Autothermal steam reforming reactors with thermally conductive walls for hydrogen production

<strong>Autothermal steam reforming reactors with thermally conductive walls for hydrogen production</strong> Junjie Chen Department of Energy and Power Engineering, School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Henan Polytechnic University, 2000 Century Avenue, Jiaozuo, Henan, 454000, P.R. China Contributor: Junjie Chen, ORCID: 0000-0001-5055-4309, E-mail address: [e-mail] It is necessary to provide a reactor where the catalytically active components are immobilized on adjacent sides of the monolith dividing walls such that heat transfer can occur via purely conduction through the wall from one catalytic process to the second catalytic process. It is also necessary to provide a reactor where the monolith body is demountable from the inlet and outlet manifolds such that catalyst replacement and recovery of spent catalyst can be easily performed. It is also necessary to provide a reactor where the heat transfer characteristics are decoupled from the reactant or product fluid velocities such that the system can operate with moderate gas velocities and with low pressure drops. It is also necessary to provide a reactor of low thermal inertia and high heat load such that rapid start up and fast response to load transients can be achieved. The design comprises, in one form thereof, a chemical processing method to thermally contact an endothermic and an exothermic reaction without mixing the two streams, utilizing a thermally coupled monolith reactor. A ceramic or metal monolith is modified to produce a structure containing at least two sets of discrete flow channels and which are separated by a number of common walls. Manifolds are arranged such that one reaction mixture flows through one set of channels and a different reaction mixture flows through the second. Catalytic material, which is active for the relevant reaction, is coated onto the inner walls of each of the sets of channels. The two reactions are chosen such that one is exothermic and one is endothermic, such that the energy required by the endothermic process is supplied directly through the dividing wall from the exothermic process occurring on the opposing side. This method of heat transfer completely decouples the gas phase hydrodynamics from the heat transfer process. Streamwise distance (meter), Heterogeneous reaction rate along the length of the reactor (mole per square meter per second) 0 12.1245 0.00025 12.2056 0.0005 12.3371 0.00075 12.3931 0.001 12.3704 0.00125 12.2891 0.0015 12.1645 0.00175 12.0076 0.002 11.8272 0.00225 11.63 0.0025 11.4214 0.00275 11.2059 0.003 10.987 0.00325 10.7674 0.0035 10.5496 0.00375 10.3354 0.004 10.1263 0.00425 9.9232 0.0045 9.72691 0.00475 9.53772 0.005 9.35585 0.00525 9.18161 0.0055 9.01491 0.00575 8.85575 0.006 8.70412 0.00625 8.55976 0.0065 8.42235 0.00675 8.29183 0.007 8.16813 0.00725 8.05097 0.0075 7.94006 0.00775 7.83509 0.008 7.73603 0.00825 7.64259 0.0085 7.55447 0.00875 7.47149 0.009 7.39325 0.00925 7.31962 0.0095 7.25041 0.00975 7.18541 0.01 7.12413 0.01025 7.06625 0.0105 7.01189 0.01075 6.96101 0.011 6.91331 0.01125 6.86823 0.0115 6.82574 0.01175 6.78591 0.012 6.74833 0.01225 6.7128 0.0125 6.67938 0.01275 6.648 0.013 6.61842 0.01325 6.5905 0.0135 6.56401 0.01375 6.53896 0.014 6.51549 0.01425 6.49316 0.0145 6.47196 0.01475 6.45184 0.015 6.43277 0.01525 6.41475 0.0155 6.39735 0.01575 6.38068 0.016 6.36501 0.01625 6.35036 0.0165 6.33607 0.01675 6.32215 0.017 6.30899 0.01725 6.29632 0.0175 6.28384 0.01775 6.27168 0.018 6.2601 0.01825 6.24866 0.0185 6.23744 0.01875 6.22675 0.019 6.21628 0.01925 6.20588 0.0195 6.19553 0.01975 6.18524 0.02 6.17518 0.02025 6.16499 0.0205 6.1546 0.02075 6.1444 0.021 6.13426 0.02125 6.12398 0.0215 6.11344 0.02175 &amp;