Process design and techno-economical analysis of hydrogen production by aqueous phase reforming of sorbitol

The present study was focused on detailed sorbitol aqueous phase reforming (APR) process design. Aspen HYSYS software was used to design a 500 kg/h hydrogen production plant operation with sorbitol syrup as a feedstock. For reactor modelling a complex reaction network was taken into account along with phase equilibrium simulations which determined to have a significant impact on the total process heat due to possibility of water evaporation. The model was adjusted and verified using the experimental data with 1%Pt/Al2O3. The process optimization has included several conceptual improvements such as middle pressure steam co-generation and hot water recycle which can significantly decrease the operation costs. The total costs of hydrogen were estimated as 12.97 $/kg, where feedstock costs take the major contribution of 91.8%. The most feasible way of making APR economical attractive is production of polyols from the lignocellulosic biomass.