Simulation of Hydrogen Production Plant through Methane Steam Reforming Process in a Heat-Integrated Bayonet Tube Reactor

An industrial hydrogen production plant is simulated through methane steam reforming process. A heat-integrated bayonet tube reactor, the key feature of which is separating the furnace and reactor tube constitute the main component of this process. The plant is a complex unit inoperation, where off-gas streams for burner fuel, flue gas are consumed for heating the feed and producing steam, next to having a complex structure of hydrogen production reactor. The plant simulation is run through the Aspen HYSYS software, and the hydrogen production reactor is modeled through Matlab software. The results indicate good agreement with plant data at different capacities. The Mean Absolute Relative Error (MARE) percentage for the outlet flue gas temperature, a crucial factor in predicting hydrogen production is 5. The MARE for steam production is below 3%. For the water-gas shift reactor, the MARE for outlet mole fractions and temperature is below 10%. These findings underscore the model's potential for predicting the performance of an industrial-scale hydrogen production unit accurately.

Simulation of Hydrogen Production Plant through Methane Steam Reforming Process in a Heat-Integrated Bayonet Tube Reactor Keywords:

bayonet tube reformer , Steam methane reforming , Simulation of hydrogen production , convection reformer