Comparative techno-economic analysis for steam methane reforming in a sorption-enhanced membrane reactor: Simultaneous H2 production and CO2 capture

Abstract

Hydrogen (H2) is currently receiving significant attention as a sustainable energy carrier. Steam methane reforming (SMR) accounts for approximately 50% of H2 production methods worldwide. However, SMR is concern because of the prodigious carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions that have resulted in a global climate emergency. CO2 emissions remain, although some efforts have been made in a membrane reactor (MR) coupled with membranes to improve the H2 yield. A sorption-enhanced membrane reactor (SEMR) has been proposed as a next-generation process for simultaneous H2 production and CO2 capture. In this study, the thermodynamic and economic evaluation of SEMR were implemented using a process simulation, an itemized cost estimation, a sensitivity analysis (SA), and an uncertainty analysis (UA). The thermodynamic analysis results revealed that unit H2 production costs of 4.53, 1.98, and 3.04 $ kgH2−1 were obtained at 773 K for a conventional packed-bed reactor (PBR), a MR, and a SEMR, respectively. The SA results identified PSA as the most critical economic parameter for a unit H2 production cost for a PBR, whereas natural gas is determined to be the most influential parameter for a MR and a SEMR. The UA results from a Monte-Carlo simulation provided a broad range of unit H2 production costs, with 4.26–5.44 $ kgH2−1 for a PBR, 1.61–2.94 $ kgH2−1 for a MR, and 2.83–4.19 $ kgH2−1 for an SEMR. This indicates that using a SEMR for next-generation H2 production and CO2 capture is beneficial.