Simulation of a Novel Water Gas Shift Reactor with CO2-Selective Hollow Fiber Membrane Module
Special Symposium - EPIC-1: European Process Intensification Conference - 1
EPIC-1: Poster Session (EPIC - Poster) - P1
Keywords: Water Gas Shift reaction, Membrane Reactor, Simulation
Water gas shift (WGS) reaction becomes important to improve the efficiency of hydrogen production by removing carbon monoxide and producing more hydrogen at the same time. This work focuses on the simulation of a novel WGS reactor based on a CO2-selective hollow fiber membrane with different gas flow direction (i.e., co-current and counter-current flow). A one-dimensional and non-isothermal model of the membrane reactor is used to investigate its performance. The kinetic expression of the WGS reaction catalyzed by the Cu/ZnO and the permeation equation of gases through the membrane obtained from literature are adopted in the reactor model. The autothermal refoming synthesis gas was used as the feed gas while heated air was used as the sweep gas. The effects of various process parameters such as the sweep-to-feed ratio, the reactor length, number of hollow fiber and the feed-side pressure on the reactor performance are analyzed. The simulation results have shown that the CO2-selective membrane reactor can remove more CO and obtain high-purity H2 product, compared with a H2-selective membrane reactor and a fixed bed reactor. It is also found that the membrane reactor with counter-current operation is more effective than that with co-current operation.
Presented Wednesday 19, 13:30 to 14:40, in session EPIC-1 Poster Session (EPIC - Poster) - P1.
