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High-Pressure Natural Gas to Syngas Chemical Looping: Thermodynamic Modeling, Gas-to-Liquid Plant Integration, and Variable Reducer-Combustor Operating Pressure

Sandvik, Peter
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553858544883504

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Chemical Engineering.
Chemical looping technologies can be used as an advanced reforming technology, capable of efficiently generating syngas to serve as a feedstock in a variety of important chemical industries. The pressure of the syngas feedstock to downstream chemical synthesis reactors is an important characteristic that can dictate the products and overall plant economics. While most chemical synthesis reactors, such as Fischer-Tropsch and methanol synthesis reactors, operate at high pressures, most chemical looping reforming studies have been conducted under atmospheric conditions. The high thermodynamic yields from the atmospheric chemical looping reformer run counter to the high conversion of the pressurized downstream reactors. Therefore, this study seeks to quantify the impact of the operating conditions of the chemical looping reformer on the overall system yields. Specifically, The Ohio State University methane to syngas process is analyzed, which uses a cocurrent moving bed fuel/reducer reactor and a fluidized bed air/combustor reactor. The syngas generation results are compared under a variety of operating conditions with the pressure varied between 1 and 30 atm. Initial studies are compared in an isothermal analysis to study the effect of variables, independent of operating temperature. The resulting isothermal analysis is used to guide an adiabatic reactor configuration in an attempt to develop an autothermal chemical looping system. The gas feedstocks, solid feedstocks, operating temperature, feedstock preheating conditions, and system pressure are all analyzed. The results of the autothermal chemical looping system are then integrated into a ~5000 MWth natural gas to liquid fuels plant, in which a chemical looping reformer replaces an autothermal reformer reactor. The study shows that operation of the chemical looping process allows for equivalent syngas yield compared to the autothermal reformer with a 7-13% reduction in natural gas feedstock. Lastly, a novel operating strategy is described in which the chemical looping reducer operates at higher pressure and the chemical looping combustor operates at atmospheric conditions. Such an operating strategy takes advantage of the air and natural gas feedstock pressures to the chemical looping system and is able to eliminate a significant amount of compression energy and equipment. Using the differential operating strategy allows equivalent syngas production to the baseline with a 7% decrease in natural gas usage and ~200 MWe increase in electricity production. A capital cost comparison of the equivalent pressure and differential pressure chemical looping systems indicate a 29% reduction in capital costs when using the differential pressure chemical looping system.
Liang-Shih Fan, PhD (Advisor)
Shang-Tian Yang, PhD (Committee Member)
84 p.
Chemical Engineering
chemical looping; natural gas; gas-to-liquids; simulation; high-pressure; pressure

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Citations

  • Sandvik, P. (2019). High-Pressure Natural Gas to Syngas Chemical Looping: Thermodynamic Modeling, Gas-to-Liquid Plant Integration, and Variable Reducer-Combustor Operating Pressure [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553858544883504

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Sandvik, Peter. High-Pressure Natural Gas to Syngas Chemical Looping: Thermodynamic Modeling, Gas-to-Liquid Plant Integration, and Variable Reducer-Combustor Operating Pressure. 2019. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553858544883504.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Sandvik, Peter. "High-Pressure Natural Gas to Syngas Chemical Looping: Thermodynamic Modeling, Gas-to-Liquid Plant Integration, and Variable Reducer-Combustor Operating Pressure." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553858544883504

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.