Performance comparison among different multifunctional reactors operated under energy self-sufficiency for sustainable hydrogen production from ethanol.

Four ethanol-derived hydrogen production processes including conventional ethanol steam reforming (ESR), sorption enhanced steam reforming (SESR), chemical looping reforming (CLR) and sorption enhanced chemical looping reforming (SECLR) were simulated on the basis of energy self-sufficiency, i.e. process energy requirement supplied by burning some of the produced hydrogen. The process performances in terms of hydrogen productivity, hydrogen purity, ethanol conversion, CO 2 capture ability and thermal efficiency were compared at their maximized net hydrogen. The simulation results showed that the sorption enhanced processes yield better performances than the conventional ESR and CLR because their in situ CO 2 sorption increases hydrogen production and provides heat from the sorption reaction. SECLR is the most promising process as it offers the highest net hydrogen with high-purity hydrogen at low energy requirement. Only 12.5% of the produced hydrogen was diverted into combustion to fulfill the process's energy requirement. The thermal efficiency of SECLR was evaluated at 86% at its optimal condition. Image 1 • Sustainable hydrogen production from ethanol. • Different processes include ESR, SESR, CLR and SECLR. • Performance was compared under their energy self-sufficiency condition. • A portion of hydrogen is burned to fulfill energy requirement in each process. • SECLR is the most promising process with highest net hydrogen and high purity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]