Techno-economic analysis for CO2 reforming of a medium-grade landfill gas in a membrane reactor for H-2 production

In this paper, we report techno-economic analysis for CO2 reforming of a medium-grade landfill gas in a membrane reactor (MR) for a H-2 production capacity of 7 m(3) h(-1) in Korea. Parametric studies for the effect of key operating conditions like a H-2 permeance, a H2O sweep gas flow rate, and temperature on the performance in a conventional packed-bed reactor (PBR) and a MR were conducted using Aspen HYSYSe, a commercial process simulator. Based on process simulation studies, economic analysis was carried out to find a unit H-2 production cost for both a PBR and a MR. Respective unit H-2 production costs of 9.72 and 6.46 $ kgH(2)(-1) were obtained for a PBR and a MR showing about 34% reduction in the MR. Sensitivity analysis was employed to identify key economic factors to determine a unit H-2 production cost with labor the most influential factor for both reactors. Probability analysis (PA) was performed with influential factors based on a Monte-Carlo simulation method as uncertainty analysis and a cumulative probability (CP) curve was created for a PBR and a MR under various discount rates from 2 to 10% and key factor ranges from +/- 10 to +/- 40%. PA using stochastic approach provided a wide range of a unit H-2 production cost coupled with its probability and a critical CP value at which the effect of key factor range on a unit H-2 production cost was reversed