CFD Simulation of a Methane Steam Reforming Reactor

Author(s):  
Mohammad Taghi Sadeghi ◽  
Mazaher Molaei

An industrial steam reforming reactor producing hydrogen is simulated using the three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The fixed bed reactor is filled with a nickel oxide catalyst. Effects of operating conditions such as temperature and steam to methane ratio on the reformer performance are investigated. Simulation results show that a steam to carbon ratio of more than 4 increases in the ratio does not have a notable influence on methane yield. Moreover, it shows that methane conversion is strongly affected by reactor skin temperature and higher skin temperature leads to an increase in the methane conversion. The results were successfully validated with industrial data obtained from a hydrogen plant at a Tehran refinery.

2012 ◽  
Vol 548 ◽  
pp. 153-159
Author(s):  
Mohammad Kazemeini ◽  
Masoud Habibi Zare ◽  
Nora Safabakhsh ◽  
Shadi Roshdi Ferdosi ◽  
Moslem Fattahi

In this study, mathematical modelling of oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) to C2hydrocarbons (C2H6and C2H4) over La2O3/CaO catalyst in a fixed-bed reactor operated under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions was investigated using the MATLAB program. In this process, methane and acetylene were the inputted feed and ethane, ethylene, propylene, propane, i-butane and n-butane were the output products. The amount of methane conversion obtained was 12.7% for the former feed however; if pure methane was inputted this conversion rose to 13.8%. Furthermore, the plasma process would enhance the conversion, selectivity towards desired product and process yield. A comparison between the thermal and the plasma process showed that the methane conversion and production yield in the plasma were higher than in the thermal process under the same operating conditions. Finally, the results of the catalytic OCM and methane conversion processes in the plasma phase were compared with one another.


Author(s):  
Igor Nardi Caxiano ◽  
Lizandro De Sousa Santos ◽  
Diego Martinez Prata

Hydrogen is one of most studied sources for clean power generation in the near future. Nowadays, hydrogen is mainly produced through methane steam reforming in packed bed reactors, with a promising alternative to this technology being the implementation of hydrogen-selective membrane reactors. This work compares the isothermal mathematical models of both designs by assessing the effects of multiple design variables on methane conversion, while also providing recommended operating conditions for maximum efficiency of the membrane reactor over the packed bed technology. Additionally, an optimization study is carried by dividing the reactor length in isothermal segments to achieve higher efficiency. Results showed that the membrane technology considerably increases hydrogen production, with temperature being the most influential variable on methane conversion. While the temperature profile optimization provided similar conversions compared to the isothermal models, the membrane reactor’s efficiency was increased, further justifying its implementation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongtao Zheng ◽  
Qian Liu

To develop a detailed reaction mechanism for plasma-assisted methane steam reforming, a comprehensive numerical and experimental study of effect laws on methane conversion and products yield is performed at different steam to methane molar ratio (S/C), residence time s, and reaction temperatures. A CHEMKIN-PRO software with sensitivity analysis module and path flux analysis module was used for simulations. A set of comparisons show that the developed reaction mechanism can accurately predict methane conversion and the trend of products yield in different operating conditions. Using the developed reaction mechanism in plasma-assisted kinetic model, the reaction path flux analysis was carried out. The result shows that CH3recombination is the limiting reaction for CO production and O is the critical species for CO production. Adding 40 wt.% Ni/SiO2in discharge region has significantly promoted the yield of H2, CO, or CO2in dielectric packed bed (DPB) reactor. Plasma catalytic hybrid reforming experiment verifies the reaction path flux analysis tentatively.


2014 ◽  
Vol 699 ◽  
pp. 504-509
Author(s):  
Hafizah Abdul Halim Yun ◽  
Ramli Mat ◽  
Tuan Amran Tuan Abdullah ◽  
Mahadhir Mohamed ◽  
Anwar Johariand Asmadi Ali

The study focuses on hydrogen production via glycerol steam reforming over copper and nickel loaded on HZSM-5 zeolite based catalyst. The catalysts were prepared by using different loading amount of copper (0-10wt%) and nickel (0-10wt%) on HZSM-5 zeolite catalysts through wet impregnation method and was characterized by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD). The performances of catalysts were evaluated in terms of glycerol conversion and hydrogen production at 500°C using 6:1 of water to glycerol molar ratio (WGMR) in a tubular fixed bed reactor. All the catalysts had achieved more than 85% of glycerol conversion except that of 5%Cu loaded on HZSM-5 catalyst. The addition of nickel into 5% Cu/HZSM-5 catalyst had increased the hydrogen yield. Similar trend was observed when copper was added into Ni/HZSM-5 catalyst but using copper loaded on HZSM-5 alone was unable to produce hydrogen compared to using nickel catalyst alone. It showed that copper acted as a promoter for hydrogen production. It was established that a 5wt% of Cu with 10wt% of Ni loaded on HZSM-5 catalyst showed significant improvement in terms of hydrogen yield and gaseous product compositions at selected operating conditions.


Author(s):  
Amira Neni ◽  
Yacine Benguerba ◽  
Marco Balsamo ◽  
Alessandro Erto ◽  
Barbara Ernst ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amir Rahimi ◽  
Sogand Hamidi

In this study, the performance of a fixed–bed tubular reactor for the production of phthalic anhydride is mathematically analyzed. The conversion degree and reactor temperature values are compared with the measured one in a tubular reactor applied in Farabi petrochemical unit in Iran as well as reported data in the literature for a pilot plate. The comparisons are satisfactory. The effects of some operating parameters including reactor length, feed temperature, reactor pressure, and existence of an inert in the catalytic bed are investigated. The optimum value of each parameter is determined on the basis of the corresponding operating conditions.


Author(s):  
Pablo Giunta ◽  
Norma Amadeo ◽  
Miguel Laborde

The aim of this work is to design an ethanol steam reformer to produce a hydrogen stream capable of feeding a 60 kW PEM fuel cell applying the plug flow model, considering the presence of the catalyst bed (heterogeneous model). The Dusty-Gas Model is employed for the catalyst, since it better predicts the fluxes of a multicomponent mixture. Moreover, this model has shown to be computationally more robust than the Fickian Model. A power law-type kinetics was used. Results showed that it is possible to carry out the ethanol steam reforming in a compact device (1.66 x 10 -5 to 5.27 x 10 -5 m3). It was also observed that this process is determined by heat transfer.


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