Improvement of hollow cylinders on the conversion of coal mine methane to hydrogen in packed bed burner

Coal mine methane (CMM) combustion in the porous media burner (PMB) of boiler system contributes to the simultaneous production of hydrogen and heat, and the hydrogen can be used as the main raw materials for solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC). In this study, the double-layer burners were built by filling the downstream with the hollow cylinders of different sizes and pore numbers due to the high porosity of hollow-structure units compared with the common packed bed of pellets. The distributions of temperature, species concentration and reforming efficiency were obtained on the consideration of operating condition and preheating temperature. Results shows that the reforming efficiency of the 10-6-10 mm cylinder burner was optimal in all one-pore cylinder burners with the highest concentration of 12.3% (H₂) and 8.8% (CO). As for the packed bed of 8 mm cylinders, the four-pore cylinder burner showed the highest peak temperature and maximum yields of hydrogen. With the increasing of preheating temperature, the stabilization time of the flame propagating decreased. Moreover, the peak temperature and reforming efficiency increased with the increasing of the inlet velocity and the largest efficiency of 54.2% appeared at the velocity of 18 cm/s in the 10 mm cylinder burner.     

Biogas as hydrogen source for fuel cell applications

In the last decade, production of biogas from biomass degradation has attracted the attention of several research groups. The interest on this hydrogen source is focused on the potential use of this gas as raw material to supply high temperature fuel cells (HTFC). This paper reports a wide research investigation carried out at CNR-ITAE on biogas reforming processes (steam reforming, autothermal reforming and partial oxidation). A mathematical model was developed, in Aspen Plus, and an experimental validation was made in order to confirm model results. Simulations were performed to determine the reformed gas composition and the system energy balance as a function of process temperature and pressure. The value of Gas Hour Space Velocity (GHSV) was selected for calculating compositions at full equilibrium, as it is expected in operative large scale plant. To obtain a realistic evaluation of the reforming processes efficiency, the energy balance for each examined process was developed as available energy of outlet syngas on inlet required energy ratio. The comparison between values of efficiency process gives useful indication about their reliability to be integrate with fuel cell systems.     

A numerical study on methanol steam reforming reactor utilizing engine exhaust heat for hydrogen generation

Internal combustion engines are used in most vehicles around the world to power the transport sector. Efficiency improvement, emission reduction, and utilization of alternative fuels are the main aspects of current IC engine research. Hydrogen-enhanced combustion proved to be one of the efficient ways to achieve such goals. But the problem lies in the storage of hydrogen for the transportation sector, and on-board fuel reforming is a promising option for solving this issue. It deals with transforming a suitable liquid fuel (methanol) into an H₂-rich gas using a catalytic conversion process. For sustaining the reforming reaction, the required heat energy is taken from engine exhaust waste heat, this process is known as thermochemical recuperation. Number of studies on the reformers utilized for on-board hydrogen generation using engine exhaust heat are limited in the literature. The present study investigates the performance of a reactor that uses the exhaust gas heat energy for sustaining the reforming reaction. A numerical analysis was performed over a selected reactor where exhaust gases were flowing at one side, while on the other, the reforming reaction was taking place with the help of heat provided by high-temperature exhaust gases. A packed bed-type reactor was chosen for the current study and a parametric study was conducted where the effects of various operating parameters on both reacting and heating sides on the reactor's performance were investigated. It was found that temperature was the most influential inlet parameter among others. Steam/Carbon ratio and flow configuration had a negligible effect on the hydrogen yield as well as methanol conversion. Reactant inlet velocity increment revealed a significant drop in methanol conversion as it reduces the residence time for reforming reaction in the catalyst zone.     

