Effect of flow arrangement on micro membrane reforming for H2 production from methane

Abstract

Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of methane reforming reaction in micro membrane reformer was performed to compare the effects of the parallel arrangement and the checked arrangement on reformer efficiency. At the predetermined base condition, methane conversions of 54.93% and 59.28% were obtained from the parallel arrangement and the checked arrangement, respectively. In terms of hydrogen separation factor, the checked arrangement provided 77.75% separation which was higher than the parallel arrangement by 4.92%. Furthermore, only half of the membrane area was effectively utilized in parallel arrangement, and hydrogen accumulation occurred. Similar results were obtained when operating and design parameters were changed. Methane conversion and hydrogen separation were significantly higher when the checked arrangement was used. The effects of the arrangement were increased with the increase of temperature, GHSV of SC and channel width, but the increase of GHSV of RC and reactor length weakened the effects. In this type of flow pattern, the entire membrane area was utilized and hydrogen flux is enhanced. Efficient separation of hydrogen in turn promoted methane conversion by equilibrium shift. Therefore, the checked arrangement significantly improved reactor performance and is recommended to be employed in micro membrane reactors.