The present study proposes a conceptual mobile autothermal methane pyrolysis unit for onsite hydrogen production. Considering the shortage of hydrogen pipeline infrastructure between production plants and fuelling stations in most places where hydrogen is required, it is imperative to create alternative hydrogen production means. The design combines a catalytic plasma methane pyrolysis unit with a steam char gasification setup, combustion, and biomethanation unit for hydrogen production. The reactor design includes Ni - Br in a bubble column acting as a catalyst. Energy and exergy calculations followed by a comprehensive economic analysis were appraised to evaluate the efficiency and performance of the integrated process. The levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) from the conceptual design ranged from 1.3 to 1.47 U.S.$/kg, while the proposed design's net present value (NPV) was in the range of 3.76 – 4.35 M.U.S.$. Factors such as equipment purchase cost (EPC) and feedstock cost significantly influenced the NPV and LCOH. In addition, a positive NPV and lower LCOH outline the proposed design's profitability. Finally, an optimized methane conversion of 76.8 % was obtained from the study.

本研究提出了一种用于现场制氢的概念性移动自热甲烷热解装置。考虑到在大多数需要氢气的地方，生产工厂和加氢站之间缺乏氢气管道基础设施，因此创造替代的氢气生产方式势在必行。该设计将催化等离子体甲烷热解装置与用于制氢的蒸汽炭气化装置、燃烧和生物甲烷化装置相结合。反应器设计包括泡罩塔中的 Ni-Br 作为催化剂。对能量和火用计算以及综合经济分析进行评估，以评估集成过程的效率和性能。概念设计中氢气 (LCOH) 的平准化成本为 1.3 至 1.47 美元/千克，而拟议设计的净现值 (NPV) 在 3.76 – 4.35 MUS$ 的范围内。设备采购成本 (EPC) 和原料成本等因素显着影响了 NPV 和 LCOH。此外，正的 NPV 和较低的 LCOH 概述了拟议设计的盈利能力。最后，从研究中获得了 76.8% 的优化甲烷转化率。