MODELING AND SIMULATION OF MICRO-REACTOR FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION THROUGH METHANE DRY REFORMING FOLLOWED BY WATER GAS SHIFT REACTION

Abstract

Hydrogen can be produced using several routes. At the present moment, the main route is the catalytic reforming of methane, which includes steam methane reforming , partial oxidation, autothermal reforming and dry methane reforming. Recently, much attention has been paid to the reaction of carbon dioxide and methane, known as dry reforming of methane because of a need for effective utilization of methane and CO2 (Most prominent green house gases). Great interest has been shown over the past decade to find process improvements that reduce both the capital and operating cost of hydrogen production. Micro-channel reactors have offered great promise to reduce capital costs by intensifying reactor equipment and to reduce operating costs by improving the system thermal recovery. Micro-channel reactors typically have dimensions in the sub-millimeter range and provide excellent mass transfer and heat transfer, large surface to volume ratio and safety and reliability for highly toxic, flammable and explosive chemical compounds. In the present paper, one dimensional mathematical model for micro channel reactor is applied to study methane dry reforming along with reverse water gas shift reaction using alumina based Rh catalyst followed by water gas shift reaction in membrane micro-channel reactor. The simulation results reveal the dependency of methane conversion, H2 yield and H2-CO selectivity on feed ratio and temperature