Comparative analysis of energy and thermodynamic simulation for different hydrogen production methods

With increase in energy demand, depletion in fossil fuels and climate change there is a need for sustainable ways to produce energy and fuels. Hydrogen, being a better alternative source of energy, can satisfy this great energy demand. There are various hydrogen production methods in well-established stage and under development stage. Viability of any process depends upon calculation of energy and study of thermodynamics. To carry out thermodynamic and energy analysis we have estimated proposed hydrogen production using DWSIM software and with different thermodynamic conditions. This analysis involves comparison of dry reforming of methane (DRM), steam reforming of methane (SRM) as well as dry reforming and steam reforming coupled with water gas shift (WGS) reaction, at different reaction conditions. Different reaction conditions involved change in feed molar ratio and pressure at constant temperature. All processes are performed at methane feed rate of 100 kmol/h. Minimization of Gibbs free energy with high hydrogen output was used for process simulation and optimization. Due to involvement of steam, energy consumption becomes higher in case of steam reforming process. However, dry reforming coupled with WGS reaction (DRM+WGS) showed promising results, with overall less energy consumption, CO₂ utilization and optimum syngas/hydrogen production. (author)