Syngas and H₂ production from natural gas using CaFe₂O₄ - Looping: Experimental and thermodynamic integrated process assessment

Experimental methods and thermodynamic simulations were employed in this study to assess the H-2 production potential of a CaFe2O4 based blue H-2 production process from natural gas (NG, >90 vol%CH4). Fixed bed reactor testing was used to verify the product outcomes. Syngas production from methane using CaFe2O4 was demonstrated. Stable H-2 production with high steam conversion was demonstrated with the CaFe2O4 when reduced with methane. The thermodynamic integrated process simulation enabled simulation of the process in two and three reactor configurations to understand the feasibility of a heat integrated system. The 2-reactor process used the generation of syngas as the prevailing mode for H-2 generation while the 3-reactor system utilized steam water splitting in a dedicated reactor as the prevailing mode to generate H-2. Simulation of the 2-reactor process's FR showed syngas generation similar to the products from fixed bed demonstrations, establishing a connection between thermodynamic simulation and experimental data. The H-2 yield potentials of the various configurations were determined and compared to steam methane reforming with capture (SMR-CCS) and a Fe2O3 based system from the literature. The 2-reactor process has the potential to generate 1.6-2.1 mol of H-2/mole of NG fed to the system. Three reactor configurations showed the highest potential for H-2 yield with a range of 2.2-2.56 mol of H-2/mole NG but with the need for additional CCS at the highest yield. A thermal management approach was introduced that combined the chemistries of CaFe2O4 and CuFeAlO4 which enabled increasing the potential yield to 2.66 mol H-2/mol NG and enabling a system without the need for addition carbon capture to meet 90% threshold targets. The three reactor cases showed the most competitive performance in comparison to SMR-CCS with up to a 14.6% improvement in H(2)yield. (c) 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.