Abstract

The continuous rise of global carbon emissions demands the utilization of fossil fuels in a sustainable way. Owing to various forms of emissions, our environment conditions might be affected, necessitating more focus of scientists and researchers to upgrade oil processing to more efficient manner. Gasification is a potential technology that can convert fossil fuels to produce clean and environmentally friendly hydrogen fuel in an economical manner. Therefore, this study analyzed and examined it critically. In this study, two different routes for the produc-tion of high-purity hydrogen from vacuum residue while minimizing the carbon emissions were proposed. The first route (Case I) studied the gasification of heavy vacuum residue (VR) in series with dry methane reforming (DMR). The second route studied the gasification of VR in parallel integration with DMR (Case II). After investigating both processes, a brief comparison was made between the two routes of hydrogen production in terms of their CO2 emissions, en-ergy efficiency, energy consumption, and environmental and economic impacts. In this study, the two vacuum-residue-to-hydrogen (VRTH) processes were simulated using Aspen Plus for a hydrogen production capacity of 50 t/h with 99.9 wt.% purity. The results showed that Case II offered a process energy efficiency of 57.8%, which was slightly higher than that of Case I. The unit cost of the hydrogen product for Case II was USD 15.95 per metric ton of hydrogen, which was almost 9% lower than that of Case I. In terms of the environmental analysis, both cases had comparably low carbon emissions of around 8.3 kg of CO2/kg of hydrogen produced; with such high purity, the hydrogen could be used for production of other products further downstream or for industrial applications.

Highlights

  • The results show that the hydrogen production through the Case I scenario

  • The energy analysis performed in the previous section showed that the Case II process consumed around 63 kW less compared to the Case I process for the same rate of hydrogen production (50 t/h)

  • With a view to limiting the increase in global carbon emissions and enabling the utilization of fossil fuels in a sustainable manner, this study investigated the vacuum-residue-tohydrogen (VRTH) production process integrated with the dry methane reforming process in two configurations, Case I and Case II, in terms of their energy requirements and their environmental and economic aspects

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Summary

Introduction

Theoretically investigated hydrogen production by gasification and water–gas shift reaction They characterized Norwegian municipal solid waste (MSW) for direct and indirect gasification processes according to the different gasification agents integrated in the process. This research was focused on the concept that bringing together carbon capture and utilization has the effect of reducing the thermal energy used while ensuring that the design is eco-friendly Further studies, such as that provided by Ishaq and Dincer [14], highlight that the use of a multistage water–gas reactor integrated with. Dry reforming is a commercially accessible technology, and its benefits include an advancement in hydrogen production capabilities and a downfall in energy costs linked with heating and cooling This is a unique approach in the industry and would improve progress in the use of hydrogen. The integration would provide an avenue for energy integration but would offer a way to consume the CO2 emissions produced from the gasification and dry reforming processes

Design Concept and Simulation
Techno-Economic Analysis
Process Description
Case I
Case II
Energy Analysis
Environmental Metrics
Economic Analysis
Conclusions

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