Abstract
The production of blue hydrogen through sorption-enhanced processes has emerged as a suitable option to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Sorption-enhanced steam–methane reforming (SESMR) is a process intensification of highly endothermic steam–methane reforming (SMR), ensured by in situ carbon capture through a solid sorbent, making hydrogen production efficient and more environmentally sustainable. In this study, a comprehensive energy model of SESMR was developed to carry out a detailed energy characterization of the process, with the aim of filling a current knowledge gap in the literature. The model was applied to a bench-scale multicycle SESMR/sorbent regeneration test to provide an energy insight into the process. Besides the experimental advantages of higher hydrogen concentration (90 mol% dry basis, 70 mol% wet basis) and performance of CO2 capture, the developed energy model demonstrated that SESMR allows for substantially complete energy self-sufficiency through the process. In comparison to SMR with the same process conditions (650 °C, 1 atm) performed in the same experimental rig, SESMR improved the energy efficiency by about 10%, further reducing energy needs.
Highlights
The fight against climate change has returned to the center of the global debate, after wide media coverage of the promulgation of the Paris agreement in December 2015
The developed model allows for deeper insight into the energy characterization of the process, assessing the thermal power requirements and availability in a Sorption-enhanced steam–methane reforming (SESMR)/sorbent-regeneration process
Even though N2 was fed as a carrier gas together with CH4 and steam in the actual SESMR/sorbent regeneration experimental tests [70,72], the presence of N2 was not considered in the model and was a carrier gas added to the gaseous mixture only for bench-scale measurability purposes
Summary
The fight against climate change has returned to the center of the global debate, after wide media coverage of the promulgation of the Paris agreement in December 2015. This agreement was ratified in November 2016 and legally bound its Parties to limit global warming to well below 2 ◦C, preferably to 1.5 ◦C, compared to pre-industrial levels. Countries have planned to reach a global peak of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGE) as soon as possible, in order to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century [1]. The decoupling of economic growth and GHGE was demonstrated as possible and as suitable in order to boost the new so-called green economies [7]
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