The present study was focused on detailed sorbitol aqueous phase reforming (APR) process design. Aspen HYSYS software was used to design a 500 kg/h hydrogen production plant operation with sorbitol syrup as a feedstock. For reactor modelling a complex reaction network was taken into account along with phase equilibrium simulations which determined to have a significant impact on the total process heat due to possibility of water evaporation. The model was adjusted and verified using the experimental data with 1%Pt/Al2O3. The process optimization has included several conceptual improvements such as middle pressure steam co-generation and hot water recycle which can significantly decrease the operation costs. The total costs of hydrogen were estimated as 12.97 $/kg, where feedstock costs take the major contribution of 91.8%. The most feasible way of making APR economical attractive is production of polyols from the lignocellulosic biomass. (C) 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.