Modeling, optimization, and cost analysis of an IGCC plant with a membrane reactor for carbon capture

Techno-economic Analysis and Optimization of Intensified, Large-Scale Hydrogen Production with Membrane Reactors

Steam methane reforming (SMR) currently supplies 76% of the world's hydrogen (H2) demand, totaling ∼70 million tonnes per year. Developments in H2 production technologies are required to meet the rising demand for cleaner, less costly H2. Therefore, palladium membrane reactors (Pd-MR) have received significant attention for their ability to increase the efficiency of traditional SMR. This study performs novel economic analyses and constrained, nonlinear optimizations on an intensified SMR process with a Pd-MR. The optimization extends beyond the membrane's operation to present process set points for both the conventional and intensified H2 processes. Despite increased compressor and membrane capital costs along with electric utility costs, the SMR-MR design offers reductions in the natural gas usage and annual costs. Economic comparisons between each plant show Pd membrane costs greater than $25 000/m2 are required to break even with the conventional design for membrane lifetimes of 1-3 years. Based on the optimized SMR-MR process, this study concludes with sensitivity analyses on the design, operational, and cost parameters for the intensified SMR-MR process. Overall, with further developments of Pd membranes for increased stability and lifetime, the proposed SMR-MR design is thus profitable and suitable for intensification of H2 production.

CO2-Tolerant Oxygen Permeation Membranes Containing Transition Metals as Sintering Aids with High Oxygen Permeability

Chemical doping of ceramic oxides may provide a possible route for realizing high-efficient oxygen transport membranes. Herein, we present a study of the previously unreported dual-phase mixed-conducting oxygen-permeable membranes with the compositions of 60 wt.% Ce0.85Pr0.1M0.05O2-δ-40 wt.%Pr0.6Sr0.4Fe0.8Al0.2O3-δ (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu) (CPM-PSFA) adding sintering aids, which is expected to not only improve the electronic conductivity of fluorite phase, but also reduce the sintering temperature and improve the sintering properties of the membranes. X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) results indicate that the CPM-PSFA contain only the fluorite and perovskite two phases, implying that they are successfully prepared with a modified Pechini method. Backscattered scanning electron microscopy (BSEM) results further confirm that two phases are evenly distributed, and the membranes are very dense after sintering at 1275 °C for 5 h, which is much lower than that (1450 °C, 5 h) of the composite 60 wt.%Ce0.9Pr0.1O2-δ-40 wt.%Pr0.6Sr0.4Fe0.8Al0.2O3-δ (CP-PSFA) without sintering aids. The results of oxygen permeability test demonstrate that the oxygen permeation flux through the CPCu-PSFA and CPCo-PSFA is higher than that of undoped CP-PSFA and can maintain stable oxygen permeability for a long time under pure CO2 operation condition. Our results imply that these composite membranes with high oxygen permeability and stability provide potential candidates for the application in oxygen separation, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), and oxy-fuel combustion based on carbon dioxide capture.

Development of CVD Silica Membranes Having High Hydrogen Permeance and Steam Durability and a Membrane Reactor for a Water Gas Shift Reaction

Water gas shift reaction of carbon monoxide (CO) with membrane reactors should be a promising method for hydrogen mass-production because of its high CO conversion, high hydrogen purity and low carbon dioxide emission. For developing such membrane reactors, we need hydrogen permselective membranes with high hydrogen permeance with order of 10⁻⁶ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ at 573 K and high steam durability. In this study, we have optimized the kind of substrates, precursors, vapor concentration, and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) time using the counter-diffusion CVD method for developing such membranes. The developed membrane prepared from hexamethyldisiloxane has a hydrogen permeance of 1.29 × 10⁻⁶ mol m⁻² s⁻¹ Pa⁻¹ at 573 K and high steam durability. We also conducted water gas shift reactions with membrane reactors installed the developed silica membranes. The results indicated that reactions proceed efficiently with the conversion around 95–97%, hydrogen purity around 94%, and hydrogen recovery around 60% at space velocity (SV) 7000.