Hydrogen production by the steam reforming of waste lubricating oil

The production of Hydrogen from the used lubricating oil through steam reforming is an effective and novel method of recovering the energetic content of waste lubricating oil (WLO). This work was geared towards utilising ASPEN Plus V8.8 to develop a predictive simulation for the production of Hydrogen from WLO via steam reforming. All aspects of factor sensitivity and interactions as regards the steam reforming of WLO was exhaustively studied. The simulation model was developed and run successfully without any errors. The sensitivity of the simulation to pressure, temperature and steam-to-oil ratio (STOR) from the simulation was first studied to help determine the optimal values of each factor. The optimal values for the process parameters are reforming temperature of 600 degrees C, reforming pressure of 1 atm and STOR of 10 kg/kg. The synthesis gas obtained at optimal conditions has a Hydrogen gas content of 75%, Carbon dioxide content of 21%, carbon monoxide content of 3.7% and only trace quantities of methane. The factor interaction study of all chemical species in the product stream was summarily carried out and any combinatory effects of these factors were elucidated.