Simultaneous production of hydrogen and acrylonitrile in a new bifunctional micro-reactor, mathematical modeling and optimization study

Abstract

In the last decade, there have been numerous investigations toward enhancing the efficiency of hydrogen production methods, as well as improving their operational variables. In this work, hydrogen and acrylonitrile are produced in a bench-scale concept by steam reforming of glycerol and ammoxidation of propane, respectively. Based on the present micro-reactor configuration, the needed heat, which is vital for the advancement of the endothermic glycerol steam reforming process in the outer tube, is supplied with the produced heat in the propane ammoxidation reactions in the inner tube. Consequently, in spite of the conventional steam reforming and ammoxidation process, the cooler and furnace are not required. As a result, appropriate energy-saving has been made, along with the reduction of the emission of hazardous greenhouse gases. Adequate improvement can be noticed in the performance of the reactor in which the glycerol conversion has improved from 53.32% to 87.11%. Also, to investigate the impact of the operating condition on the behavior of the proposed reactor configuration, a sensitivity analysis in the case of inlet flow rate, inlet feed composition, and inlet temperature is implemented. It is worth highlighting that the optimization scheme is applied in order for governing the best solution for the suggested configuration within the defined ranges. Optimization outputs established 3.97%, 1.41%, 4.93%, and 3.01% augmentation in the glycerol conversion, hydrogen yield, propane conversion, and acrylonitrile yield, respectively.