Hydrogen production from tri-reforming of methane coupled with a novel membrane separation unit

When used as a fuel, hydrogen produces only clean water and no carbon oxide emissions upon combustion, making it potentially the next-generation energy vector for automobiles, chemicals, and power generation industries. Several competing hydrogen production technologies exist, such as water splitting via electrolysis, biomass gasification, steam methane reforming, and partial oxidation, to name a few. Steam methane reforming (SMR) is currently the most utilized process in this regard. However, it has a significant carbon footprint, making SMR and many of the processes mentioned above unsuitable for achieving a truly CO2-free energy economy. We propose utilizing a more-energy efficient variant - the tri-reforming of methane (TRM) – as a promising route to produce hydrogen-rich syngas with a lower CO2 footprint than industrial benchmark SMR. TRM, in principle, addresses the various challenges of SMR, such as its high endothermicity, carbon formation tendency, and lower flexibility in syngas quality. TRM enables the tuning and optimization of the syngas quality on-demand to meet downstream applications, e.g., acetic acid, methanol, dimethyl ether, and Fischer Tropsch (FT) synthesis at minimal energy requirements. Nonetheless, to fulfill this potential, TRM needs: (a) a catalytic system that can handle a strongly oxidizing environment while maintaining sustained activity and selectivity towards hydrogen instead of water; and (b) an efficient and scalable reactor configuration that can be industrially viable. The first phase of this project will focus on developing a catalyst and reactor system to address these challenges. Moreover, since the produced syngas contains unconverted gases, an effective separation unit is required to produce a pure hydrogen stream from the process. For this, the second phase will investigate the applicability and optimization of a novel, laser-induced graphite (LIG) polymer membrane process to obtain pure H2. The LIG technology consists of a highly shape-selective membrane material that provides efficient separation of hydrogen gas from a mixture of gases containing carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Another critical area of research in this proposal will be to re-engineer and optimize the LIG membranes to produce pure hydrogen from synthesis gas mixtures produced from the TRM process. An important deliverable for the tailor-made LIG membrane to be able to handle other gases that are present in syngas, such as methane, carbon monoxide, and water. The proposed research activities are built on a heritage of advanced catalytic and reaction systems developed in our research group for gas processing reactions such as Dry Reforming of Methane, Fischer Tropsch, Dimethyl carbonates, and Methanol synthesis. Furthermore, the design of effective catalytic systems for the TRM will start from the garnered knowledge that resulted in synthesized and patented highly stable catalytic systems for use in harsh, coke-forming environments. In the third phase of the proposed research project, we will leverage the combined expertise of the research groups involved – catalysis, reaction engineering, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), membrane synthesis, and scale-up – to investigate the feasibility of an integrated TRM+LIG process to produce high-purity H2 process. The fourth phase will be a systematic sustainability assessment of the process and its impact on Qatar’s energy ecosystem, led by a global energy expert, His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Saleh Al-Sada, and the sustainability expertise of Professor Muammer Koc and his team at the Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU). The study will cover the environmental, social, and economic impact of gradual transitioning as well from a fossil fuel-based to a hydrogen-based energy economy. A life cycle analysis study will provide further insights into the CO2 footprint of the developed process in comparison with benchmark H2 production technologies.

Texas A&M University at Qatar