Simulation of Biomethane Steam Reforming Plant for Hydrogen Production using Aspen Hysys

Abstract

Aspen Hysys simulation of a process plant for hydrogen production from biomethane through steam reforming process was considered in this work. Models for reactor designs were developed using the principles of conservation of mass and energy. The kinetic model for the biomethane steam reforming process was developed from first principle using the Eley-Rideal mechanistic approach. Computer software (Aspen Hysys) was adopted for the design and for the simulation of the process plant which then aid production of hydrogen from biomethane. In the design, three reactors were considered such as the reformer, High temperature shift converter and the low temperature shift converter. The volume, height and diameter of the reactors obtained from the simulation were 75m³, 5.9m, 3.9m, 30m³, 4.4m and others. The effect of temperature on the conversion for each of the reactors was considered and were seen to be in line with LeChatelier’s principle for chemical equilibrium. Treatment of the exit stream from the LTS with Methyl diethanolamine (MDEA) in an absorber increased the purity of hydrogen to 84.8%, which indicates that biomethane can be a reliable raw material for sustainable hydrogen production.