Preparation of an Anodic Alumina-Supported Ni Catalyst and Development of a Catalytic Plate Reformer for the Steam Reforming of Methane

Shan Dong, Yi Lin, Jiajun Hu, Chenglin Gu, Leilin Ding, Xinjian Zhang, Shi Jiang () and Yu Guo ()
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Shan Dong: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Yi Lin: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Jiajun Hu: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Chenglin Gu: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Leilin Ding: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Xinjian Zhang: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Shi Jiang: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China
Yu Guo: State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, 30 Puzhunan Road, Nanjing 211816, China

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-25

Abstract: A plate-type Al/Fe–Cr alloy/Al-clad substrate was used to prepare a sandwich-structured plate-type anodic alumina catalyst by anodization, post-modification treatment, and metal loading. The as-prepared plate-type catalyst was utilized in the design of a catalytic plate reactor for a methane steam reforming reaction, and a 3D model was developed to simulate the performance of tube-type and box-type reformers. The experimental results of the preparation of the clad materials showed that the hydrothermal treatment and subsequent high-temperature calcination transformed the amorphous skeletal alumina in the conventional anodic alumina layer into γ-alumina, and significantly increased its specific surface area. Simulation results showed that the temperature difference between the channel wall and the center of the gas phase of the thin-walled catalyst was only 30% of that of the particulate catalyst, indicating the potential advantages of the catalytic plate reactor in terms of heat transfer and energy saving. When the length-to-diameter ratio (or length-to-width ratio) of the reaction channel is small and the channel height is large, insufficient transverse mass transfer and backmixing are two major factors affecting reformer performance. For the tube-type channels, a length-to-diameter ratio of 10~35, and a diameter of 5~20 represent favorable choices. In contrast, for the box-type channel, the length-to-width ratio and the height should be set to 2~4 and 2~5 mm, respectively. Additionally, for box-type channels, the number of gas inlet ports has a significant effect on the reformer performance, and the distribution state provided by two inlet ports is close to the ideal distribution state.

Keywords: anodic alumina; steam reforming of methane; simulation; 3D model; backmixing (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: 2023
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