Optimizing Methanol Reforming Parameters for Enhanced Hydrogen Selectivity in an Aspen Hysys Simulator using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

Hydrogen is the prominent fuel for a nation's industrial and infrastructural development. Hydrogen fuel fulfills the energy requirement and reduces environmental pollution concerns. Hence, every country is looking for efficient and greener hydrogen production technologies. Herein, a simulation model of a methanol‐water (as feed) reformer is developed, and the effects of reaction temperature (RT), reactor pressure (RP), and methanol‐to‐water (M‐to‐W) ratio are investigated. In contrast, the optimal conditions for hydrogen selectivity (HS) and feed conversion percentage (FCP) are determined using response surface methodology. Results show a significant effect of the M‐to‐W molar ratio in the range of 0.9 and 1.35, whereas higher RT has a good affinity for higher HS and FCP. The regression analysis shows R2 values of 0.9877 and 0.9803 for HC and FCP, which are close to unity. Hence, both experimental (and simulated) and predicted values have better correspondence with each other. In contrast, the optimal HS and FCP of 84.81% and 95.71% are observed at 328 °C RT, 2.6 atm. RP, and 1.34 M‐to‐W molar ratio, respectively. Therefore, the present simulation and optimization provide results that may help to enhance the hydrogen production percentage in commercialized plants.

Enhancing Hydrogen Production in Methanol Steam Reforming Using PdZn-Based Catalysts: A Mini-review on CO Suppression

“…While these numbers are favorable, temperatures of 120 and 246 °C are relatively low for PdZn catalysts. Conversely, two other modeling studies predicted optimal temperatures of 328 °C at 2.6 atm and 300–350 °C at 1 atm, Figure e, over Ni/Al 2 O 3 and CuZn/Al 2 O 3 , respectively, achieving >90% methanol conversion. , …”

“…Elevating reaction pressure has been reported to reduce the suppression of CO, although its impact is not as significant as temperature (Figure f). ,− ,− However, some studies reported the contrary, leaving pressure open for further future investigations . Perhaps the argument applying Le Chatelier’s principle may be used for increased CO selectivity with pressure, considering the higher probability of RWGS occurrence at high pressure, especially over RWGS active catalysts like small PdZn alloy particles .…”

“…The majority of optimization studies on methanol steam reforming to date have focused primarily on CuZn-based catalysts and methanol steam reforming without specific catalyst while openly acknowledging potential variations for different catalysts. − As a result, there are no exclusive studies reported yet on PdZn-based catalysts. However, the comparable performance of PdZn-based catalysts to CuZn-based catalysts suggests that the results obtained from CuZn-based catalyst studies may be relevant and valid until specific studies on PdZn-based catalysts are conducted and prove otherwise.…”

Simulation and Optimization of Biohydrogen Production from Biomass Feed via Anaerobic Digestion

“…The RSM optimizes the statistical data and mathematical models. A DoE was generated by using central composite design (CCD) in Design Expert software [22,23]. The input parameters taken to generate the DoE were PTT, F/W, and HRT.…”

“…A design with six central points, six axial points, and eight factorial points that uses a quadratic equation [Eq. ( 1)] for data analysis was created [22]. The response R was either hydrogen (or biohydrogen) or methane in percent and the subscript a denotes the type of feed (SB, RS, or SD).…”