A Numerical Investigation of Electrically-Heated Methane Steam Reforming Over Structured Catalysts

Abstract

The use of electric energy as an alternative system to provide heat of reaction enables the cut-off of CO2 emissions of several chemical processes. Among these, electrification of steam methane reforming results in a cleaner production method of hydrogen. In this work, we perform for the first time a numerical investigation of a compact steam reforming unit that exploits the electrical heating of the catalyst support. First, for such unit we consider the optimal thermodynamic conditions to perform the power to hydrogen conversion; the process should be run at atmospheric pressure and in a close temperature range. Then, among possible materials currently used for manufacturing structured supports we identify silicon carbide as the best material to run electrified steam reforming at moderate voltages and currents. The temperature and concentration profiles in idealized units are studied to understand the impact of the catalyst geometry on the process performances and open-cell foams, despite lower surface to volume show the best potential. Finally, the impact of heat losses is analyzed by considering different operative conditions and reactor geometries, showing that it is possible to obtain relatively high thermal efficiencies with the proposed methodology.

Electrified methane steam reforming on a washcoated SiSiC foam for low‐carbon hydrogen production

“…Therefore, the application of foams has the potential to overcome heat and mass transfer limitations in electrified methane steam reforming (eMSR), being the external mass transfer one of the limiting factors in the configuration showed by Wismann and coworkers 13 . In this regards, a preliminar numerical study of structured catalyst geometry for electrically heated MSR process has been reported recently by our group, 25 and the results show that it is possible to run the process at unprecedented space velocities thanks to the right combination of foams and a highly active catalyst.…”

Status and gaps toward fossil-free sustainable chemical production

“…Politecnico of Milano's (Italy) group has recently made a numerical assessment of electrically heated (Joule) methane steam reforming over structured catalysts. 48 The structured catalysts are used as internal heating elements. They suggest that SiC is the preferred material to be used as catalyst support since the currents and voltages to be used can be safely employed.…”

Recent Advances in the Development of Highly Conductive Structured Supports for the Intensification of Non-adiabatic Gas-Solid Catalytic Processes: The Methane Steam Reforming Case Study

“…800 °C) and to sustain the reaction, with methane conversions as high as 85%, in the case of both steam and dry reforming. In a recent paper Ambrosetti et al performed a mathematical model analysis addressing the potential of SiC foams with the dual role of resistive elements and catalyst substrates in methane steam reforming (Ambrosetti et al, 2021a). The simulation results showed that very high efficiencies and specific H 2 productivities can be achieved.…”