Modeling and Design of a Multi-Tubular Packed-Bed Reactor for Methanol Steam Reforming over a Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 Catalyst

Jimin Zhu, Samuel Simon Araya, Xiaoti Cui, Simon Lennart Sahlin and Søren Knudsen Kær
Additional contact information
Jimin Zhu: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstræde 111, 9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark
Samuel Simon Araya: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstræde 111, 9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark
Xiaoti Cui: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstræde 111, 9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark
Simon Lennart Sahlin: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstræde 111, 9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark
Søren Knudsen Kær: Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Pontoppidanstræde 111, 9220 Aalborg Ø, Denmark

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-25

Abstract: Methanol as a hydrogen carrier can be reformed with steam over Cu/ZnO/Al 2 O 3 catalysts. In this paper a comprehensive pseudo-homogenous model of a multi-tubular packed-bed reformer has been developed to investigate the impact of operating conditions and geometric parameters on its performance. A kinetic Langmuir-Hinshelwood model of the methanol steam reforming process was proposed. In addition to the kinetic model, the pressure drop and the mass and heat transfer phenomena along the reactor were taken into account. This model was verified by a dynamic model in the platform of ASPEN. The diffusion effect inside catalyst particles was also estimated and accounted for by the effectiveness factor. The simulation results showed axial temperature profiles in both tube and shell side with different operating conditions. Moreover, the lower flow rate of liquid fuel and higher inlet temperature of thermal air led to a lower concentration of residual methanol, but also a higher concentration of generated CO from the reformer exit. The choices of operating conditions were limited to ensure a tolerable concentration of methanol and CO in H 2 -rich gas for feeding into a high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) stack. With fixed catalyst load, the increase of tube number and decrease of tube diameter improved the methanol conversion, but also increased the CO concentration in reformed gas. In addition, increasing the number of baffle plates in the shell side increased the methanol conversion and the CO concentration.

Keywords: methanol steam reforming; multi-tubular packed-bed reformer; hydrogen production; temperature profile; geometric parameter (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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