Techno-Economic Study of Hydrogen Production via Steam Reforming of Methanol, Ethanol, and Diesel

Abstract

AbstractA large portion of industrial hydrogen is generated from the steam reforming (SR) of hydrocarbons.1–7 A rational choice of fuel for hydrogen production from hydrocarbons is controversial due to the disadvantages of the fuels, including the cost, infrastructure development, and energy efficiency of the corresponding reforming process.8–10 The optimum selection should be made considering all the above factors. A techno-economic analysis of the steam reforming of strategic fuels, including methanol, ethanol, and diesel, is carried out. The produced gas molecules, equilibrium composition of the products, appropriate operating conditions, and energy efficiency of the system operating on corresponding fuels are studied applying the minimization of Gibbs free-energy technique. It is concluded that steam reforming of methanol yields the most facile conversion. The appropriate steam reforming operating temperature for the studied fuels vary from low to high temperatures, being 180–220°C for methanol and up...