| This study investigates the influence of changing the flow pathway inside a methanol steam reformer by introduction of flow disturbers in the flow field. In a reforming reaction, it is known that fuel conversion from hydrocarbons to hydrogen can be limited by chemical kinetics, which is a function of local temperature. For a typical cylindrical reactor, large thermal gradients inside the packed bed result from insufficient heat and mass transfer. This causes a non-ideal condition for complete conversion to hydrogen. Active mixing methods in critical fluid pathways have been proven to improve heat and mass transfer inside reforming reactors. A new method of passive mixing in the fluid pathways by introducing flow disturbers inside the packed catalyst bed is presented. A principle of characteristic time of a 1st order reaction is also presented and studied. The reactor output parameters of fuel conversion, temperature profile, characteristic time, pressure drop, reactor efficiency, and power demand are analyzed and compared to quantify the influence of the passive mixing technique. Input variables in this study are packing density of flow disturbers, space velocity and catalyst size. This study is expected to provide a basic analysis and contribute to the improvement of reformer design for better fuel processing system performance. |