Combined thermal characteristics analysis of steam reforming and combustion for 5 kW domestic PEMFC system

A natural gas-based steam reformer for a domestic polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system is thermodynamically analyzed with a special focus on the heat supply mechanism, which is critical to the endothermic steam reforming process. The interdependence of the reforming and combustion processes is evaluated through a characteristic study of heat transfer from the heat source to the reforming zone. Premixed combustion patterns may be affected by the inclusion of controlling means such as a metal fiber screen or burner placement. In this study, we attempted to enhance reforming performances of a reformer embedded in a 5 kW in-house PEMFC through modification of the combustion pattern by varying the type and placement of the burner and other operating conditions. Reforming input conditions such as steam-carbon ratio (SCR) and fuel distribution ratio (FDR) are also analyzed to quantify the overall performance such as thermal efficiency and fuel conversion rate. In our experiments involving three types of combustors—cylindrical metal fiber burner, flat type metal fiber burner and nozzle-mixing burner—the operating conditions are set so that the SCR and FDR are in the range 3.0–4.0 and 0.4–0.7, respectively. It is found that the cylindrical metal fiber burner at an appropriate location could improve thermal efficiency up to 79% by 10%, compared to other devices. This maximum thermal efficiency output is obtained with 0.63 FDR, which eventually yields 99% hydrogen conversion rate when using a cylindrical metal fiber burner, while the other burners produce 95% conversion. These outputs substantiate that the overall efficiency is strongly affected by an appropriate control for uniform temperature distribution on the catalyst layer.     

Mathematical simulation of hydrogen production via methanol steam reforming using double-jacketed membrane reactor

The hydrogen production and purification via methanol reforming reaction was studied in a double-jacketed Pd membrane reactor using a 1-D, non-isothermal mathematical model. Both mass and heat transfer behavior were evaluated simultaneously in three parts of the reactor, annular side, permeation tube and the oxidation side. The simulation results exhibited that increasing the volumetric flow rate of hydrogen in permeation side could enhance hydrogen permeation rate across the membrane. The optimum velocity ratio between permeation and annular sides is 10. However, hydrogen removal could lower the temperature in the reformer. The hydrogen production rate increases as temperature increases at a given Damköhler number, but the methanol conversion and hydrogen recovery yield decrease. In addition, the optimum molar ratio of air and methanol was 1.3 with three air inlet temperatures. The performance of a double-jacketed membrane reactor was compared with an autothermal reactor by judging against methanol conversion, hydrogen recovery yield and production rate. Under the same reaction conditions, the double-jacketed reactor can convert more methanol at a given reactor volume than that of an autothermal reactor.     

A numerical study of geometric effects on the performance characteristics of shell-and-tube methanol reformers

Methanol reforming is a key method of producing hydrogen, an eco-friendly energy source. A feasible validation has been performed using previous experimental data. Present numerical model, validated using previously published experimental data, facilitates a factor-by-factor study of methanol reforming performance characteristics. In particular, the effects of inlet temperature of reformed gas and heat source gas, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV), reformer length, and reformer diameter are numerically analyzed. The effect of each parameter on reforming performance was presented by analyzing the average temperature of the reformed gas for each location inside the reformer. In addition, the inlet temperature of the heat source gas was more dominant in reforming performance than that of the reformed gas through sensitivity analysis. Finally, the performance was explained in terms of residence time, and the relationship between CO selectivity and residence time was presented.     

Comparison between 1D and 2D numerical models of a multi-tubular packed-bed reactor for methanol steam reforming

The hydrogen-rich gas produced in-situ by methanol steam reforming (MSR) reactions significantly affects the performance and endurance of the high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane (HT-PEM) fuel cell stack. A numerical study of MSR reactions over a commercial CuO/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst coupling with the heat and mass transfer phenomena in a co-current packed-bed reactor is conducted. The simulation results of a 1D and a 2D pseudo-homogeneous reactor model are compared, which indicates the importance of radial gradients in the catalyst bed. The effects of geometry and operating parameters on the steady-state performance of the reactor are investigated. The simulation results show that the increases in the inlet temperature of burner gas and the tube diameter significantly increase the non-uniformity of radial temperature distributions in reformer tubes. Hot spots are formed near the tube wall in the entrance region. The hot-spot temperature in the catalyst bed rises with the increase in the inlet temperature of burner gas. Moreover, the difference in simulation results between the 1D and 2D models is shown to be primarily influenced by the tube diameter. With a methanol conversion approaching 100% or a relatively small tube diameter, the simplified 1D model can be used instead of the 2D model to estimate the reactor performance.     

