Abstract
The oxygen transport membrane reactor technology enables the stable combustion of syngas and reduction in NOx emission. Applying the syngas combustion membrane reactor to fire tube boiler can integrate oxygen separation, syngas combustion, and steam generation in a single apparatus. In this study, a CFD model for oxygen permeation and syngas combustion in a two-pass LSCoF-6428 tubular membrane reactor for fire tube boiler application was developed to study the effects of the inlet temperature, the sweep gas flow rate, and the syngas composition on the reactor performance. It is shown that the inlet temperature has a strong effect on the reactor performance. Increasing the inlet temperature can efficiently and significantly improve the oxygen permeability and the heat production capacity. A 34-times increase of oxygen permeation rate and a doubled thermal power output can be obtained when increasing the inlet temperature from 1073 to 1273 K. The membrane temperature, the oxygen permeation rate, and the thermal power output of the reactor all increase with the increase of sweep gas flow rate or H2/CO mass ratio in syngas. The feasibility of the syngas combustion membrane reactor for fire tube boiler application was elucidated.
Highlights
Coal, as one of the major fossil fuels, has been used to meet a very considerable fraction of the energy demands, and is likely to stay as a main energy source for mankind [1]
The membrane temperature, the oxygen permeation rate, and the thermal power output of the reactor all increase with the increase of sweep gas flow rate or H2 /CO mass ratio in syngas
The application of syngas combustion in a two-pass oxygen transport membrane reactor is intended for use in a fire tube boiler, with a schematic diagram shown in Figure 1, where x represents the axial direction and r represents the radial direction
Summary
As one of the major fossil fuels, has been used to meet a very considerable fraction of the energy demands, and is likely to stay as a main energy source for mankind [1]. In an OTMR, air as the oxygen source is introduced to one side of the membrane, while syngas (H2 + CO), the coal gasification product, is introduced into the other side. R. Ben-Mansour et al [12] designed a two-pass methane combustion membrane reactor applied to a fire tube boiler, and numerically investigated the combustion characteristics of CH4 as well as the heat transfer characteristics of the reactor. Proposed a two-pass methane combustion reactor used in a fire tube boiler which can generate 1–5 MW power, and numerically investigated the effects of the emissivity and thermal conductivity of materials on the heat transfer behavior of the reactor. The effects of inlet temperature, the sweep gas flow rate, and the syngas composition on the membrane reactor performance, such as the membrane temperature distribution, the oxygen permeation rate, and, the heat production capacity of the reactor were thoroughly investigated
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