Thermodynamic Analysis of Hydrogen Production via Chemical Looping Steam Methane Reforming Coupled with In Situ CO2 Capture

A detailed thermodynamic analysis of the sorption enhanced chemical looping reforming of methane (SE-CL-SMR), using CaO and NiO as CO2 sorbent and oxygen transfer material (OTM) respectively, was conducted. Conventional reforming (SMR) and sorption enhanced reforming (SE-SMR) were also investigated for comparison reasons. The results of the thermodynamic analysis show that there are significant advantages of both sorption enhanced processes compared to conventional reforming. The presence of CaO leads to higher methane conversion and hydrogen purity at low temperatures. Addition of the OTM, in the SECL-SMR process concept, minimizes the thermal requirements and results in superior performance compared to SE-SMR and SMR in a two-reactor concept with use of pure oxygen as oxidant/sweep gas.