

Alkaline electrolysis cell

Cash flow:

CF

GWP:

Global warming potential

HHV:

Higher heating value

IEA:

International Energy Agency

IRR:

Internal rate of return

LCA:

Life cycle analysis

LHV:

Lower heating value

NPV:

Net present value

PEC:

Photoelectrochemical cells

PEME:

Proton exchange membrane electrolysis

PEMEC:

Polymer electrolyte Membrane electrolysis

PEST:

Political, economic, social and technological

PP:

Payback period

Photovoltaic:

PV

R&D:

Research and Development

SCWG:

Supercritical Water Gasification

SI:

Sulphur-iodine

SOEC:

Solid oxide electrolysis cell

SPP:

Simple payback period

SWOT:

Strength, weakness, opportunities and threats

USD:

United States Dollar

WGS:

Water–gas shift

WH:

Westinghouse

YSZ:

Yttrium stabilized zirconia

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Engineering, Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University (IAU), Daneshgah Blvd, Simon Bolivar Blvd, Tehran, 1477893855, Iran

    S. Safari

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, K.N. Toosi University of Technology, Tehran, 19967-15433, Iran

    Farbod Esmaeilion & M. Soltani

  3. School of Environment, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, 1417853114, Iran

    A. Rabanian & D. H. Jamali

  4. Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology Silchar, Silchar, Assam, 788010, India

    S. Negi & B. Das

  5. Department of Planning, Design and Technology of Architecture, Sapienza University of Rome, Via Flaminia 72, 00196, Rome, Italy

    S. Hoseinzadeh

  6. Wentech Solutions Inc, Fredericton, NB, Canada

    F. Sayedin

  7. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Jammu, Ban, 181221, India

    S. S. Bhoglla

  8. Departmnet of Sustainableand Renewable Energy Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

    M. El. Haj Assad

  9. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pardis Branch, Islamic Azad University, Pardis New City, Iran

    M. A. Ehyaei

  10. School of New Technologies, Department of Energy Systems Engineering, Iran University of Science & Technology, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

    A. Ahmadi

  11. Food Science & Engineering Department, Faculty of Civil & Earth Resources Engineering, Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

    Hamed Afshari

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Safari, S., Esmaeilion, F., Rabanian, A. et al. Sustainable hydrogen production through water splitting: a comprehensive review. Environ Dev Sustain (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-024-04699-y

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