INVESTIGADORES
LOPEZ Eduardo
artículos
Título:
Theoretical study of the ethanol steam reforming in a parallel channel reactor
Autor/es:
Y. BRUSCHI; E. LÓPEZ; N. SCHBIB; M. N. PEDERNERA; D.O. BORIO
Revista:
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
Editorial:
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
Referencias:
Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2012 vol. 37 p. 14887 - 14894
ISSN:
0360-3199
Resumen:
The ethanol steam reforming (ESR) is studied in a parallel plate reactor with square
channels of 500e2000 mm and washcoated with Pd-based catalyst. The endothermic
process is co- or countercurrently heated by means of a flue gas stream flowing through
contiguous channels. Two contiguous square channels, assumed as representative of the
whole reactor behavior, are simulated using both 1D pseudohomogeneous and heterogeneous
models for comparison purposes. The influence of the main operating variables,
flow configuration and design parameters on the performance of the reformer has been
analyzed.
The reactor performance is mainly controlled by the heat supply from the flue gas to the
process stream. For low inlet temperatures of the ethanol þ water feed, the countercurrent
flow configuration allows improved heat recuperation and the reactor shows a higher
performance. Conversely, when the feed is pre-heated upstream the reactor, the cocurrent
scheme appears preferable due to a more favorable axial profile of heat transferred. The
channel width has a strong influence on the hydrogen production rate and the residual
methane slips when cocurrent operation is selected. For the countercurrent scheme,
a more robust design is achieved in terms of ethanol conversion and hydrogen yield for
variations in the feed temperature. Moreover, the channel dimension losses influence
provided enough small channels are considered. The heat conduction phenomenon
through the solid metal wall was studied varying the wall thickness; diminished reactor
performance for thicker walls was observed due to a drop in the heat duty.