Comparative study of two theoretical models of methane and ethane steam reforming process

Abstract

From the chemical point of view the reforming process of heavy hydrocarbons such as Associated Petroleum Gas (APG) is very complex. One of the main issue is a set of undesired chemical reactions that causes deposition of solid carbon and consequently block catalytic property of a reactor. The experimental investigation is crucial to design APG reforming reactors. However, the experiment needs to be preceded by careful thermodynamical analysis to design safe operation conditions. In case of small number of reactants and reactions such as in case of steam reforming of pure methane, the problem can be solved by treating each equilibrium reaction constant as an element of the system of non-linear equations. The system of equations can be solved by Newton-Raphson method. However in case of large number of reactants and reaction, such as in case of APG reforming this method is inefficient. A large number of strongly non-linear equations leads often to converge problem. In this paper the authors suggest to use different approach called Parametric Equation Method. In this method a system of non-linear equations is replaced by a set of single non-linear equations solved separately. The methods were used to simulate steam reforming of methane-ethane rich fuel. The results of computations from both methods were juxtaposed and comparative study were conducted. Finally safe operation conditions for steam reforming of methane-ethane fuel were calculated and presented.