Syed Zaheer Abbas
UET Lahore, Pakistan
Title: Effect of operating variables on the small scale H2 production in a packed bed reactor via sorption enhanced steam methane reforming process
Biography
Biography: Syed Zaheer Abbas
Abstract
The production of H2 on small scale via sorption enhanced steam reforming (SE-SMR) of CH4 using 18 wt. % Ni/ Al2O3 catalyst and CaO as a CO2-sorbent was simulated for an adiabatic packed bed reactor. To study the behaviour of reactor model along the axial direction, the mass, energy and momentum balance equations were incorporated in the gPROMS model builder. The effect of operating conditions such as temperature, pressure, steam to carbon ration (S/C) and gas mass flow velocity (Gs) was studied under the low pressure conditions. Independent equilibrium based software, chemical equilibrium with application (CEA), was used to compare the simulation results with the equilibrium data. A good agreement was obtained in terms of CH4 conversion, H2 yield (wt. % of CH4 feed), purity of H2 and CO2 capture under the different operating conditions of temperature, pressure, S/C and Gs. A pressure of 3 bar, 873 K and S/C of 3 can result in CH4 conversion and H2 purity up to 99% and 95% respectively compared to 36% and 59% in the conventional reforming process.