Analisis Pengaruh Steam to Carbon Ratio Pada Water Gas Shift Melalui Proses Steam Methane Reforming Terhadap Laju Konversi Karbon Monoksida

Abstract

Fossil fuels still dominate current energy needs, but their limitations are driving a transition to renewable energy. Hydrogen
is a renewable energy source that has the advantage of producing 142.35 MJ/kg of high energy and is environmentally friendly.
Among the various methods of hydrogen production, steam methane reforming (SMR) is widely used on an industrial scale,
involving reformer and water gas shift (WGS) reactions for hydrogen production. Several parameters that influence the WGS
reaction include catalyst, temperature, and steam to carbon ratio (S/C). S/C is an important parameter in the WGS reaction
because the addition of steam, as indicated by an increase in the S/C ratio on the WGS reactant side, can accelerate the rate
of CO conversion and drive the reaction towards the product. This study was conducted to determine the effect of S/C on CO
conversion in WGS output using an input gas composition of 70% CH4 and 30% CO2, 30 grams of FeCr catalyst, with a
variation of S/C 2:1 in the WGS reactor. The results show that S/C 2:1 can accelerate the CO conversion rate from 54.45% at
the reformer output to 47.04% at the WGS reactor output. This confirms the role of water vapor in promoting the conversion
of CO with H2O towards product formation.