This study proposes and simulates a chemical looping combustion system with a moving bed reducer with natural gas and steam methane reforming (MCLC-SMR) for hydrogen production. The proposed system is then compared with other hydrogen production systems including the fluidized bed chemical looping combustion system coupled with the steam methane reforming (FCLC-SMR), the chemical looping partial oxidation system combined with the water-gas-shift reaction (CLPO-WGS), the 3-reactor chemical looping system for hydrogen generation (CLHG-3R), the conventional steam methane reforming (SMR) and auto-thermal reforming (ATR) systems with CO2 capture. The process simulation results indicate that a 64% decrease in particle circulation rate in MCLC-SMR compared to FCLC-SMR. MCLC-SMR also shows the best system performance regarding cold gas efficiency (79%) and effective thermal efficiency (75%). Furthermore, the economic assessment indicates that MCLC-SMR can achieve the lowest levelized cost of hydrogen (LCOH) of .34/kg at 30 ton/hr H2 production capacity, and CLHG-3R can achieve the lowest LCOH of .06/kg at 1 ton/hr H2 production capacity among the six hydrogen production methods. At 30 ton/hr H2 production capacity, the chemical looping reactors in MCLC-SMR are 37% cheaper than in FCLC-SMR. The sensitivity analysis also indicates that MCLC-SMR remains the most economical hydrogen production method over a wide range of price parameters (the prices of particles, chemical looping reactors, natural gas, and electricity).
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Canada