IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v385y2025ics0306261925002673.html

Process analyses on sorption-enhanced electrified steam methane reforming for near-zero emission hydrogen production with CO2 capture by calcium looping thermochemical reaction

Author

Listed:
  • Song, Huchao
  • Zhang, Xinyue
  • Lin, Xiaolong
  • Bian, Hao
  • Liu, Yinhe

Abstract

The predominant hydrogen production method is steam methane reforming, which generates substantial CO2 emissions from both the reforming reaction and the combustion required to drive the process. Sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming (SESMR) enables the in-situ CO2 removal during the reforming reaction, enhancing hydrogen yield. Replacing combustion with renewable electricity for reforming reaction can eliminate combustion-related emissions and flue gas heat loss. However, the intrinsic randomness, intermittency, and instability of renewable electricity present significant challenges to maintaining continuous and stable operation. This study introduces a process that innovatively leverages the mass and energy flow matching characteristics of the calcium looping with renewable electricity driving calcination, thermochemical energy storage, and sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming, thereby establishing the sorption-enhanced electrified steam methane reforming (SEESMR) process. The SEESMR exploits the dual functions of sorbent as both an energy carrier and a CO2 carrier. Renewable electricity facilitates calcination in the regenerator, storing energy in the form of chemical energy and sensible heat. This stored energy is subsequently utilized in the reformer during CO2 adsorption, providing the requisite energy to drive methane reforming and produce hydrogen. First and second law analyses indicate that SEESMR demonstrates a 7.90 percentage point improvement in thermal efficiency compared to SESMR through the substitution of combustion heating with electric heating and a high-efficiency heat recovery. Additionally, this modification reduces exergy losses by up to 53.2 % through elimination of combustion in SESMR. Furthermore, SEESMR enables continuous hydrogen production from renewable electricity, achieves a 35 % cost reduction within the current fuel pricing framework in China compared to direct electric heating methane reforming. This study may provide a stable, efficient and economical approach to zero carbon hydrogen production and large-scale renewable energy accommodation.

