Steady State Modeling of Hydrogen Production by Methanol Reforming from Atmospheric to Supercritical Water Conditions

摘要

A steady state modeling of hydrogen production by methanol reforming from atmospheric (ATM) pressure to supercritical water (SCW) conditions has been performed by the non-stoichiometric thermodynamic model based on the Gibbs free energy minimization in AspenPlus software where both steady state mass and energy balances are solved simultaneously. Thermodynamic equilibrium based on Peng-Robinson equation of state for SCW conditions and ideal gas equation for ATM pressure is used. In this research, the main objective is to study the influence of operating parameters from ATM to SCW conditions on the hydrogen production. At ATM pressure, a hydrogen production increases with increasing reaction temperature up to 973 K while under SCW conditions, an increase of temperature constantly increases the formation of hydrogen. As the reaction temperature increases, hydrogen production and total heat load increase but the hydrogen to carbon monoxide (H_2/CO) ratio decreases. Although the hydrogen composition is constantly higher at ATM pressure than under SCW conditions, the H_2/CO ratios are always greater in SCW at above 673 K.