Why would anyone want to turn ethanol - a valuable transportation fuel into syngas - CO + H2 waiting to be turned into something more valuable - like ethanol.

Are you haveing trouble setting up the simulation? If so send screen shots and I should be able to walk you through, I can send a spreadsheet that oes the calcs for you if that is what you need.

Hydrogen is being contemplated as the future fuel in view of the abundant availability of hydrogen bearing substances in nature, its high energy content (120.7 kJ/g), and its combustion without creating any environmental pollution. Pollution free sources for hydrogen generation and efficient conversion to useful energy are the two important factors controlling the development of hydrogen economy. Hydrogen is nowadays considered as an alternative fuel and its use is gaining more and more importance as the environmental impacts of hydrocarbons become more evident. Its production is a subject of current interest for fuel cell applications as in automotive applications or electricity production; for instance in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322989214_Application_of_Aspen_HYSYS_process_simulator_in_green_energy_revolution_A_case_study_of_biodiesel_production?_sg=3_ygyPHlt1DMTmT7nbuIrJtbK2OjTjEMtYAzNyIAJ7BTzjQ9i6pGRKzgN1mQtG2gS0T7owgzlcOsetvGQ3U3SNKvZlV3khe92JylNBTE.fFvmK6dagr6Xh2VCkHOyGI-ndypjRZLovKhh_AjVQsrXeOww5ZnkjsPXRNCrloBkMC_RWDsmyZfh70Yv3ohVGA

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256444789_Application_of_Aspen_Plus_to_Hydrogen_Production_from_Alcohols_by_Steam_Reforming_Effects_of_Reactor_Temperature?_sg=nrn9CRvwh4tieK6LMoY3GKNlMXQCxw3BPX1YMy5CwNR7GH7x45Ns-1Qdb7CXFdg8K6bS_ifmXgqyEN0JzyVoHN1WeK0zPRfbG6q-oE1A.6HFHK1f4KnJIzzGtnYrGlJLLRAXnLH_TYT8rK_9TFSxMXFtsO7D1L27lcwaD5q95vcL_dBAxHppGxBU11xZ-rQ

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/256444789_Application_of_Aspen_Plus_to_Hydrogen_Production_from_Alcohols_by_Steam_Reforming_Effects_of_Reactor_Temperature?_sg=5Se5kpKTvA0ZMFpBxGeqPyLTWrv0L1lkORvxzpC1Hyhj3sKyfL0UXiX4v181nIp3KwBuwUYWvTEkrtPlrejiD8pjEoAHq2derA4uqkaM.TfZGRakso6a7UcXLM3EF8vLWaOCescTO258D_tkJfkA3QNabt97UiB1xgcTqK66WG8P8RDAEhPmA0QDW5cg9JA

http://shodhbhagirathi.iitr.ac.in:8081/jspui/bitstream/123456789/13814/1/pdfthesis.pdf

http://kchbi.chtf.stuba.sk/upload_new/file/Miro/Proc%20problemy%20odovzdane%20zadania/Galis%20a%20Witosov%C3%A1/Conceptual%20designs%20of%20hydrogen%20production,%20purification,%20compression.pdf

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036031991000738X

I am not aware of any ghg pollution free sources of Hydrogen.

Electrolysis taxes marginal power generation which is usually coal,

Steam methane reforming is the most common way to produce H2 and it is about 70% efficient (often less) and the CO2 produced is typically vented to the atmosphere - although it is captured and vented to the atmosphere at many plants. Byproduct H2 at refineries from naphtha reforming or as petrochemical byproducts is typically used at refineries for hydroprocessing.

Where is this free H2 coming from? If it really is available wouldn’t it be better to use it to reduce H2 production from fossil fuels instead of wasting it as a low heating value fuel.

There may be a few isolated circimstance where using excess electricity productions for H2 as a method of storage could be justified but batteries are almost always a better choice for this application.