Experimental Research on Low-Temperature Methane Steam Reforming Technology in a Chemically Recuperated Gas Turbine

Abstract

Under the operating parameters of a chemically recuperated gas turbine (CRGT), the low-temperature methane steam reforming test bench is designed and built; systematic experimental studies about fuel steam reforming are conducted. Four different reforming forms are employed, including catalyst-only reforming, plasma-only reforming, piecewise synergistic reforming, and parallel synergistic reforming. A better reforming form for CRGT was determined by analyzing the effect of methane space velocity, steam-to-carbon ratio of fuel reforming (S/C), wall temperature, and plasma input power. All of the above factors had an effect on the reforming performance, but a direct and significant effect separately on effective carbon recovery rate, total enthalpy increasing rate, methane conversion, and fuel heating value increasing rate. The effective carbon recovery rate was taken as the chief indicator for choosing the right operating conditions, determining a best methane space velocity of 680 mL/(gcat·h). With the increase of S/C, total enthalpy increasing rate had a significant improvement; wall temperature had a positive effect on reforming, especially in synergistic catalysis. The effect of input power was linked with wall temperature in parallel synergistic reforming, with a greater effect at a higher temperature. Combining the experimental results with the theory analysis, parallel synergistic reforming is best, with a methane conversion of 51.23% and total enthalpy increasing rate of 25.73% at a wall temperature of 500 °C, an input power of 84.53 W, and an S/C value of 2.