Multi objective optimization of a tri-reforming process with the maximization of H2 production and minimization of CO2 emission & power loss

In this study, the process optimization of a tri-reformer reactor is conducted for the synthesis of hydrogen gas from natural gas using multi-objective optimization (MOO) approach. Specifically, four MOO problems are solved using three objective functions, namely maximization of H<inf>2</inf>, minimization of CO<inf>2</inf>, and minimization of power loss. It should be noticed that the power loss is an important economic factor due the large pressure drop and flowrates in packed bed reactors. However, it has not been used as an objective function for the optimization based design and/or operation of fixed bed reactor for reforming process to the best of authors’ knowledge. Three of the four MOO problems are 2-objective in nature with all the permutation and combination of the three objectives. The fourth MOO problem is solved considering all the three objectives, simultaneously. For all the MOO problems, feed conditions of O<inf>2</inf>, H<inf>2</inf>O, and Temperature are considered as the optimization variables. The results obtained with 3 objective functions are observed to be superior to the ones obtained from 2 objective problems.