Modeling and simulation of industrial adiabatic fixed-bed reactor for the catalytic reforming of methane to syngas
Advancing the chemical engineering fundamentals
Chemical Reaction Engineering (T2-2P)
Keywords: Simulation, Methane steam reforming, Finite volume, Adiabatic fixed-bed reactor
Upgrading of natural gas (rich in methane) into more valuable chemicals, such as synthesis gas (syngas), has been investigated intensively in the past decade. Steam reforming of natural gas is widely used to produce syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide in various proportions. Syngas is used as feedstock in a number of industrial processes such as production of ammonia, methanol synthesis, the Fischer-Tropsch process, and the hydroformylation of olefins.
Although the intensive research efforts have been performed on the kinetics and mechanism of the reaction, the preparation of catalyst and the evaluation of process and equipment, the detailed reactor modelling and simulation of SRM on an industrial scale is required.
In this work an industrial adiabatic fixed-bed reactor for the catalytic reforming of methane to synthesis gas on a commercial supported Ni catalyst at high temperature and pressure (Ptot =39 bar, Tg =894 K), was simulated using a steady-state one-dimensional heterogeneous reactor model. Both external concentration and temperature gradients as well as intra-particle concentration gradients are taken into account. The intrinsic kinetics of the reforming and water–gas shift reactions were taken from Numaguchi and Kikuchi (Chem. Eng. Sci. 43 (1988) 2295).
The gas-phase and solid-phase continuity and energy differential equations are solved simultaneously using Matlab program. In this program the finite volume method is used for solving the corresponding continuity equations in solid phase (catalyst).
The data taken from the khorasan petrochemical company is applied to the proposed model to perform the simulation and the simulated results are then compared to the experimental data at the output of reactor.
See the full pdf manuscript of the abstract.
Presented Tuesday 18, 13:30 to 15:00, in session Chemical Reaction Engineering (T2-2P).
