Hydrogen production from natural gas: Auto-thermal reforming and CO2 Capture

We study the hydrogen production by the Auto-Thermal Reforming (ATR) process coupled with a CO2 capture using an MonoEthanolAmine (MEA) aqueous solution and the methanation process as means of hydrogen purification technique. Under several fixed assumptions on operating conditions, we found that the large-scale production of 99mol% pure hydrogen can be reached and depends strongly on the operating temperature at the ATR and the CO2 removed in the capture step. High purity hydrogen streams derive from a high carbon capture in the absorption column that avoids further parasitic methanation reactions.