Infinite DimEnsionAl State-space as a systematic process intensification tool: Energetic intensification of hydrogen production

Abstract

In this work, process intensification is identified as a process synthesis activity seeking significant improvements over traditional designs. The Infinite-DimEnsionAl State-space (IDEAS) conceptual framework is proposed as a systematic process intensification tool, which can identify intensified process designs, and assess fundamental performance limitations of networks of technologies under consideration. The synthesis of intensified flowsheets, in an energy efficiency sense, is pursued through the simultaneous synthesis of the flowsheet and its heat exchange network. The use, for the first time in process synthesis, of atomic balance, and Gibbs free energy minimization based equilibrium reactor models, enables a broad state-space search for process intensification opportunities, even by low dimensional, feasible, linear programming, IDEAS approximations. Application of the proposed method to natural gas reforming based hydrogen production, identifies intensified process designs featuring hot utility costs that can be lower by over an order of magnitude to those of traditional designs.

Disjunctive model for the simultaneous optimization and heat integration with unclassified streams and area estimation

“…Different alternatives have been proposed to deal with this problem. One interesting approach is the Infinite DimEnsionAl State-space (IDEAS) approach (Drake & Manousiouthakis, 2002;Martin & Manousiouthakis, 2003;Pichardo & Manousiouthakis, 2017). It allows consideration of all process networks employing a set of unit operations.…”

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 .…”

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

“…Process intensification (PI) can offer methods of supporting sustainable industrial growth through a variety of tools. Some of these tools include the use of a pinch‐like targeting framework that can combine two or more heat sources into a single intensified device aimed at thermal process intensification, and the use of the Infinite DimEnsionAl State‐space (IDEAS) conceptual framework, which has been applied to topics such as reactive distillation systems, and energetically enhanced reforming (EER) . Along with these intensification frameworks, is the integration of multi‐functional units such as membrane reactors (MRs).…”

“…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 .…”