Modeling and analysis for enhanced hydrogen production in process simulation of methanol reforming

ABSTRACTHydrogen has emerged as the most suitable fuel for a nation’s greener and sustainable development. In contrast, the feedstock and hydrogen production methods remain a concern for environmental pollution. This study uses methanol as the feedstock for hydrogen production via a low-temperature methanol-reforming process. A simulation model was developed in Aspen Hysys, where an equilibrium reactor is used in the reforming process, and examined the effects of parameters like temperature, pressure, and Methanol-to-Water (M-to-W) molar ratio. Hydrogen mole fraction and selectivity increase by roughly 18.5% and 10.5% when the reaction temperature increases from 100°C to 400°C. At the same time, the methanol conversion rate reaches 95% at 400°C. Reactor pressure shows inverse effects where pressure rises from 1 atm. to 7 atm. that reduces hydrogen mole fraction and selectivity by about 10% and 6%, and a similar reduction of 5% is noticed in the methanol conversion rate. M-to-W molar ratio plays a crucial role in the reaction pathway and the M-to-W ratio between 0.5 and 1.5 at 400°C and 1 atm. reactor pressure showed the highest hydrogen mole fraction (>0.57) and a maximum methanol conversion rate (>90%). Therefore, the present simulation model successfully determines the impacts of various parameters to help design a commercial plant for large-scale hydrogen production via the reforming process.KEYWORDS: Reforminghydrogenmethanol conversionAspen hysysPeng-robinson AcknowledgementsThe authors acknowledge the support of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Delhi Technological University, for conducting this research.Disclosure statementThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.Data availability statementAll the data used in the manuscript have been appropriately cited with the corresponding reference.