Suggested Citation

  • Song, Huchao & Zhang, Xinyue & Lin, Xiaolong & Bian, Hao & Liu, Yinhe, 2025. "Process analyses on sorption-enhanced electrified steam methane reforming for near-zero emission hydrogen production with CO2 capture by calcium looping thermochemical reaction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 385(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:385:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925002673
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125537
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925002673
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125537?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yun, Seokwon & Jang, Mun-Gi & Kim, Jin-Kuk, 2021. "Techno-economic assessment and comparison of absorption and membrane CO2 capture processes for iron and steel industry," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    2. Akhtari, Mohammad Reza & Shayegh, Iman & Karimi, Nader, 2020. "Techno-economic assessment and optimization of a hybrid renewable earth - air heat exchanger coupled with electric boiler, hydrogen, wind and PV configurations," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 839-851.
    3. Yun, Seokwon & Oh, Se-Young & Kim, Jin-Kuk, 2020. "Techno-economic assessment of absorption-based CO2 capture process based on novel solvent for coal-fired power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    4. Barelli, L. & Bidini, G. & Gallorini, F. & Servili, S., 2008. "Hydrogen production through sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming and membrane technology: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 554-570.
    5. Cormos, Calin-Cristian, 2014. "Economic evaluations of coal-based combustion and gasification power plants with post-combustion CO2 capture using calcium looping cycle," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 665-673.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rossi, Mosè & Fanti, Obdulio & Pacca, Sérgio Almeida & Mancinelli, Enrico & Comodi, Gabriele, 2025. "e-REFORMER for sustainable hydrogen production: enhancing efficiency in the steam methane reforming process," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 401(PA).
    2. Salakhi, Mehdi & Thomson, Murray J., 2026. "Toward electrified CO2-free hydrogen production: A multiphysics model investigating microwave-driven methane pyrolysis in fluidized beds," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 406(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Perejón, Antonio & Romeo, Luis M. & Lara, Yolanda & Lisbona, Pilar & Martínez, Ana & Valverde, Jose Manuel, 2016. "The Calcium-Looping technology for CO2 capture: On the important roles of energy integration and sorbent behavior," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 787-807.
    2. Barelli, L. & Ottaviano, A., 2014. "Solid oxide fuel cell technology coupled with methane dry reforming: A viable option for high efficiency plant with reduced CO2 emissions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 118-129.
    3. Ding, Haoran & Tong, Sirui & Qi, Zhifu & Liu, Fei & Sun, Shien & Han, Long, 2023. "Syngas production from chemical-looping steam methane reforming: The effect of channel geometry on BaCoO3/CeO2 monolithic oxygen carriers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PE).
    4. Abdollahzadeh, M. & Ribeirinha, P. & Boaventura, M. & Mendes, A., 2018. "Three-dimensional modeling of PEMFC with contaminated anode fuel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 939-959.
    5. Fan, Lanxin & Chen, Heng & Gao, Yue & Zhao, Huanlin & Yao, Lei & Li, Yu & Zhao, Shuyuan & Pan, Peiyuan, 2025. "Performance analysis of a novel power generation design containing the drying and Co-gasification of sludge and biomass integrated with the waste heat recovery of a cement plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    6. Sanusi, Yinka S. & Mokheimer, Esmail M.A., 2019. "Thermo-economic optimization of hydrogen production in a membrane-SMR integrated to ITM-oxy-combustion plant using genetic algorithm," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C), pages 164-176.
    7. Ren, Siyue & Feng, Xiao & Wang, Yufei, 2021. "Emergy evaluation of the integrated gasification combined cycle power generation systems with a carbon capture system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    8. Po-Chun Han & Chia-Hui Chuang & Shang-Wei Lin & Xiangmei Xiang & Zaoming Wang & Mako Kuzumoto & Shun Tokuda & Tomoki Tateishi & Alexandre Legrand & Min Ying Tsang & Hsiao-Ching Yang & Kevin C.-W. Wu &, 2024. "Phase-transformable metal-organic polyhedra for membrane processing and switchable gas separation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    9. Hafizi, A. & Rahimpour, M.R. & Hassanajili, Sh., 2016. "Hydrogen production via chemical looping steam methane reforming process: Effect of cerium and calcium promoters on the performance of Fe2O3/Al2O3 oxygen carrier," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 685-694.
    10. Tang, Xin-Yuan & Yang, Wei-Wei & Ma, Xu & Cao, Xiangkun Elvis, 2023. "An integrated modeling method for membrane reactors and optimization study of operating conditions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    11. Lin, Kuang C. & Lin, Yuan-Chung & Hsiao, Yi-Hsing, 2014. "Microwave plasma studies of Spirulina algae pyrolysis with relevance to hydrogen production," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 567-574.
    12. Babaei, Reza & Ting, David S-K & Carriveau, Rupp, 2024. "A comprehensive study of optimizing renewable energy-water-heat integration for isolated islands in Persian Gulf," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    13. Rafał Figaj & Maciej Żołądek & Wojciech Goryl, 2020. "Dynamic Simulation and Energy Economic Analysis of a Household Hybrid Ground-Solar-Wind System Using TRNSYS Software," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-27, July.
    14. Peydayesh, Mohammad & Mohammadi, Toraj & Bakhtiari, Omid, 2017. "Effective hydrogen purification from methane via polyimide Matrimid® 5218- Deca-dodecasil 3R type zeolite mixed matrix membrane," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 2100-2107.
    15. Chien, FengSheng & Ngo, Quang-Thanh & Hsu, Ching-Chi & Chau, Ka Yin & Mohsin, Muhammad, 2021. "Assessing the capacity of renewable power production for green energy system: a way forward towards zero carbon electrification," MPRA Paper 109667, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Tharun, Vasupalli & Kumar, Pachamuthu Senthil, 2025. "A comprehensive review on hydrogen production, purification, storage, and utilization: Challenges and future directions," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    17. Tian, Zhen & Zhou, Yihang & Zhang, Yuan & Gao, Wenzhong, 2024. "Design principle, 4E analyses and optimization for onboard CCS system under EEDI framework: A case study of an LNG-fueled bulk carrier," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    18. Das, Barun K. & Al-Abdeli, Yasir M. & Kothapalli, Ganesh, 2021. "Integrating renewables into stand-alone hybrid systems meeting electric, heating, and cooling loads: A case study," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 1222-1236.
    19. Yang, Shiying & Jiao, Fan & Liu, Taixiu & Weng, Yixin & Long, Yibiao & Liu, Qibin, 2025. "Efficient, low-carbon H2 and CO production system based on solar methane carbon cyclic reforming: energy, exergy, and environmental assessment," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 339(C).
    20. Zhu, Xuancan & Shi, Yixiang & Cai, Ningsheng, 2016. "Integrated gasification combined cycle with carbon dioxide capture by elevated temperature pressure swing adsorption," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 196-208.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:385:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925002673. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.