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Abstract
This paper presents a numerical and experimental study on the performance of a methanol steam reformer integrated with a hydrogen/air combustion reactor for hydrogen production. A CFD-based 3D model with mass and momentum transport and temperature characteristics is established. The simulation results show that better performance is achieved in the cross-U type reactor compared to either a tubular reactor or a parallel-U type reactor because of more effective heat transfer characteristics. Furthermore, Cu-based micro reformers of both cross-U and parallel-U type reactors are designed, fabricated and tested for experimental validation. Under the same condition for reforming and combustion, the results demonstrate that higher methanol conversion is achievable in cross-U type reactor. However, it is also found in cross-U type reactor that methanol reforming selectivity is the lowest due to the decreased water gas shift reaction under high temperature, thereby carbon monoxide concentration is increased. Furthermore, the reformed gas generated from the reactors is fed into a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In the test of discharging for 4 h, the fuel cell fed by cross-U type reactor exhibits the most stable performance.
Highlights
Fuel cell technology, a promising means of converting chemical energy to electrical energy, has been regarded as one of the solutions to energy crisis due to the advantages of high efficiency, low emission, silent operation, environmental friendliness and sustainability [1,2,3]
A cross-U type micro reactor consisting of a reformer and a combustor for methanol steam reforming was presented and examined by numerical and experimental investigations
To guarantee a methanol conversion over 95% at 240 ̊C, which is crucial for portable fuel cell application, cross-U type reactor was capable of yielding a hydrogenenriched reformed gas of over 252.2 sccm
Summary
A promising means of converting chemical energy to electrical energy, has been regarded as one of the solutions to energy crisis due to the advantages of high efficiency, low emission, silent operation, environmental friendliness and sustainability [1,2,3]. Chein et al [13] conducted experimental studies on an integrated compact reactor consisting of a vaporizer, a reformer and a combustor to identify the flow and heat transfer effects on the reactor performance. Microchannel reformer exhibited the highest methanol conversion among the reactors In these designs, the main idea of increase reforming performance was to enhance heat transfer efficiency, which helps build up low gradient temperature distribution in the micro reformers. Ρ denotes the gas density, ω the mass fraction, u the flow field velocity, D the diffusivity, R the reaction rate, η the viscosity, κ the permeability of the porous catalyst beds, and p is the pressure in either reformer or combustor. They can be expressed as follows: rMSR 1⁄4 k1CM0:6eOHCH0:24Oexp
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