Modeling and analysis of a 5 kWe HT-PEMFC system for residential heat and power generation

We present a high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) system model that accounts for fuel reforming, HT-PEMFC stack, and heat-recovery modules along with heat exchangers and balance of plant (BOP) components. In the model developed for analysis, the reaction kinetics for the fuel reforming processes are considered to accurately capture exhaust gas compositions and reactor temperatures under various operating conditions. The HT-PEMFC stack model is simplified from the three-dimensional HT-PEMFC CFD models developed in our previous studies. In addition, the parasitic power consumption and waste heat release from the various BOP components are calculated based on their heat-capacity curves. An experimental fuel reforming reactor for a 5.0 kW_e HT-PEMFC system was tested to experimentally validate the fuel reforming sub model. The model predictions were found to be in good agreement with the experimental data in terms of exhaust gas compositions and bed temperatures. Additionally, the simulation revealed the impacts of the burner air-fuel ratio (AFR) and the steam reforming reactor steam-carbon ratio on the system performance and efficiency. In particular, the combined heat and power efficiency of the system increased up to 78% when the burner AFR was properly adjusted. This study clearly illustrates that an HT-PEMFC system requires a high degree of thermal integration and optimization of the system configuration and operating conditions.     

Numerical investigations on flow characteristics and energy separation in a Ranque Hilsch vortex tube with hydrogen as working medium

In the last decades, the theory of energy separation in vortex tubes is debated broadly based on the heat transfer and work transfer between core and peripheral flow layers. Many parameters were considered in the literature. However, the present study involves the inlet energy considered collectively towards energy separation. In this paper, three-dimensional computational fluid dynamic simulations are discussed in vortex tube to analyze the energy separation phenomena in different cases by varying the working medium such as hydrogen and air having specific heat variation. The energy at the inlet is maintained same in both cases by adjusting the inlet mass flow rate. The results from this study are validated with recently published literature using hydrogen as a working medium. Vortex tube with hydrogen as working medium yields a temperature separation of 8 K lower than air as working medium. Further studies on vortex tube with hydrogen as a working fluid is explored at different inlet temperatures relative to the room temperature. Vortex tube with hydrogen at an inlet temperature of 400 K gives better temperature separation as compared to other inlet temperatures considered in this study.     

Performance analysis of a membrane‐based reformer‐combustor reactor for hydrogen generation

Hydrogen is mostly produced in conventional steam methane reforming plants. In this work, we proposed a membrane‐based reformer‐combustor reactor (MRCR) for hydrogen generation in order to improve heat recovery and overall thermal efficiency. The proposed configuration will also reduce the complexity in existing steam methane reforming (SMR) plants. The proposed MRCR comprises combustion zone, hydrogen permeate zone, and SMR zone. A computational fluid dynamics model was developed using ANSYS‐Fluent software to simulate and analyze the performance of the proposed MRCR. Results show that high hydrogen yields were observed at high reformer pressures (RPs) and low gas hourly space velocities (GHSVs). Furthermore, by increasing the steam to methane ratio and addition of excess air in the combustion side, the hydrogen yield from the MRCR decreases. This is attributed to the reduction in the effective temperature of the hydrogen membrane. High RP, low GHSV, and low steam to methane ratio that increased the hydrogen yield also decreased carbon monoxide (CO) emissions. For an increased RP from 1 to 10 bar, the CO emission decreased by about 99%. The reduction in CO emission at high RP would be attributed to the effect of water gas shift reaction in the MRCR. Results of the extensive parametric study presented in this work can be used to determine the operating conditions based on tradeoffs between hydrogen yield (mole H₂/mole CH₄), hydrogen production rate (kg of H₂/h), allowable CO emissions, and exhaust gas temperature for other applications such as gas turbine.     

