Tri-Reforming of Natural Gas for Hydrogen Production

Abstract

Development of non-petroleum and clean energy sources for the transport industry is the main focus of recent developments in the fields of energy. Hydrogen being a renewable and clean fuel has the potential to be the energy carrier. Hydrogen can be produced by many sources either renewable or nonrenewable. The steam reforming reaction is extensively used in industries for hydrogen production. Dry reforming is one of the environmentally friendly processes for hydrogen production because it uses two major greenhouse gases for clean fuel production i.e. hydrogen. The catalyst deactivation due to coke deposition is one of the major difficulties with the dry reforming. Addition of steam in the reaction can significantly reduce the amount of coke deposition. H 2 /CO ratio in the product gas is equals to 2 theoretically, which is very useful in its downward reactions. Ni-based catalysts are the most commonly used catalysts in the reforming reaction. Higher surface area and high dispersion of active metal are the most desired properties in reforming catalyst. In this project the effect of thermodynamic conditions (Temperature, Pressure and feed composition) on the conversion of reactant gases and yield of product gases is studied. The temperature range of 650-800℃, Pressure range of 5-20 bar, and S/C (steam-to- carbon) ratio of 0.50-2.50 are used in the study. Both CH 4 conversion and H 2 yield increase with an increase in temperature and amount of steam. Both CO2 conversion and CO yield increase with an increase in temperature but decrease with increase in steam amount. High H2 /CO ratio can be produced at a lower temperature and decreases with temperature.