(679b) Determining Materials Specifications Based on Technoeconomic and Life Cycle Assessment: A Case on Oxygen Career Material for Chemical Looping Steam Methane Reforming

Development of new process is one of the keys to achieve low-carbon production in the chemicals industry. Many new processes being studied rely on use of novel materials such as catalysts and chemicals careers. Since there are numerous possibilities of materials that can be used, it is important that a target-based development of these materials and processes are practiced for efficient process development with short lead time.

In this study, to delineate the feasible materials and their performance under operating conditions and a reactor of choice, process systems modeling, followed by assessment of economic and life cycle greenhouse gases emission is performed in an integrated manner. A novel chemical looping process for steam methane reforming (CL-SMR) as a part of methanol production is used as an example to demonstrate this approach. SMR is an endothermal reaction to produce CO and H2, the raw materials for commodity chemicals (ex. methanol). Conventional SMR is controlled at 700 - 900 °C to achieve a desired conversion, which not only leads to high energy consumption for supplying heat but also incurs expensive reformer equipment. CL- SMR is an attractive alternative, dividing the reaction system into two reactors where metal and its oxides is circulated among the reactors to carry oxygen atoms using two fluidized bed reactors connected with each other. In the steam reactor, H2O is reduced to yield hydrogen while oxidizing the metal into an oxide form, while in the methane reactor, CH4 is oxidized to produce carbon oxides (CO, CO2) and H2. In this way, the overall conversion is no longer bound by their original equilibria, allowing the operation at a significantly lower temperature while maintaining a sufficient conversion.

Using the process simulation combined with economic calculation and assessment of life cycle GHG emission, we present the target region for the career materials on a space defined by oxygen storage capacity and oxygen release rate in the methane reactor.

By presenting the simulation results, target temperatures and conversion, as well as the oxygen storage ccapacity and oxygen release rate were discussed.