Thermodynamic analysis and optimization for steam methane reforming hydrogen production system using high temperature gas-cooled reactor pebble-bed module

Thermodynamic analysis and optimization for the steam methane reforming (SMR) hydrogen production system using the high temperature gas-cooled reactor pebble-bed module power plant (HTR-PM) are investigated in this work. Based on the thermodynamic-equilibrium model, parameters of thermal efficiency (eta), hydrogen production (Y-H2/methane), methane conversion rate (X-1) and carbon monoxide conversion rate (X-2) are calculated under the specified temperature (T), pressure (P) and water-to-carbon ratio (S). The influence of S, T, P on eta, Y-H2/methane, X-1 and X-2 is then analyzed. It considers a wide range of operating conditions (T = 400-1200 degrees C; P = 2-7 MPa and S = 2-10). The results show that the influence of on the system performance is significant. When T > 950 degrees C, eta and Y-H2/methane increases slowly (4 S <= 6) or reduces (S > 6). For the operating conditions of HTR-PM (P = 7 MPa; S = 6 and T = 950 degrees C), the maximum value of eta is 63.44% and the maximum Y-H2/methane is 3.3 mol. At last, system optimized parameters are illustrated.