TECHNO-ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF A REACTOR SYSTEM USED FOR POWER-TO-METHANE PLANT

Abstract

The interest in methane production from the utilization of electricity and hydrogen, also well-known as power-to-methane (PtM), has increased significantly in the last decades. A typical PtM system mainly consists of an electrolyzer (for hydrogen production) that is powered by a renewable power production technology, such as a solar PV module, a CO<inf>2</inf> source and a chemical reactor for methane production. In this study, the sizing of a PtM system is first performed based on the operating strategy that relies on the avoidance of hydrogen storage and selection of appropriate hydrogen content of syngas and catalyst loading in the reactor. Then, thermodynamic analysis is performed for this system. Finally, cost analysis is conducted for new reactor installation considering sizing and thermodynamic performance of the system. The combined simulation shows that the electrical efficiency is found as 50-55 % according to various operating conditions. The syngas production rate decreases even though the methane content of syngas increases when the operating pressure of the reactor decreases. Moreover, the total investment cost decreases from 4,354,200 $ to 3,470,200 $ when the reactor pressure increase from 1 bar to 7 bar. © 2023 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.