Sustainability assessment of combined steam and dry reforming versus tri‐reforming of methane for syngas production

Abstract

Synthesis gas (syngas) is a versatile intermediate in the production of valuable chemicals and fuel, such as methanol, dimethyl ether, ethylene, propylene, and the Fischer–Tropsch fuel. Combining steam reforming and dry reforming (SR + DR) routes can produce syngas with a suitable H2:CO molar ratio (around 2:1) for Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. The newly proposed tri‐reforming (TR) route at experimental scale was a capable alternative to produce syngas in a single reformer with potential benefits such as energy savings and waste flue gas utilization. In this paper, sustainability assessment of SR + DR and TR routes adopting quantifiable indices in economic, environmental, and safety dimensions at industrial scale is performed based on process simulation models. Results show that TR route outperforms SR + DR route in all 3 dimensions. Sensitivity analysis of natural gas price fluctuation does not alter the conclusion. A sustainable root cause analysis is also applied on the SR + DR which identifies root causes affecting its sustainability with the aid of visualization tools such as Pareto chart and fish bone diagram.

Syngas production plus reducing carbon dioxide emission using dry reforming of methane: utilizing low-cost Ni-based catalysts

“…The methane oxidization with steam (steam reforming reaction) is extremely endothermic (DH°= 206.3 kJ/mol at 25°C), and the needed heat is supplied utilizing the reformer furnace. Then, CO is oxidized into CO 2 entirely during the Water-Gas Shift (WGS) reaction [34]. The outlet stream of CSR, which comprises syngas, is directed to the Conventional Auto-thermal Reformer (CAR) to achieve the complete conversion of methane and desired H 2 /CO ratio for methanol production [6,10].…”

“…(1)), and meanwhile, the successive reverse WGS as the side reaction (Eq. (2)) generates water and CO [34]. DRM is highly endothermic and is favorable at high temperature and low pressure [13].…”

“…( 9)) and carbon deposition (Boudouard reaction, Eq. (10)) occur that cause to coke formation and catalyst deactivation [13,34]. Methane decomposition:…”

Tuning combined steam and dry reforming of methane for “metgas” production: A thermodynamic approach and state-of-the-art catalysts

“…Nevertheless, using pure oxygen at high reaction temperature (range: 70 0-90 0 °C) requires extensive safety precautions and the need of air separation units (ASU) which significantly influences the cost of the syngas plant [48] . Compared to methane tri-reforming (CSDRM in presence of O 2 ), an economic and feasibility assessment conducted by Chen and coworkers [91] demonstrated promising benefits for combining dry and steam reforming in a single unit. Such benefits covered total capital investment, heating and, electricity costs.…”

Preparation of cigarette butts/coal‐based porous carbon and its catalytic methane decomposition to hydrogen

“…At present, most of hydrogen comes from steam reforming of fossil fuels, but this process will release a large amount of greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. 6,7 Catalytic methane decomposition (CMD) is an environmentally friendly new technology. In the production process, only hydrogen and nanocarbon are produced, and no carbon dioxide is generated.…”