On the Intensification of Natural Gas-Based Hydrogen Production Utilizing Hybrid Energy Resources

Equilibrium analysis of CH4, CO, CO2, H2O, H2, C mixtures in C–H–O atom space using Gibbs free energy global minimization

“…EESMR was put forward as a means of reducing the amount of CH 4 consumed as fuel in carrying out the endothermic SMR process, by adding CO and excess H 2 O in the reformer feed 5‐9 . The EESMR process was patented in 2017 5 .…”

“…Subsequently, Pichardo and Manousiouthakis employed EESMR, atom balances, and Gibbs free energy minimization based equilibrium reactor models, within the Infinite‐DimEnsionAl State‐space (IDEAS) conceptual framework, to reduce by over an order of magnitude the hot utility consumption of methane reforming, compared to traditional SMR designs 6 . EEMSR equilibrium computations were carried out for a variety of CO/CH 4 and H 2 O/CH 4 feed ratios, demonstrating that EESMR could deliver reformers with over 95% CH 4 conversions, and exothermic heat loads, thus enabling the creation of natural gas‐based hydrogen production systems utilizing hybrid energy sources, such as natural gas and concentrated solar power (CSP) 7 . Gibbs free energy minimization based equilibrium calculations were used to assess the execution of EESMR in membrane reactors, again demonstrating high CH 4 conversions, and exothermic heat loads, with even lower CO/CH 4 and H 2 O/CH 4 feed ratios than those used in EESMR reactors 8 .…”

Intensified energetically enhanced steam methane reforming through the use of membrane reactors

“…The definition of an Energetically Enhanced Process (EEP) is as follows: “A process is Energetically Enhanced, compared to its traditional counterpart, if its energy consumption at high temperatures is either reduced or eliminated, even if such reduction necessitates higher energy consumption at lower temperatures” . Our team has explored energetic intensification of a network in our previous works that detail the energetic intensification of a traditional SMR process, and quantifies the parametric conditions required for this intensification. Currently, the SMR process remains the most economical process for hydrogen production, and is typically carried out industrially at 1,100 K as a highly endothermic process .…”