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 with inherent CO₂ capture. This study evaluates the techno-economic performance of SE-SMR in a network of fixed 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 €⋅t_CO2⁻¹ (2.4 €⋅kg⁻¹ and 50 €⋅t_CO2⁻¹, 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 €⋅t_CO2⁻¹ (0.080 €⋅kWh⁻¹ and 80 €⋅t_CO2⁻¹, 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 between the carbon tax and the CO₂ transport and storage cost is > 6 €⋅t_CO2⁻¹.