Methane steam re-forming is one of the most important
chemical processes in hydrogen and
syngas production. Simulation of reactors with parallel-flow and
counterflow configuration has
been performed to study the methane steam re-forming reaction in a
packed-bed inert membrane
reactor (PBIMR). In this kind of reactor complete methane
conversion can be achieved by means
of the total removal of hydrogen from the reaction products. In
the model a dense Pd membrane
was simulated, assuming an infinite permselectivity to hydrogen.
Membrane reactor performance was compared to that of a conventional fixed-bed reactor. The
effect on the degree of
conversion was analyzed for different parameters such as temperature,
reactor pressure, feed
and sweep flow rate, feed molar ratio, membrane thickness, and space
velocity. Comparison
with experimental data of Shu et al. (1994) showed a good
agreement. An analysis of the results
indicated that the choice of operating conditions requires a complex
process strategy.
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