Simulating the steam reforming of sunflower meal in Aspen Plus

Abstract

Hydrogen is a clean energy carrier that has the potential to mitigate the environmentally hazardous effects of fossil fuels. Hydrogen is mainly produced through the steam reforming of natural gas however it is also possible to produce hydrogen through the thermochemical conversion of various biomasses. In this study, three Aspen plus simulation models were developed to obtain hydrogen-rich gas products from biomass through catalytic steam reforming. The results obtained in this modeling study were compared to the experimental data obtained by the steam reforming of the sunflower meal, which is a waste product of the seed oil industry. Out of all three models, model II, in which all of the reactions are assumed to occur simultaneously and all species except for biomass are assumed to undergo combustion reactions, was the most successful one at predicting close results (93% similar) to experimental findings. Using this model, the effect of water:biomass feed ratio on the product yields was tested and the highest possible H2 yield (44.9 mol H2/kg sunflower meal) was achieved with a 15:1 water:biomass feed ratio at the constant temperature of 800 degrees C and atmospheric pressure.& nbsp; (c) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.