Heat supply and hydrogen yield in an ethanol micro-reformer

A. ANZOLA; Y. BRUSCHI; E. LÓPEZ; N. SCHBIB; M. PEDERNERA; D. BORIO

Ixtapa, México

Congreso; International Mexican Congress On Chemical Reaction Engineering (IMCCRE-2010); 2010

Microreactors provide a high surface to volume ratio and high heat and mass transfer coefficients,which makes them appropriate for processes requiring high heat fluxes per unit area. Because ofthe small geometry and the high heat conductivity of the materials, lab-scale microreactors can beelectrically heated and isothermal conditions can usually be assumed. However, under higherproduction-scale conditions, the heat supply should be provided through other sources, e.g.,catalytic combustion in contiguous microchannels or convective heating using flue gascoming from an external combustion chamber. This work uses this last option to simulate thebehaviour of a non-isothermal microreactor for ethanol steam reforming