Hydrogen production from swine manure biogas via steam reforming of methane (SRM) and water gas shift (WGS): A ecological, technical, and economic analysis

Abstract

Inadequate management of swine manure can lead to contamination of watercourses, groundwater, soil, and air, representing a risk to the sustainability and expansion of pig farming as an economic activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of this waste for the production of hydrogen from swine manure biogas through steam reforming and water gas shift processes. In this study, calculations of ecological, exergetic and economic efficiencies were carried out. The ecological efficiency, pollution indicator and energy efficiency of the process were, respectively, 93.73%, 19.15 and 79.06%, showing the viability from an ecological standpoint. This is an 8-year plant payback with a hydrogen production cost of $0.14/kWh, in a production scenario of 8760 h/year, showing an exergetic efficiency of 76%. The results from these analyses demonstrates that this type of hydrogen production is an attractive economic route. The results from these analyses have shown that this hydrogen production technology has great economic potential and presents high exegetic yield.