Biogas upgrading for on-board hydrogen production: Reforming process CFD modelling

Hydrogen production through fuel reforming can be used to improve IC (internal combustion) engines combustion characteristics and to lower vehicle emissions. In this study, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model based on a detailed kinetic mechanism was developed for exhaust gas reforming of biogas to synthetic gas (H₂ and CO). In agreement with experimental data, the reactor's physical and chemical performance was investigated at various O₂/CH₄ ratios and gas hourly space velocities (GHSV). The numerical results imply that methane reforming reactions are strongly sensitive to O₂/CH₄ ratio and engine exhaust gas temperature. It was also found that increasing GHSV results in lower hydrogen yield; since dry and steam reforming reactions are relatively slow and are both dependent on the flow residence time. Furthermore, the hot spot effect, which is associated to oxidation reforming reactions, was investigated for catalyst activity and durability.     

Development of a robust and efficient biogas processor for hydrogen production. Part 2: Experimental campaign

In this study, a robust and efficient decentralized fuel processor based on the direct autothermal reforming (ATR) of biogas with a nominal production rate of 50 Nm³/h of hydrogen and a plant efficiency of about 65% was developed and tested. The ATR unit is composed of a structured catalyst support for the biogas reforming close coupled to a catalytic wall-flow filter to retain eventual soot particles.The performance of the conventional random foam and homogeneous lattice supports structures for the production of hydrogen from the ATR reaction was investigated. 15–0.05 wt%-Ni-Rh/MgAl₂O₄-SiSiC structured catalyst and LiFeO₂-SiC monolith were selected for the conversion of biogas to hydrogen and for the syngas post-treatment process, respectively. For all the experiments, a model synthetic biogas was used and the catalytic activities were evaluated in three different experimental facilities: lab bench, pilot test rig and demonstration plant. High methane conversions (>95%) and hydrogen yields (>1.8) reached in the lab bench were also achieved in the pilot and demonstration plant operating at different GHSV.Results of duration test using a foam coupled to the filter has demonstrated that the pre-commercial processor is reliable while offering a satisfactory reproducibility and negligible pressure drop. A thermodynamic equilibrium and a cold gas efficiency of 90% were reached for an inlet temperature of 500 °C, O/C: 1.1 and S/C: 2.0, as predicted with the Aspen simulation.     

A micro reforming system integrated with a heat-recirculating micro-combustor to produce hydrogen from ammonia

In order to evaluate the potential of reforming ammonia as a carbon-free fuel in production of hydrogen, a new configuration of a micro reforming system integrated with a micro-combustor is studied experimentally. The micro-combustor as a heat source is a simple cylinder with an annular-type shield that applies a heat-recirculation concept. A micro-reformer to convert ammonia to hydrogen is an annulus, which is effective to transfer heat from the micro-combustor. The annulus-type micro reforming system is designed to produce 1-10 W (based on lower heating value, LHV) of hydrogen using various catalysts. The feed rate of ammonia, the micro-combustor inlet velocity of fuel-air mixtures and the catalyst materials substantially affect the performance of the designed micro reforming system. Under optimized design and operating conditions, the micro reforming system using ruthenium as a catalyst produces 5.4 W (based on LHV) of hydrogen with a conversion rate of 98.0% and an overall system efficiency of 13.7%. Thus, the present configuration can be applied to practical micro reforming systems, supporting the potential of using ammonia as a clean fuel.     

