Improving Energy Efficiency in a Power Park by the Integration of a Hydrogen Steam Reformer

This project aims at creating an energy park in the suburbs of the Italian town Bari. This energy district is located in an area devoted to social housing and close to some significant energy users (airport, hospital and other major facilities). The use of combined heat and power would allow to produce on-site electricity at low cost and it would allow to benefit of the heat produced from the generation process. The model towards which it stretches is a eco-compatible city, or an urban settlement in which the city activities develop in harmony with the environmental sustainability principles. In order to achieve this goal, the on-site production of hydrogen is implemented to push hydrogen-based public transportation by buses and shuttles. The integration of cogeneration/tri-generation with hydrogen steam reforming is the best practice we propose here. The heat from the exhausted gases of gas turbines is exploited to generate steam utilized in the hydrogen steam reformer. This design could lead to fuel savings of 30% in steam reforming. Moreover, the rational use of energy and sustainable urban mobility makes, more comfortable, the living and working spaces, and also it makes healthier, more efficient and attractive the entrepreneurial and professional new business in a popular district.