Electrified catalytic steam reforming for renewable syngas production: Experimental demonstration, process development and techno-economic analysis

Biomass is a key renewable feedstock for producing green fuels; however, renewable feedstock presents a high risk for catalyst deactivation and poor stability. In addition, the heat source of industrial reforming processes comes from fuel combustion and most heat is lost in the flue gas. In this study, a Ni/Al${}_2$O${}_3$/FeCrAl-based monolithic catalyst with a periodic open cellular structure (POCS) was designed and 3D-printed. A reforming process was then conducted by directly heating the catalyst using electricity instead of fuel combustion. This e-reformer technology was demonstrated in continuous catalytic steam reforming of biomass pyrolysis volatiles. A high H${}_2$ yield of $\approx$7.1 wt % of biomass has been obtained at a steam-to-biomass (S/B) ratio of 4.5, reforming temperature of 800 $°$C and weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 310 h⁻¹, resulting in an energy consumption of 8 kWh_el kg⁻¹ biomass (66% energy efficiency). The results show a successful demonstration of the electrified technology with improvement potential; in addition, a process was designed and assessed economically for synthetic natural gas (SNG) production of 80 MW${}_{\text{HHV}}$, comparing electrification and partial oxidation in different scenarios.