Hydrogen Production Using Autothermal Reforming of Biodiesel and Other Hydrocarbons for Fuel Cell Applications

Author(s):  
Jose´ A. Colucci

The department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Puerto Rico (UPRM) in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) works in the development of a reforming catalyst characterization program. The purpose of this research is to study the viability of using new catalysts to convert Biodiesel, Glycerin and Methanol to a hydrogen rich product gas and compare their production potential, identify the conditions for the accumulation of coke and determine the influence of reactor temperature and water to carbon and oxygen to carbon ratios. A Basket Stirred Tank Reactor (BSTR), Plug Flow Reactor (PFR), Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrophotometer (GCMS) and Gas Chromatography Thermal Conductivity Detector (GCTCD), and Pt and Rh-based catalysts synthesized at ANL were used. During the preliminary ATR experiments, methanol, glycerol and biodiesel showed an increase in H2 production with decreasing O2/C ratio and increases in the reactor temperature. Additionally, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and EDAX analysis has been performed in some of the catalysts samples. All biodiesel and glycerol experiments performed had shown coke formation. Future research will include, experiments with bio-ethanol and methane as fuel using a Ni-based catalyst synthesized at ANL.

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 323-338
Author(s):  
Muhammad El-Gharbawy ◽  
◽  
Walaa Shehata ◽  
Fatima Gad ◽  
◽  
...  

In this paper, the simulation and optimization of an industrial ammonia synthesis reactor is illustrated. The converter under study is of a vertical design, equipped with three radial-flow catalyst beds with inter-stage cooling and two quenching points. For building the model, a modified kinetic equation of ammonia synthesis reaction, based on Temkin- Pyzhev equation and an innovative correlation for (KP) prediction, was developed in suitable form for the implementation in Aspen HYSYS plug flow reactor using the spreadsheet embedded in the software with the introduction of some invented simulation techniques. A new parameter, which is a function of (T, P and α), was introduced into the reaction rate equation to account for the variation of KP with pressure. The simulation model is able to describe the converter behavior with acceptable accuracy. A case study was done, using Aspen HYSYS Optimizer, illustrated the optimum reactor temperature profile, after 12 years of operation, to achieve maximum production. The result predicts an increase of 8 tons ammonia per day accompanied with an increase of steam production of 12 tons per day.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sim Yee Chin ◽  
Anwaruddin Hisyam ◽  
Haniif Prasetiawan

AbstractAn accurate model is required to optimize the propane dehydrogenation reaction carried out in the radial moving bed reactors (RMBR). The present study modeled the RMBR using a plug flow reactor model incorporated with kinetic models expressed in simple power-law model. Catalyst activity and coke formation were also considered. The model was solved numerically by discretizing the RMBR in axial and radial directions. The optimized kinetic parameters were then used to predict the trends of propane conversion, temperature, catalyst activity and coke content in the RMBR along axial and radial directions. It was found that the predicted activation energies of the propane dehydrogenation, propane cracking and ethylene hydrogenation were in reasonable agreement with the experimental values reported in the literature. The model developed has accurately predicted the reaction temperature profile, conversion profile and catalyst coke content. The deviations of these simulated results from the plant data were less than 5%.


Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Andrew Swamidoss ◽  
Mahshab Sheraz ◽  
Ali Anus ◽  
Sangjae Jeong ◽  
Young-Kwon Park ◽  
...  

This paper evaluated the effect of calcination temperature and the use of Mg/Al2O3 on the decomposition of HFC-134a. Two commercialized catalysts, Al2O3 and Mg/Al2O3, were calcined at two different temperatures (500 and 650 °C) and their physicochemical characteristics were examined by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, and the temperature-programed desorption of ammonia and carbon dioxide analysis. The results show that, in comparison to Al2O3, 5% Mg/Al2O3 exhibited a larger Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area and higher acidity. The relative amount of strong acid sites of the catalysts decreased with increasing calcination temperature. Although a more than 90% decomposition rate of HFC-134a was achieved over all catalysts during the sequential decomposition test of HFC-134a using a vertical plug flow reactor connected directly to a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry system, the lifetime of the catalyst differed according to the catalyst type. Compared to Al2O3, Mg/Al2O3 revealed a longer lifetime and less coke formation due to the increased Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area and weak Lewis acid sites and basic sites arising from Mg impregnation. Higher temperature calcination extended the catalyst lifetime with the formation of less coke due to the smaller number of strong acid sites, which can lead to severe coke formation. A valuable by-product, trifluoroethylene, was formed as a result of the decomposition. Based on the experimental results, a reaction is proposed which reasonably explains the decomposition reaction.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (17) ◽  
pp. 5075
Author(s):  
Manjunath Patil ◽  
Marko Djokic ◽  
Kim Verbeken ◽  
Marie-Francoise Reyniers ◽  
Kevin Van Geem

