Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production

This paper presents a techno-economic assessment of adding state-of-the-art solvent-based CO2 capture technologies to greenfield steam methane reforming (SMR)-based H2 production plants and quantifies the impacts of improvements in CO2 capture technology. Current conventional capture technologies ar...

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Main Authors: Hari Mantripragada, Rafael De Leon, Alexander Zoelle, Mark Woods, Eric Lewis, Timothy Fout, Travis Shultz, Eric Grol, Sally Homsy
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-03-01
Series:Carbon Capture Science & Technology
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772656824001568
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author Hari Mantripragada
Rafael De Leon
Alexander Zoelle
Mark Woods
Eric Lewis
Timothy Fout
Travis Shultz
Eric Grol
Sally Homsy
author_facet Hari Mantripragada
Rafael De Leon
Alexander Zoelle
Mark Woods
Eric Lewis
Timothy Fout
Travis Shultz
Eric Grol
Sally Homsy
author_sort Hari Mantripragada
collection DOAJ
description This paper presents a techno-economic assessment of adding state-of-the-art solvent-based CO2 capture technologies to greenfield steam methane reforming (SMR)-based H2 production plants and quantifies the impacts of improvements in CO2 capture technology. Current conventional capture technologies are reviewed, and future technologies in intermediate and long-term scenarios are analyzed. The results show that SMR plants fitted with high efficiency solvent-based capture technologies consume the same amount of natural gas as a conventional SMR plant without capture, despite capturing most of the CO2 and producing the same amount of H2. Overall, improvements in reboiler duty and reductions in capital costs can significantly reduce the cost of H2 production and cost of capture. Particularly, the reboiler duty of pre-combustion capture and the capital cost of post-combustion capture have the greatest impact. Based on the results, research goals are suggested. Solvent development is recommended—particularly pre-combustion solvents—for reducing the reboiler duties, and process schemes to reduce the capital costs. Costlier but more efficient solvents can be considered. A sensitivity analysis using natural gas price shows that technological improvements can reduce the impacts of high natural gas prices. The degree of economic feasibility of CO2 capture increases with improvements to the capture technology.
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spelling doaj-art-7d7a675251ba4fe090f9acd2a5eb620c2025-08-20T01:58:05ZengElsevierCarbon Capture Science & Technology2772-65682025-03-011410034410.1016/j.ccst.2024.100344Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen productionHari Mantripragada0Rafael De Leon1Alexander Zoelle2Mark Woods3Eric Lewis4Timothy Fout5Travis Shultz6Eric Grol7Sally Homsy8National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA; NETL Support Contractor, 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USANational Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA; NETL Support Contractor, 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USANational Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA; NETL Support Contractor, 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USANational Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USA; NETL Support Contractor, 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USANational Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USAOffice of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management United States Department of Energy, Forrestal Building 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20585, USANETL, 3610 Collins Ferry Road, Morgantown, WV 26505, USANational Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USANational Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), 626 Cochran Mill Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15236, USAThis paper presents a techno-economic assessment of adding state-of-the-art solvent-based CO2 capture technologies to greenfield steam methane reforming (SMR)-based H2 production plants and quantifies the impacts of improvements in CO2 capture technology. Current conventional capture technologies are reviewed, and future technologies in intermediate and long-term scenarios are analyzed. The results show that SMR plants fitted with high efficiency solvent-based capture technologies consume the same amount of natural gas as a conventional SMR plant without capture, despite capturing most of the CO2 and producing the same amount of H2. Overall, improvements in reboiler duty and reductions in capital costs can significantly reduce the cost of H2 production and cost of capture. Particularly, the reboiler duty of pre-combustion capture and the capital cost of post-combustion capture have the greatest impact. Based on the results, research goals are suggested. Solvent development is recommended—particularly pre-combustion solvents—for reducing the reboiler duties, and process schemes to reduce the capital costs. Costlier but more efficient solvents can be considered. A sensitivity analysis using natural gas price shows that technological improvements can reduce the impacts of high natural gas prices. The degree of economic feasibility of CO2 capture increases with improvements to the capture technology.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772656824001568HydrogenSteam methane reforming (SMR)Post-combustion CO2 capturePre-combustion CO2 capture
spellingShingle Hari Mantripragada
Rafael De Leon
Alexander Zoelle
Mark Woods
Eric Lewis
Timothy Fout
Travis Shultz
Eric Grol
Sally Homsy
Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
Carbon Capture Science & Technology
Hydrogen
Steam methane reforming (SMR)
Post-combustion CO2 capture
Pre-combustion CO2 capture
title Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
title_full Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
title_fullStr Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
title_full_unstemmed Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
title_short Research goals for minimizing the cost of CO2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
title_sort research goals for minimizing the cost of co2 capture when using steam methane reforming for hydrogen production
topic Hydrogen
Steam methane reforming (SMR)
Post-combustion CO2 capture
Pre-combustion CO2 capture
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772656824001568
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