Refuse derived fuel hydrogasification coupled with methane steam reforming

The hydrogasification of Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) consisting of non-recyclable plastic polymers was combined with methane steam reforming in a “hydrogen self-sustained” loop configuration. The hydrogasification unit fed by 1000 kg/h of RDF was initially modeled by Aspen plus to define best operating conditions, namely temperature, pressure and hydrogen feed flow rate. After the simulations, the temperature of the hydrogasification process has been fixed at 300 °C, the pressure at 10 bar and the hydrogen feed flow rate at 140 kg/h. The steam reforming unit operates at 850 °C while the water-gas shift is conducted at 350 °C. When all the methane produced by hydrogasification is used to feed the steam reformer, which yields H2 that is recycled back to the hydrogasifier, the net hydrogen production is 222 kg/h with an amount of CO2 released of 2265 kg/h. For the different process configurations adopted, the energy efficiency of the process ranges 84–89%.