Optimization of the production of syngas from shale gas with economic and safety considerations
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2016 Elsevier Ltd Reforming is an essential technology for the monetization of shale gas through the production of syngas. Steam reforming, partial oxidation, dry reforming, or combined reforming may be used. Traditionally, H2:CO ratio, yield or economic criteria have been used to select the type of reforming technology. The operating conditions, the nature of the reactions and compounds produced in the reforming technologies create the necessity to know the level of risk presented by these technologies. Thus, this paper introduces an approach for the optimal selection and design of reforming technologies incorporating economic aspects. A quantitative risk analysis is applied to the obtained solutions for evaluating the risk. The approach optimally selects the technology or set of technologies and operating conditions required to comply with a specific quality of syngas, maximizing the net profit. The optimization model was solved using genetic algorithms in the MATLAB platform coupled with the ASPEN Plus software for process and thermodynamic modeling. The results show that the steam reforming is the best technology to reach the highest quality of syngas with the lowest risk for the simulated conditions.