Techno-economic analysis of sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming in a fixed bed reactor network integrated with fuel cell

Sorption-enhanced steam methane reforming (SE-SMR) is a promising alternative for H2 production withinherent CO2 capture. This study evaluates the techno-economic performance of SE-SMR in a network offixed beds and its integration with a solid oxide fuel cell (SE-SMR-SOFC) for power generation. The analysis revealed that both proposed systems are characterised by better economic performance than the reference systems. In particular, for SE-SMR the levelised cost of hydrogen is 1.6 €.kg-1 and the cost of CO2 avoided is 29.9 €.tCO2-1 (2.4 €.kg-1 and 50 €.tCO2-1 , respectively, for SMR with CO2 capture) while for SE-SMR-SOFC the levelised cost of electricity is 0.078 €.kWh-1 and the cost of CO2 avoided is 36.9 €.tCO2-1 (0.080 €.kWh-1 and 80 €.tCO2-1 , respectively, for natural gas-fired power plant with carbon capture). The sensitivity analysis showed that the specific cost of fuel and the capital cost of fuel cell mainly affect the economic performance of SE-SMR and SE-SMR-SOFC, respectively. The daily revenue of the SE-SMR-SOFC system is higher than that of the natural gas-fired power plant if the difference betweenthe carbon tax and the CO2 transport and storage cost is > 6 €.tCO2-1.