Premium
Exploration of hydrogen production in a membrane reformer
Author(s) -
Feng Wei,
Tan Tianwei,
Ji Peijun,
Zheng Danxing
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.10797
Subject(s) - hydrogen production , hydrogen , permeation , membrane reactor , membrane , chemistry , methane , steam reforming , work (physics) , chemical engineering , process (computing) , process engineering , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , engineering , computer science , physics , biochemistry , operating system
Auto‐thermal reforming (ATR) is one of the key technologies to produce hydrogen from natural gas. Applying an H 2 membrane to an ATR reactor can simplify the process for pure hydrogen production, and in the meantime can promote methane conversion into hydrogen. Although it is a promising approach and has a great potential application in the future, it is still in an early stage of development. The objective of this work is to systematically study the factors affecting the pure hydrogen production and the thermodynamic efficiency of the integrated process containing an H 2 ‐membrane ATR reactor. The study has been accomplished by the simulation of the H 2 ‐membrane ATR reactor and the thermodynamic analysis of the process. The simulation work is based on the kinetics of the reactions and the mechanisms of membrane permeation. The effects of factors including the flowing mode of sweeping gas, the rate of sweeping gas, the inlet rate of CH 4 , and the inlet ratio of CH 4 to H 2 O, on the production rate of separated H 2 , on the driving force of hydrogen permeation, and on the thermodynamic efficiency of the integrated process have been explored. The results will have a significant contribution to the design of an H 2 ‐membrane ATR reactor and an integrated process for pure hydrogen production. © 2006 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2006