Optimizing Methanol Reforming Parameters for Enhanced Hydrogen Selectivity in an Aspen Hysys Simulator using Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

Hydrogen is the prominent fuel for a nation's industrial and infrastructural development. Hydrogen fuel fulfills the energy requirement and reduces environmental pollution concerns. Hence, every country is looking for efficient and greener hydrogen production technologies. Herein, a simulation model of a methanol‐water (as feed) reformer is developed, and the effects of reaction temperature (RT), reactor pressure (RP), and methanol‐to‐water (M‐to‐W) ratio are investigated. In contrast, the optimal conditions for hydrogen selectivity (HS) and feed conversion percentage (FCP) are determined using response surface methodology. Results show a significant effect of the M‐to‐W molar ratio in the range of 0.9 and 1.35, whereas higher RT has a good affinity for higher HS and FCP. The regression analysis shows R2 values of 0.9877 and 0.9803 for HC and FCP, which are close to unity. Hence, both experimental (and simulated) and predicted values have better correspondence with each other. In contrast, the optimal HS and FCP of 84.81% and 95.71% are observed at 328 °C RT, 2.6 atm. RP, and 1.34 M‐to‐W molar ratio, respectively. Therefore, the present simulation and optimization provide results that may help to enhance the hydrogen production percentage in commercialized plants.