Methane Conversion to Syngas in a Composite Palladium Membrane Reactor with Increasing Number of Pd Layers

Abstract

Syngas is a valuable raw material for the production of higher hydrocarbons, methanol, and ammonia. Currently, this gas mixture is obtained industrially from methane steam reforming. An alternative route could be the partial oxidation of methane. However, both processes have thermodynamic constraints. Membrane reactors offer the possibility of overcoming the equilibrium conversion through the selective removal of one of the products from the reaction zone. In particular, a palladium membrane enables only hydrogen product to permeate through it, shifting equilibrium toward conversions higher than those that can be obtained at thermodynamic equilibrium. This work focuses on the experimental behavior of both a traditional reactor (TR) and a composite ceramic multilayered palladium membrane reactor (MR) having the same geometrical dimensions and the same amount of a Ni-based catalyst. Their performances are compared in terms of methane conversion to syngas and hydrogen selectivity. An analysis of methane conv...