A novel process for CO2 capture from steam methane reformer with molten carbonate fuel cell

Hydrogen (H2) production via steam methane reforming is a mature and cost-effective technology. However, carbon capture and storage is required to decrease its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The adoption of molten carbonate fuel cells as means to capture CO2 from flue gases is attracting scientific interest thanks to their inherent thermodynamic advantage of separating CO2 while producing electricity. This study investigates and benchmarks the performance of an H2 production plant equipped with molten carbonate fuel cell for post-combustion CO2 capture, by proposing a novel configuration where the cell anode is fed with the carbon-rich off-gas from the H2 separation unit. It emerges that the process can achieve higher capture rates than the reference solvent-based plant: 85–90% with single cell, 95% with two-stage cell. Moreover, recycling the carbon-rich off gas to the anode allows for smaller cell area, and potentially lower H2 production costs compared to the benchmark.