Numerical studies on heat coupling and configuration optimization in an industrial hydrogen production reformer

Steam methane reforming furnaces are the most important devices in the hydrogen production industry. The highly endothermic reaction system requires reaction tubes in the furnace to have a large heat transfer area and to be operated under high temperature and pressure conditions. In order to enhance heat transfer efficiency and protect reaction tubes, the controlling and optimization of the furnace structure have increasingly received more and more research attention. As known from the furnace structure, it is essential to couple the exothermic combustion with the endothermic reforming reactions due to the highly interactive nature of the two processes. Thus, in this paper, the combustion process in the furnace was numerically studied by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to model the combustion chamber, coupled with methane steam reforming reaction inside the reaction tubes, defined by a plug flow model. A set of combustion models were compared for the furnace chamber and a plug flow reaction model was employed for reforming reaction tubes, and then a heat coupling process was established. The predicted flue gas temperature distribution showed that the heat transfer in the furnace was not uniform, resulting in hot spots and heat losses on the tube wall. Therefore, structure optimization schemes were proposed. Optimization on arrangements of the tubes and the nozzles promoted the uniform distribution of flue-gas temperature and then improved heat transfer efficiency, thereby enhancing performance of the steam reforming process.     

Assessment of natural gas/hydrogen blends as an alternative fuel for industrial heat treatment furnaces

The present study investigates the application of natural gas/hydrogen blends as an alternative fuel for industrial heat treatment furnaces and their economic potential for decreasing carbon dioxide emissions in this field of application. Doing so, a detailed technological analysis of several influencing parameters on the heating system was performed as well as a consideration of furnace heating technology challenges. Starting with an evaluation of the main thermophysical properties of the blends and their corresponding flue gases, requirements for the heating systems were identified. Potential ways of decreasing flue gas losses and increasing the heat transfer are shown. In the radiant tube application, an increased overall combustion efficiency of about 1.2% was measured at 40 vol% hydrogen in the fuel gas. Influences on the air to gas ratio control system of the furnace is a further important point, which was considered in this study. Two commonly used control systems were evaluated concerning their capabilities to regulate the gas flow rates of blends with varying hydrogen contents and combustion properties, such as Wobbe Index. This is important, since it shows the capability to retrofit existing furnaces. Two types of burners were tested with different natural gas/hydrogen blends. This includes an open jet burner with air-staged and flameless combustion operation modes. A recuperative burner for radiant tube application was considered as well in these tests. Doing so, the nitrogen oxide formation of both systems under different operating conditions and different fuel blends were evaluated. An increase by about 10% at air-staged combustion and about 100% at flameless combustion was measured by a hydrogen content of 40 vol% in comparison to pure natural gas firing. Finally, the additional fuel costs of natural gas hydrogen blends and different cases are presented in an economic analysis. The driving force for the use of hydrogen as a fuel is the price of the CO2 certificates, which are considered in the analysis at a current price of 25.2 €/t CO2.     

Analysis of phase change heat transfer with annulus 1 kW class methanol steam reforming reaction under high-pressure operation

A fuel cell air independent propulsion (AIP) system of underwater vehicle requires a hydrogen storage system. The methanol steam reforming system is a candidate of hydrogen storage which can produce hydrogen from chemical reaction. Different from reforming system for station fuel cell system, the methanol steam reformer (MSR) for underwater vehicle requires high-pressure operation.Since the longitudinal temperature uniformity is a core parameter of conversion efficiency of steam reforming system, this study is focused on computational analysis of phase change heat transfer through the annulus for methanol steam reforming reaction. The annulus MSR using phase change material was developed to improve the temperature uniformity. The simulation model is verified with safety and performance analysis code (SPACE). The performance parameters of MSR were flow arrangement, steam to carbon ratio (SCR), and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV). The results were analyzed in terms of the hydrogen yield, heat flux, liquid mass flow rate, and methanol conversion rate. The flow arrangement varied the methanol conversion rate to a minor extent of approximately 0.1% because wall temperature was maintained uniformly. In the case of SCR, the hydrogen yield at SCR 2.5 was 0.637 (dry basis), which was the highest yield rate. Also, if GHSV was increased, hydrogen yield decreased from 0.690 (dry basis) to 0.527 (dry basis). The heat transfer pattern was also analyzed and it was found that steam is interactively condensed along with the progress of the reforming reaction.     

