Steam Methane Reforming (SMR) Combined with Ship Based Carbon Capture (SBCC) for an Efficient Blue Hydrogen Production on Board Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Carriers
Ikram Belmehdi1,*, Boumedienne Beladjine1, Mohamed Djermouni1, Amina Sabeur1, Mohammed El Ganaoui2
1 Laboratoire des Sciences et Ingénierie Maritimes, Faculté de Génie Mécanique; Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d’Oran Mohammed Boudiaf, Oran, 31000, Algérie
2 Laboratoire LERMAB IUT Henri Poincaré de Longwy, Université de Lorraine, Cosnes et Romain, Longwy, 54400, France
* Corresponding Author: Ikram Belmehdi. Email: 
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Materials and Energy an Updated Image for 2023)
Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2024.058510
Received 14 September 2024; Accepted 21 October 2024; Published online 08 November 2024
Abstract
The objective of this study is to propose an optimal plant design for blue hydrogen production aboard a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. This investigation focuses on integrating two distinct processes—steam methane reforming (SMR) and ship-based carbon capture (SBCC). The first refers to the common practice used to obtain hydrogen from methane (often derived from natural gas), where steam reacts with methane to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO
2). The second refers to capturing the CO
2 generated during the SMR process on board ships. By capturing and storing the carbon emissions, the process significantly reduces its environmental impact, making the hydrogen production “blue,” as opposed to “grey” (which involves CO
2 emissions without capture). For the SMR process, the analysis reveals that increasing the reformer temperature enhances both the process performance and CO
2 emissions. Conversely, a higher steam-to-carbon (s/c) ratio reduces hydrogen yield, thereby decreasing thermal efficiency. The study also shows that preheating the air and boil-off gas (BOG) before they enter the combustion chamber boosts overall efficiency and curtails CO
2 emissions. In the SBCC process, pure monoethanolamine (MEA) is employed to capture the CO
2 generated by the exhaust gases from the SMR process. The results indicate that with a 90% CO
2 capture rate, the associated heat consumption amounts to 4.6 MJ per kilogram of CO
2 captured. This combined approach offers a viable pathway to produce blue hydrogen on LNG carriers while significantly reducing the carbon footprint.
Keywords
Carbon dioxide (CO
2) emissions; blue hydrogen; boil-off gas (BOG); steam methane reforming (SMR); ship-based carbon capture (SBCC)
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