Study of the Heterogeneous Catalytic Model for Syngas Production in a Simulated Environment for Application in CO₂ Capture Process

Abstract

The study was carried out under the possibility of transforming conventional petrochemical processes, such as ammonia production plant, into carbon dioxide capture systems by means of replacing fossil natural gas with biogas, generated by manure during an anaerobic digestion. Three partial substitution scenarios were pro- posed: 30, 40 and 50% in order to analyse the behaviour of CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> in the syngas unit process, applying an equivalent CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> balance to evaluate if it is possible to capture this GHG within the same process, thus achieving negative emissions. The simulation of heterogeneous catalytic model of the methane reforming reactions, allowed us to assess the kinetic behaviour of all reactions involved and modify operating conditions in order to increase the production of CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> and maintain its required flow as a secondary product, and at the same time to decrease CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf> emissions. The result shows that a 30% substitution is possible in order to achieve a -1.48e6 lb/h of equivalent CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>.