Design and optimization of reforming hydrogen production reaction system for automobile fuel cell

Mathematical modeling and simulation analysis of the dimethyl ether steam reforming reaction system were carried out in the study. The numerical results of simulation and experiment were consistent. The effects of reaction conditions on the conversion of dimethyl ether and hydrogen production were analyzed. The internal structure of the reforming reactor was adjusted to obtain higher hydrogen production efficiency. The study established the reforming hydrogen production industry system, and analyzed the thermal efficiency of the system. The results show that when the temperature of the conversion bed is 673 K, the inlet flow rate of the mixture gas is 0.5 ms^?1 and the ratio of water to ether is 3, the dimethyl ether steam reforming reaction system could obtain the dimethyl ether conversion rate of 90%, the hydrogen production rate of 88% and system thermal efficiency of 74%.     

Methanol reformation for hydrogen production from a single channel with cavities

This paper proposes a novel design concept to enhance the methanol conversion rate in a single channel plate type microreformer with cavities. Detailed numerical studies have been carried out to understand the steam reforming of methanol for hydrogen production. The effects of operating parameters such as steam-to-methanol molar ratio, reforming temperature, reformer gas hourly space velocity (GHSV), channel wall conductivity, wall thickness and catalyst layer thickness on reforming characteristics are investigated. The effect of cavities on microreformer performance is discussed in terms of cavity aspect ratio and its spacing. For a reforming temperature of 250 °C, steam–methanol molar ratio of 1.1, average inlet fluid temperature of 120 °C and catalyst thickness of 30 μm, a methanol conversion of ∼98% with product gases consisting of 75% H₂, 23% CO₂ and 928 ppm CO have been obtained at the outlet of the channel. Present studies show that higher methanol conversion rates can be achieved within a shorter channel length with cavities. The proposed design can overcome the issue of shape and size of manifolds and flow equi-distribution for multiple microchannels type design and also suitable from fabrication viewpoint and practical applications.     

Techno-economic analysis of H2 production processes using fluidized bed heat exchangers with steam reforming – Part 1: Oxygen carrier aided combustion

This work presents the techno-economic assessment for a new process where a fluidized bed heat exchanger (FBHE) is used as heat source for steam reforming in a hydrogen production plant. This suggested process configuration is compared with a reference case representing a conventional steam methane reforming (SMR) large-scale hydrogen production plant. The use of a FBHE as a heat source for the endothermic reforming is an advantage because of the high heat transfer coefficient to the reformer tubes. The suggested process configuration utilizes oxygen carrier particles as bed material and a bubbling fluidized bed reactor with immersed reformer tubes to ensure sufficient heat production for the reforming and improved heat transfer to the reformer tubes compared a conventional plant. The results include a comparison of hydrogen production efficiency and levelized production costs (LCOH) of the two plants where the production efficiency is more than 11% higher and the LCOH is more than 7% lower for the suggested process configuration.     

Enhancement effect of heat recovery on hydrogen production from catalytic partial oxidation of methane

The effect of heat recovery on hydrogen production from catalytic partial oxidation of methane (CPOM) and its reaction characteristics in a reactor are investigated using numerical simulations. The reactor is featured by a Swiss-roll structure in which a rhodium (Rh) catalyst bed is embedded at the center of the reactor. By recovering the waste heat from the product gas to preheat the reactants, it is found that the combustion, steam reforming and dry reforming of methane in the catalyst bed are enhanced to a great extent. As a result, the methane conversion and hydrogen yield are improved more than 10%. Considering the operation conditions, a high performance of hydrogen production from CPOM can be achieved if the number of turns in the reactor is increased or the gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of the reactants in the catalyst bed is lower. However, with the condition of heat recovery, the flow direction of the reactants in the reactor almost plays no part in affecting the performance of CPOM. In summary, the predictions reveal that the reactor with a Swiss-roll structure can be applied for implementing CPOM with high yield of hydrogen.