Coupling exothermic and endothermic reactions in an ethanol microreformer for H2 production

Y. M. BRUSCHI; E. LÓPEZ; M. N. PEDERNERA; D. O. BORIO

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL

ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2016 vol. 294 p. 97 - 104

1385-8947

The steam reforming of ethanol is carried out in a microreactor for hydrogen production. The heat for theendothermic reactions is supplied by means of ethanol combustion in air, which is carried out in contiguousmicrochannels. The same Pd-based catalyst is assumed to be coated on both reforming and combustionchannels. By means of a 1D heterogeneous mathematical model, the influence of the feedtemperatures of both streams on the reactor performance is analyzed. The results show that the degreeof preheating of both streams has a strong influence on the hydrogen yields and maximum temperatures.The effect of the flowrate and composition of the fuel stream on the hydrogen yields is also studied.Fairly high hydrogen yields were obtained ð2:6 < gH2 < 3:4Þ with low methane slips, within a feasiblerange of temperatures for the Pd catalyst (700 < TMAX < 770 C) to avoid catalyst deactivation. These maximumtemperatures could still be further reduced by means of an optimal selection of the air flowrateand ethanol molar fraction on the fuel side, or using distributed feed of fuel along the reactor length.