Investigating A Clean Natural Gas-based Hydrogen Production Process for Electricity Generation in Power Plants

This study investigates a clean hydrogen production process (based on a CH4 feedstock flow rate of 1000 kmol/h) integrated with an onsite hydrogen-combustion power plant. A rate-based kinetic model is used to develop steam methane reforming (SMR) and water gas shift (WGS) reactions in the reformer. The impact of auto thermal reforming (ATR) on hydrogen purity and the generated power is investigated by analysing the correlation between temperature, pressure, and steam-to-methane ratio. A full factorial design matrix is used to investigate the potential interactions among the operational variables with a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) i.e. hydrogen purity and generated power. The ATR leads to higher hydrogen purity and generated power at lower feed temperatures Also, increasing the steam-to-methane ratio leads to increased hydrogen purity and generated power in both scenarios. Pressure is found to play a critical role in power generation but has a less pronounced effect on hydrogen purity in comparison. Employment of ATR has been found to be beneficial to achieve higher hydrogen purity and increased power generated at lower feed temperatures, while simultaneously minimizing CO
2
emissions.