Design, Simulation, and Techno‐Economic Evaluation of a High‐Capacity Ammonia Cracking Facility for Pipeline‐Grade Hydrogen Production

Although ammonia cracking has attracted considerable attention as a hydrogen carrier technology, comprehensive studies integrating industrial‐scale process design, off‐design operation, and techno‐economic assessment within a single framework remain limited. This study addresses this gap by developing and evaluating a fully integrated 1000 MTPD ammonia‐to‐hydrogen facility, providing a transparent and reproducible framework for assessing the technical, operational, and economic performance of large‐scale ammonia cracking systems. The proposed plant integrates cryogenic ammonia storage with closed‐loop boil‐off gas (BOG) recovery, catalytic ammonia cracking, hydrogen purification, and high‐pressure hydrogen compression for pipeline delivery. Steady‐state and off‐design simulations performed over 50%–100% of the nominal plant capacity demonstrate stable process operation, maintaining nearly complete ammonia conversion (≈100–99.9%) and a hydrogen yield of approximately 0.78 kg H 2 per kg NH 3 feed. The integrated facility achieves a hydrogen production capacity of approximately 137 MTPD, while the hydrogen compression system constitutes the dominant electricity consumer and the overall process maintains a relatively low specific electricity consumption of approximately 1.1–1.3 kWh kg −1 H 2 . The techno‐economic analysis estimates a Levelized Cost of Hydrogen (LCOH) ranging from 4.8 to 9.0 € kg −1 H 2 under representative European market conditions. For the base‐case assumptions of 0.10 € kWh −1 electricity, 0.50–0.90 € kg −1 NH 3 feedstock price, and 90% plant availability, the LCOH is approximately 8.3 € kg −1 H 2 , with ammonia feedstock identified as the dominant cost driver. When supplied with green ammonia, the proposed system can avoid approximately 0.27–0.36 t CO 2 per MWh of hydrogen energy compared with conventional fossil‐based hydrogen production pathways. Overall, the results demonstrate that the proposed industrial‐scale ammonia‐to‐hydrogen facility is a technically feasible, scalable, operationally flexible, and economically viable pathway for pipeline‐grade hydrogen production. These findings provide a robust foundation for the industrial deployment, design, and techno‐economic optimization of future ammonia‐based hydrogen infrastructure.