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Autothermal Reforming of Methane in a Reverse‐Flow Reactor
Author(s) -
Liu T.,
Temur H.,
Veser G.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
chemical engineering and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1521-4125
pISSN - 0930-7516
DOI - 10.1002/ceat.200900203
Subject(s) - methane reformer , syngas , exothermic reaction , methane , partial oxidation , steam reforming , hydrogen production , chemistry , process engineering , endothermic process , waste management , chemical engineering , hydrogen , engineering , adsorption , organic chemistry
Autothermal methane reforming (ATR) is an alternative to steam reforming for synthesis gas and hydrogen production. It meets the intensive energy demand of methane reforming by combining exothermic oxidation and endothermic steam reforming. However, ATR runs into autothermal limitations if the water‐to‐oxygen feed ratio is increased to optimize hydrogen production. We have previously shown that regenerative heat integration in a reverse‐flow reactor (RFR) can overcome autothermal limitations in syngas production via catalytic partial oxidation of methane. Here, we extend our studies onto ATR in a RFR. Our results show that regenerative heat integration strongly increases the range of autothermal operation for ATR towards higher H 2 O:CH 4 feed ratios. RFR operation allows for improved syngas yields and much higher H 2 /CO ratios in the product stream. Improvements are most pronounced for high flow rates, which makes ATR‐RFR particularly well suited to compact reactors for small‐scale and decentralized processes.