Optimal design of methane tri-reforming reactor to produce proper syngas for Fischer-Tropsch and methanol synthesis processes: A comparative analysis between different side-feeding strategies

Abstract

Assessment of the recent research on the side-feeding strategy in the methane tri-reforming reactor, suggests that this procedure can be a beneficial method for producing syngas. In the present study, special attention is given to the length of methane tri-reformer due to its significant effect on the residence time of distributed components, reaction pathways, synthesis gas production, and reactor performance in side-feeding procedures. The optimal design of three types of membrane tri-reforming reactor, containing O-MTR, H-MTR, and C-MTR, in which O2, H2O, and CO2 permeate as the distributed reactants through the micro-porous membrane, respectively, as well as the conventional tri-reformer (MTR) was carried out to produce proper syngas for methanol and gas-to-liquid (GTL) units. The results show that the O-MTR offers the most advantages in terms of CH4 conversion (i.e., 99.98%), H2 yield (i.e., 1.91), and catalyst lifetime due to no formation of hot spot temperature. Additionally, the CH4 conversion and H2 yield in the O-MTR increased by 5% compared to the MTR. However, the length of these reactor structures to produce appropriate syngas for Fischer-Tropsch and methanol synthesis processes was in the following order: MTR < C-MTR ≅ O-MTR < H-MTR. © 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC