Optimizing Simulations of Hydrogen Production From Methane Using Factorial Design and Particle Swarm Optimization

Abstract

Hydrogen has been emerging as a suitable energy carrier in recent years. As political policies challenge the emission of greenhouse gases, the need to research sustainable energy technologies has increased. This research investigated the processes of steam methane reform (SMR), solar steam methane reform, and solar methane cracking (SMC). The three processes were modeled in Aspen Plus and the system parameters of temperature and steam-to-carbon ratio were varied. Objective functions were derived and optimized using the particle swarm optimization technique to maximize hydrogen production with minimized cost. The three processes were finally compared economically to determine if new methods of hydrogen production are fiscally capable.