Energy and exergy analyses of a steam reforming process for hydrogen production Online publication date: Sat, 12-Jan-2008
by Omer Faruk Dilmac, Semra K. Ozkan
International Journal of Exergy (IJEX), Vol. 5, No. 2, 2008
Abstract: Hydrocarbon steam reforming is an important process for hydrogen production. In petroleum refineries, steam reforming is most commonly used for hydrogen production from naphtha and light hydrocarbon gases (methane, ethane and propane). Since the hydrocarbon steam reforming system is one of the highest energy intensive systems in a petroleum refinery it should be directed to a more efficient use of energy through better process design and analysis, based on accurate thermodynamic analysis via applications of the first and second laws of thermodynamics, and thus, applications of exergy concept. The purpose of this study is to perform the energy and exergy analyses of a natural gas steam reforming process presently in operation at TUPRAS refinery in Yzmit, Turkey. The energy and exergy efficiencies of the steam reformer were found to be 94.33% and 78.23%, respectively, and the lowest exergy efficiency was obtained as 66.81% for steam generator.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Exergy (IJEX):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com