Economic analysis of hydrogen production from steam reforming process

ABSTRACT

For economic reasons, biogas is the most suitable choice among products like naphthalene (C₁₀H₈), ethanol (C₂H₅OH), methanol (CH₃OH), and bio-oil because it is an energy-rich material produced from low-cost and available feedstocks such as agricultural residue and/or forestry residues. In the present article, an economic model of steam reforming of biogas to estimate the hydrogen production cost and different working conditions is developed. Results showed that with payback period increasing from 2.0 to 8.0 years, the hydrogen production cost decreases from 1.87 to 0.465 US$/kWh for EPO of 3,850 h/year, from 1.71 to 0.461 US$/kWh for EPO of 4,250 h/year, and from 1.59 to 0.231 US$/kWh for EPO of 5,020 h/year.

KEYWORDS:

• Biogas
• hydrogen
• natural gas
• production cost
• steam reforming