In conventional steam cracking feedstocks, contaminants such as sulfur, phosphine, and heavy metal components, present in trace levels, are believed to affect coke formation on high temperature alloys. To gain an understanding of the role of phosphine coking rates on 25/35, CrNi and Al-containing reactor materials were determined in a plug flow reactor during cracking of a propane feedstock doped with ppb levels of PH3 in the presence of DMDS. The presence of phosphine decreased the asymptotic coking rates by more than 20%, while it had a smaller influence on the catalytic coking rate. The coking rate was more severely reduced for the 25/35 CrNi alloy in comparison to the Al-containing alloy. The ppm levels of phosphine did not affect the olefin yields nor the production of undesired carbon monoxide. The morphology of the coked alloys were studied using an off-line Scanning Electron Microscope with Energy Dispersive X-ray detector (SEM with EDX) images of coked coupons. Two types of coke morphology are observed, i.e., filamentous coke with DMDS as an additive and globular coke in the presence of phosphine. The effect of phosphine on the material has a positive impact on the oxide scale homogeneity of 25/35 CrNi alloy, whereas the Al-containing alloy remained unchanged.


Author(s):  
Charles W. Allen ◽  
Robert C. Birtcher

The uranium silicides, including U3Si, are under study as candidate low enrichment nuclear fuels. Ion beam simulations of the in-reactor behavior of such materials are performed because a similar damage structure can be produced in hours by energetic heavy ions which requires years in actual reactor tests. This contribution treats one aspect of the microstructural behavior of U3Si under high energy electron irradiation and low dose energetic heavy ion irradiation and is based on in situ experiments, performed at the HVEM-Tandem User Facility at Argonne National Laboratory. This Facility interfaces a 2 MV Tandem ion accelerator and a 0.6 MV ion implanter to a 1.2 MeV AEI high voltage electron microscope, which allows a wide variety of in situ ion beam experiments to be performed with simultaneous irradiation and electron microscopy or diffraction.At elevated temperatures, U3Si exhibits the ordered AuCu3 structure. On cooling below 1058 K, the intermetallic transforms, evidently martensitically, to a body-centered tetragonal structure (alternatively, the structure may be described as face-centered tetragonal, which would be fcc except for a 1 pet tetragonal distortion). Mechanical twinning accompanies the transformation; however, diferences between electron diffraction patterns from twinned and non-twinned martensite plates could not be distinguished.


Author(s):  
H. K. Birnbaum ◽  
I. M. Robertson

Studies of the effects of hydrogen environments on the deformation and fracture of fcc, bcc and hep metals and alloys have been carried out in a TEM environmental cell. The initial experiments were performed in the environmental cell of the HVEM facility at Argonne National Laboratory. More recently, a dedicated environmental cell facility has been constructed at the University of Illinois using a JEOL 4000EX and has been used for these studies. In the present paper we will describe the general design features of the JEOL environmental cell and some of the observations we have made on hydrogen effects on deformation and fracture.The JEOL environmental cell is designed to operate at 400 keV and below; in part because of the available accelerating voltage of the microscope and in part because the damage threshold of most materials is below 400 keV. The gas pressure at which chromatic aberration due to electron scattering from the gas molecules becomes excessive does not increase rapidly with with accelerating voltage making 400 keV a good choice from that point of view as well. A series of apertures were placed above and below the cell to control the pressures in various parts of the column.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1363-1366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefania Daniela Bran ◽  
Petre Chipurici ◽  
Mariana Bran ◽  
Alexandru Vlaicu

This paper has aimed at evaluating the concentration of bioethanol obtained using sunflower stem as natural support, molasses as carbon source and Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast in a continuous flow reactor. The natural support was tested to investigate the immobilization/growth of S. cerevisiae yeast. The concentration of bioethanol produced by fermentation was analyzed by gas chromatography using two methods: aqueous solutions and extraction in organic phase. The CO2 flow obtained during the fermentation process was considered to estimate when the yeast was deactivated. The laboratory experiments have highlighted that the use of plant-based wastes to bioconversion in ethanol could be a non-pollutant and sustainable alternative.


1997 ◽  
Vol 36 (5) ◽  
pp. 19-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Jacobsen ◽  
H. Madsen ◽  
P. Harremoès

The objective of the paper is to interpret data on water level variation in a river affected by overflow from a sewer system during rain. The simplest possible, hydraulic description is combined with stochastic methods for data analysis and model parameter estimation. This combination of deterministic and stochastic interpretation is called grey box modelling. As a deterministic description the linear reservoir approximation is used. A series of linear reservoirs in sufficient number will approximate a plug flow reactor. The choice of number is an empirical expression of the longitudinal dispersion in the river. This approximation is expected to be a sufficiently good approximation as a tool for the ultimate aim: the description of pollutant transport in the river. The grey box modelling involves a statistical tool for estimation of the parameters in the deterministic model. The advantage is that the parameters have physical meaning, as opposed to many other statistically estimated, empirical parameters. The identifiability of each parameter, the uncertainty of the parameter estimation and the overall uncertainty of the simulation are determined.


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