Research On Hydrogen Production From Methanol Steam Reforming In Fluidized Bed Reactor

The fluidized bed reactor has the advantages of high efficient in heat and mass transfer, uniform internal temperature distribution, etc. which can effectively avoid the problems existed in the fixed bed reactor, such as catalyst sintering, dust, and cold spot. This paper proposed a novel approach for hydrogen production which combined fluidized bed reactor and methanol steam reforming. The methanol steam reforming reaction for hydrogen production in fluidized bed reactor, and over CuO/ZnO/Al2O3catalyst was investigated by experimental and theoretical methods.Firstly, a homemade fluidized bed cold experimental stage was applied in the visualization research. Based on the resistance characteristic curve, we obtained the critical fluidized velocity for the catalyst used in the experiments with different particle size distributions and filled mass at the room temperature. Furthermore, we calculated the critical feed flow rate under certain conditions, which prepared selection for the experimental feed flow rate.Then, the experimental studies were carried out in the fluidized bed for hydrogen production by methanol steam reforming. We investigated the influences of operating parameters such as H2O-to-CH3OH molar ratio, feed flow rate, reaction temperature, and catalyst material layer height on hydrogen production, to get the optimum operating parameters. Meanwhile, the comparison of fluidized and fixed bed reactor for hydrogen production was studied, resulting that, the fluidized bed reactor is more suitable for hydrogen production by methanol steam reforming.Finally, the kinetics of methanol steam reforming for hydrogen in fluidized bed reactor was carried out. Based on sorted experimental data, we established the reaction rate equations by the least squares method. F-test showed that the dynamic models were highly significant. The experimental and theoretical studies mentioned above, gave us a more profound understanding of the reaction mechanism of methanol steam reforming for hydrogen production and the characteristics of the fluidized bed, and provided a reasonable solution for the selection of operating parameters and the optimized design for the reactor.