Hydrogen production from partial oxidation and autothermal reforming of methanol from a cold start in sprays

Abstract

Hydrogen is a noticeable clean fuel that can be applied in power generation and transport. Hydrogen production from methanol via thermochemical methods has been widely studied and used. In these methods, autothermal reforming (ATR) simultaneously contains endothermic steam reforming and exothermic partial oxidation of methanol (POM), The latter can help start the experiment and provide heat for the former. This study aims to perform methanol ATR by sprays via an h-BN-Pt catalyst without preheating, mainly focusing on the effects of operating conditions on hydrogen production and methanol conversion. Meanwhile, the comparison between ATR and POM of methanol is also carried out. The results of POM indicate that the highest H2 and CO concentrations are obtained at the air-to-methanol molar ratio (O2/C) of 0.7, and the CH3OH conversion can reach 100%. However, through the ATR process, the methanol conversion reaches 60% at O2/C = 0.7 with steam-to-methanol molar ratio (S/C) of 1.5. At S/C = 0.5, it is observed that the CH3OH conversion is up to 100% with increasing the O2/C ratio, and the H2 yield is higher than that of POM. The effects of S/C and O2/C ratios on ATR indicate that the CH3OH conversion and reaction temperature are significantly increased with decreasing the S/C ratio and increasing the O2/C ratio. Overall, the H2 yield from ATR at S/C of 0.5 and O2/C of 0.7 is highest with 1.697 mol (mol CH3OH)−1.