Research on the Performance of Multi-Inlet Micro-Tubular Reforming Reactor for Hydrogen Production

Considering the low methane conversion rate of traditional tubular reforming reactor, a multi-inlet micro-tubular reforming reactor for hydrogen production was designed in this paper, and the influences of operation parameters on the reforming performance were studied by COMSOL multiphysics software. The results indicated that the raise of reaction temperature from 773 K to 973 K would improve the methane conversion rate as well as H₂ and CO mole fractions. With the increase of steam/carbon ratio from 2 to 4, the methane conversion rate is improved, while H₂ and CO mole fractions are decreased. And also, the methane conversion rate and H₂ and CO mole fractions present a sawtooth shape fluctuation, however showing an overall rising trend along the axis of the reactor and reach their maximum values at the outlet. In addition, compared the multi-inlet tubular reforming reactor with the traditional tubular reactor, a conclusion can be drawn that the methane conversion rate of present reactor is higher than the traditional tubular reactor when the reaction temperature varies from 600 K to 1 100 K, and the methane conversion rate reaches 93% in the range of 873-973 K. When the steam/carbon ratio changes from 2 to 5, the methane conversion rate of this reactor is higher than that of traditional tubular reactor. However the increase of steam/carbon ratio exhibits no significant effect on the improvement of methane conversion when the steam/carbon ratio is higher than 4. Thus, the optimal steam/carbon ratio is from 3 to 4.